If there was one thing hotter than AJ Foyt’s exhaust headers during this race at Michigan International Raceway, it was the man’s temper. At the time this was filmed, Foyt was on the backside of his career and was likely more concerned with keeping the team’s books balanced than he was with keeping up with the Joneses of open wheel racing. The man still had the passion and the fire, but the younger drivers, the larger budgets, and the advancing environment of racing was catching and passing Super Tex.
All that said, he still wanted to race at a high standard and by the sounds of this interview he sure wanted his team to be there as well. In a rare moment for a TV broadcast, after Foyt finishes ripping his crew Paul Page actually steps up and speaks on their behalf mentioning that perhaps their lack of testing and time with the car is the root of the problem. Paul Page may not have been a great fit for the NHRA job years ago, but he has always been a superb open wheel guy. But we digress…
The video picks up with Foyt climbing out of the car and “speaking” with his crew chief before the pit lane reporter, a guy who looks like he has just been assigned an interview with a hungry lion, gets Foyt on camera. That’s when the magic starts. Between telling the world that they have their heads up their asses and running off a litany of mechanical mishaps, he basically then threatens to fire them all. Alrighty then!
At the beginning we hear the voice of Sam Posey, then the conversation is dominated by Page, and then when the shot cuts to Foyt cruising out of the pits on his scooter we hear what I believe to be the voice of Bobby Unser. Unser’s comments are cool because he basically says, “Age be damned, he’s a racer.”
While it may not be polite or gentle to rip your entire team live on TV, this is what’s missing from lots of racing media today. Show us the anger, the happiness, the sadness, and the ecstasy of winning. Not some bland junk like we get now.
Remember John Force? Just sayin’
Foyt was and still is one iracible prick.
Whats funny was just before AJ started talking, the announcers were criticizing the team, then they flip it around after the interview. Also, I seem to remember Truex having threatened to fire his entire team a couple years ago.