Tony Stewart will be at the Indy 500 as a guest of his hero, A.J. Foyt to celebrate Foyt’s 60th anniversary of his 1961 Indy 500 triumph.
The three-time NASCAR champion and former IRL IndyCar champion, who turns 50 on May 20, will be watching the race from the stands.
“A.J. is my hero, and a great friend whom I’ve known for a long time,” said Stewart . “It didn’t matter what it was, but if it had four wheels and went fast, A.J. would drive it. NASCAR stock cars, USAC stock cars, sprints and midgets, Indy cars, IMSA sports cars – A.J. won in all of them. We both kind of came up through the racing ranks in the same way. He just did it in a different era.
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An IndyCar racer himself, Stewart’s last Indy 500 came in 2001. But, it was in the Cup Series that the Stewart-Hass Racing found real success, winning the Cup Series three times.
“A.J. called me after I won my first Cup championship in 2002 and I remember how much it meant to have him call that night and congratulate me. He has given a lot back to racing and has been one of the sport’s biggest supporters. Without guys like him, guys like myself wouldn’t have had a chance to succeed.
“Being with A.J. on the pit box this year at Indy is an honor and something I’ll cherish forever.”
Forty has his own team and will have 4 cars running for the Indy 500. Two of them are full-time drivers, Sebastien Bourdais and Dalton Kellett, while the other two are Charlie Kimball and another for JR Hildebrand.