It is a brutally slow news week around here but luckily while trolling the interwebs, we found a really cool video of 1961 Indy 500 winner AJ Foyt and 1911 Indy 500 winner Ray Harroun appearing on the 1961 game show “I’ve Got a Secret” together. Harroun, obviously up there in age even takes a swipe at hot rodders during one of his few speaking lines.
The premise of the show seems kind of funny in the fact that the contestants can actually see the people they are questioning. Hell, the guy won the Indy 500 the week before they taped the show, which as big of a deal as it is now, was 100x bigger back in 1961. After he won the race, more people probably knew Foyt on sight than the President!
Anyway, this is a neat little five minute look back in time. Ol’ AJ was kicking off a decade of racing dominance in style with the win at the 500. He’d continue kicking ass in multiple genres of racing right on through the 1970s!
I was told this story about AJ from an old racer…
It was the 1960’s and it happened at the Sacramento Raceway. Chris Economaki, The Dean of American Motorsports was an up and coming Announcer for ABC on Wide World of Sports. He was live at the Sacramento Mile and scowering the pits for a good story before the race. He saw A.J. out walking the track and rushed over to interview him. He prodded the star for his views of the race. The typical questions, How do you think you will do? Who do you see as the front runners? Do is your main competition? and then the big question. You are the only one walking the track this morning, are you gaining any critical information? His answer, To tell you the truth Chris, I have to take a long walk every morning so I can take a good shit and I’m ready to go. Talk to you later. Live on ABC