IRL/NASCAR WCUP: A.J. Foyt undergoes surgery on left leg
10 February 2000
Posted By Terry
Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
|
Doctors removed a plate, two bars and more than 24 screws during the surgery. Foyt suffered a badly broken left leg in an accident during a CART event in 1990 at Elkhart Lake, Wis.
"It was some really big hardware," said Foyt, owner of a two-car team in the Northern Light Indy Racing Series. "They showed it to me, and it looked like something youd find in an Indy car. One of the bars was 7 inches by 1 inch and was an eighth-inch thick.
"No wonder it got to hurting so much when a couple of the screws started backing out. The screws were 3 inches long."
Foyt, 65, admitted that he should have had the surgery years ago, as doctors recommended. But he delayed the procedure.
"I knew Id be on crutches for three to four months until the bone filled in," Foyt said. "Right now it looks like Swiss cheese with all the holes from the screws. I have to be really careful not to bang it."
Despite being on crutches, Foyt intends to be in Daytona Beach, Fla., for the next two weekends to coach rookie Mike Bliss, driver of Foyts Conseco-sponsored Pontiac this year in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, in the Daytona 500. Foyt also will continue to oversee his Indy Racing team and the Harrahs G Force/Aurora/Firestone driven by Jeff Ward and the Rio G Force/Aurora/Firestone driven by Eliseo Salazar.
"My wife always said I had a few screws loose," Foyt said, "but she cant say that anymore."
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