The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page 11

MONDAY, MAY 27 S-12 THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR i.jv tt) I HWff'" i Ml C9 lit a i JL i 11 while heading through the pits after being knocked out of Sunday's Indianapolis 500. r2 A Don't bet on it 1' si STAR PHOTO VERN ATKINS car was damaged in an accident early in the race. 4-. "I'll talk to my sponsors and If I'm healthy and heal up 100 percent, I feel I still got a win In me." The reality, you see, was just too difficult to face, at least at this moment. His long road back from his injuries was supposed to have a 500-mile bonus at the end.

Not Just 25 laps. Not 28th place. Maybe for lesser men, but not for A.J. Foyt. "The doctors all worked real hard and I worked real hard," he said.

"It looks like it was for nothing. "I said this would probably be my last race. We worked hard to do a lot better and, damn it, I can't believe we fell out so early and how we fell out. But it could have been worse. I could be back up In the hospital right now.

Things happen for a reason; I don't know I guess it does." Finally, someone asked Foyt If it was difficult to walk out of the speedway, his home away from home for the last 34 months of May, for the final time. "I'm not even thinking about that," he said. Obviously, he wasn't. He couldn't. Not yet, anyway.

"When I make a statement. I usually stick to It." Foyt said. Unless that statement Includes the word "goodbye." i .1 i 6y -l'i)lHf'1f 1 Hi STAR STAFF PHOTO KELLY WILKINSON 1 4 t. t- STAR STAFF PHOTOS KEITH PRITCHARD I Ik-' i H' I 1 BK I II 1 y5 t' A.J. Foyt waves to the crowd THERE CAN be nothing more difficult than saying goodbye to a loved one, to a friend, to a career.

So when It came time to do Just that Sunday, A.J. Foyt couldn't. Not yet. Not quite. Because this was not the way It was supposed to end.

So maybe Just maybe it hasn't. Indeed, even as Foyt's legendary 34-race, five-decade, four-victory Indianapolis 500 career came to an apparent close Sunday, the tough Texan began prying open the doors that might lead to another try. "I hate to go out of here like this," muttered the 56-year-old Foyt. Which was not as a master of his fate, but as a passenger to it. Bill Benner "It was just one of them thangs," Foyt said In his rich Texas twang.

The "thang" that got him was debris in the Immediate aftermath of a crash involving Kevin Cogan and Roberto Guerrero between the first and second turns on Lap 25. "I saw the two cars when the yellow went on," Foyt explained, "and I thought I had everything missed. "Then all of a sudden, a car's suspension appeared right there. It was like It dropped out of the sky. I Just didn't have no alternative." Foyt's familiar, black No.

14 Copenhagen LolaChevy blasted Into the debris. The car's left front suspension collapsed. "I knew it was over." he said. 1 1 i r. The front suspension of Foyt's Actually, Foyt said he might have seen Sunday's misfortune coming.

Even though he was still rehabilitating from the foot and leg Injuries from last fall's crash at Elkhart Lake, he had proved one last time that he could still step on the gas. And he had lived up to his own legend by qualifying for his 34th consecutive "500" In the middle of the first row. "Everything went too damn good all month long," said Foyt. "You're Just waiting for this to happen. It's like someone kept saying, 'Race Day ain't gonna be your You hate to have that damn feeling.

Everybody kept saying how easy It was going to be to win but I think a lot of people forget there are 32 other guys out there with the same Idea." Even after his racer became unraceable, A.J. three-wheeled It the rest of the way around the track. It turned out to be a Love Lap a two-mile trip of two-way affection. Foyt waved to the hundreds of thousands of spectators to whom he is the one and only king of motorsports. The crowd rose and responded with a final, thunderous tribute.

"They've always been a big part of my life and for a lot of them, I've been a big part of theirs," said Foyt. "I Just wanted to give them a salute." But not ncccessarlly a so-long. The Houston charger wanted to go out on top or, at the very least, near the top. No one envisioned 28th place or Just 25 laps. So.

Immediately, Foyt began to attach conditions probablys and maybes and asterisks to his retirement talk. Over the speedway's public address system, he proclaimed, "If the fans want me back, you never know what I'll do." Then, to the paparazzi which swarmed his garage, he began to hedge. "There's always a chance things could happen," he said. And. "A lot of my friends want me to quit.

But It's part of my life. I love It, I enjoy it. I know I'm getting up in years and I know I probably should (quit). But I do know the speedway pretty well. I feel I've got a lot of savvy here." And.

"It's possible we could run two cars here next year and maybe I Just run the big race." And. 1 I 1 -wi STAR PHOTO MAX TRUBY Foyt (left) and his trainer, Steve Watterson, anticipate the start of the race. ''t 1 I v. Wall-banger 7 'CSJ lay Kevin Cogan and Roberto Guerrero mixed it up in Turn 1 (left), knocking both out of the race. Cogan (above) had to be extricated from his car.

He was sent to Methodist Hospital, suffering fractures to his upper right arm, right forearm and right thigh..