A.J. Foyt: Survivor, Champion, Legend (Volume One, Octane Press, October 2024), an extensive and highly entertaining biography of one of America’s most popular, colorful, and controversial sports heroes, is now available.

Art Garner—an award-winning author and finalist for the prestigious PEN/ESPN award for literary sports writing for his bestselling book, Black Noon—has captured the action on and off the track that led many to consider Foyt to be one of the greatest race car drivers of all time—and one reporter to write that A.J. stood for “another jerk.”

Known for his fiery disposition and bare-knuckled approach, Foyt’s driving career spanned five decades—six if you count an exhibition race when he was five years old. He was the first driver to win the Indianapolis 500 four times and still holds Indy car records for most victories and championships. He is the only driver ever to win the Indianapolis 500, 24 Hours of Le Mans, and the Daytona 500, one version of auto racing’s triple crown. He also won the International Race of Champions in 1976 and 1977 and still holds the world closed-course speed record that he set in 1987.

“Statistics tell only part of the story,” Garner says. “Foyt likes to say, ‘I’m just A.J., ain’t no different than any other man,’ but nothing could be further from the truth. He’s one of the most complex and intricate personalities in the history of auto racing, perhaps all of sports.”

The biography also explores the unique relationship between Foyt and his “Daddy,” Anthony Joseph “Tony” Foyt Sr. Although they often clashed—it was Tony who said working with his son could be like “dancing with a buzzsaw”—A.J. called him “the only man I can trust.” It was Tony who instilled in his son an overwhelming drive to be the best, teaching him that victory was expected, excellence assumed. And it was Tony who told a crowd celebrating A.J.’s fourth Indy 500 victory that his son had “done fair.”

Through tireless research and hundreds of hours of new interviews with Foyt, his family, friends, and the biggest names in motorsports—including Mario Andretti, Roger Penske, Al Unser Sr., Johnny Rutherford, Jackie Stewart, Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough, and many others—Garner has compiled an unprecedented look at Foyt’s life and career. At 656 pages it includes ninety-five photos, some from Foyt’s family albums, and fifty-five pages of source notes and index.

Andretti wrote the foreword and had this to offer about the tome on the life of his longtime rival: “A.J. fans will love this book. And if anywhere in these pages it says A.J. hates me, I know he doesn’t anymore. That was a few decades ago. Today we’re BFFs.”

Asked about the upcoming biography, Foyt said: “I know what I did. I know the fun I had. I don’t really give a [$*!#] if anybody else cares. I know I had a wonderful, wonderful life. A lot of heartaches but a lot of fun at the same time. I don’t know if I would change anything if I was reborn.”

Volume One traces the Foyt family from its Eastern European roots through A.J.’s 1977 season, when he became the first driver ever to win the Indianapolis 500 four times. To reserve your copy for the signing please see our online store or contact the store. 

About the Author
After retiring from a forty-year career in journalism and automotive public relations, Art Garner wrote his first book, Black Noon: The Year They Stopped the Indy 500, about the tragic 1964 race. It was a finalist for the prestigious PEN/ESPN award for literary sports writing. Subsequent titles include Indy 500 Memories: An Oral History of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing and Hood to Coast Memories, about the running relay race staged each year from Mt. Hood to the coast of Oregon.