Foyt IV to drive No. 48
UPDATE #2 This rumor moves from 'fact' to 'false' after Tony George found out Foyt was trying to use a hole in the rulebook to relieve Tony of some of his money. Here is the official explanation – A.J. Foyt IV will have something borrowed and something new when he competes in the inaugural Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Foyt will drive the No. 14 A.J. Foyt Racing Panoz/Toyota/Firestone. The chassis is a switch from Dallara for the street-course race, and the car has been painted the familiar Coyote red run by his grandfather, A.J. Foyt. The senior Foyt had entered No. 48 – in honor of his 48th year in Indy-style car racing, but on April 1 switched back to No. 14 to keep a streak intact. “Just tell ‘em (media) you never know what A.J.’s going to do," said Foyt, a four-time Indianapolis 500 winner. A.J. Foyt IV will compete in his first street-course race. He tested at Texas World Speedway’s road course in February, but did not join other IndyCar Series drivers for the two-day Open Test at Homestead-Miami Speedway in January. 04/01/05 Leave it up to AJ Foyt to find a loophole in the IRL rules and relieve Tony George of more of his money. A.J. Foyt's team will use a different car (No. 48 instead of No. 14) to capitalize on the Leader's Circle program, which provides financial incentives to the top 24 cars. Only 22 participated in the season's first two races. 03/30/05 The official entry list for this weekend's IRL race in St. Petersburg, FL shows AJ Foyt IV in the No. 48 car instead of the No. 14 car. Grandfather AJ Foyt said he didn't want to run the road courses so it looks like perhaps he borrowed a car from another team rather than pay to convert the No. 14 to a road course configuration.