A. J. Foyt is regarded as a legend in the American motorsport scene. He also has the statistics to back it up, and he was one of the original jack of all trades. To be precise, although he primarily raced in IndyCar, he competed in different racing disciplines. This includes Sprint Cars, IndyCar, NASCAR and even the World Endurance Championship. During that time, he amassed victories, at the Indy 500 on four occasions, the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 24 Hours of Daytona, among others.

During that tenure, he has come up against a number of strong opponents. In a recent conversation with Tony Stewart, the 90-year-old veteran opened up about all the drivers he has faced in the past. Without a doubt, some of them would have stood out in his memory, especially as a 7-time champion. As it turned out, he named two drivers who pushed him to his limits during his IndyCar days.

Those drivers were none other than Parnelli Jones and Jim Hurtubise. In their IndyCar/Champ Car careers, the two drivers picked up six wins and four wins respectively. Even in the NASCAR Grand National Series, Jones has four wins, while Hurtubise had one win to his name. As for A. J. Foyt, he has picked up seven wins in the Grand National Series, between 1964 and 1972.

Foyt told Tony Stewart, “You know, Parnelli Jones was really tough on the bank. A lot of people are so much better on certain racetracks. In the high banks, he had that Chevrolet V8 and I had a little 220, so he kind of had a little advantage. Parnelli was one hell of a racing driver. I’ll tell you who was a sleeper in his elf, and you know him, it was Hurtubise. He was a character, that was his biggest thing, but he was a good race driver.”

In essence, he acknowledged that at certain race tracks, Jones was unstoppable, because of a faster car. On other race tracks, Foyt was able to restore order as he saw fit. Meanwhile, Hurtubise was also a solid driver, but was more well-known for his personality. Though that did not take away from his driving prowess behind the wheel. Considering that he had four wins and 15 podiums across a 23-year career, that is saying something.

As it turned out, Foyt and Jones were pretty good friends away from the track. That was largely down to the fact that they often raced together in different racing series. According to A. J. Foyt, his friend excelled in sprint cars, midget cars and in IndyCar. Their friendship first began when they traveled together during their sprint car days. Additionally, the two of them often ran midgets, and all in all had a lot of racing history.

How good was Jim Hurtubise to earn praise from the legend?

With Hurtubise having a 23-year Champ Car career, he and Foyt have had some history. Sadly in 1989, Hurtubise died of a heart attack at the age of 56. Nevertheless, he will always been remembered as a fun-loving person and a hard racer. Fondly known as Herk, he was a fan favorite among many Champ Car fans in America.

What’s actually amazing is the fact that he won his first Champ Car race in his debut season. That race was the 1959 season finale at the California State Fairgrounds Race Track in Sacramento. In the following year, Hurtubise triumphed at the Langhorne Speedway in Pennsylvania. Finally, he won at the Illinois State Fairgrounds Racetrack for two consecutive seasons in 1961 and 1962.

As for A. J. Foyt, he may no longer be racing, but he is still somewhat involved in the IndyCar scene. To be precise, he is the owner of A. J. Foyt Racing, which is still competing to this day. This year, the organisation is fielding David Malukas and Santino Ferrucci. The former is replacing Sting Ray Robb, who himself moves to Juncos Hollinger Racing.

So, do you think that Jones was Foyt’s greatest rival? Let us know in the comments.