Andrew Joseph Foyt Jr., a Houston, Texas local started his racing career in the world of midget cars back in 1956 when he raced midget at the Night Before The 500 in Andersen, Indiana. During a 100-lap event at Kansas City in 1957, Foyt would win his first major, midget car championship.

But midget racing was only the very beginning of A. J. Foyt’s professional racing career, as he went on to become the first driver to win points at the Indy 500, Daytona 500, the 24 Hours of Lemans and the 24 Hour Daytona circuit as part of a single race track resume.

Foyt’s Indy record was nothing to snare at either, as he became the first driver in 1961 to defend his points championship and win the Indy 500 simultaneously. Most impressive was the fact that Foyt had successfully beat fellow driver, Eddie Sachs during that race in spite of the fact that his now lighter race car was low on fuel, beating Sachs by an impressive and record-breaking track time of 8.28 seconds.

It goes without saying that Foyt’s track record at Indy was much more than impressive, and his victory against Sachs during the ’61 500 was the second-closest finish in the history of the race at that time.

Especially in the context of his refuel malfunction, Foyt’s accomplishment was a milestone and he would continue to race at Indy during every race season from 1957-92.

Our featured video is more than a testament to Foyt’s sense of humanity, but at the same time it reinforces his Indy 500 legacy.

Here we see Foyt during the early ’80s running a 50-yard dash at Indy, not quite as rapid as his milestone run during the early 1960s against Eddie Sachs, but still making a statement about the man himself while offering us a valuable piece of Indy history.

Of all the drivers involved in the turbulent motorsport, who would you say is your favorite Indy 500 driver?