In 1991, three years before the first Brickyard 400, while filming a Craftsman tools TV commercial AJ Foyt became the first person ever to do this at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Drive a NASCAR around the track
Foyt’s NASCAR Cup Series Oldsmobile Cutlass stock car was in the garage area during the filming of the commercial, and Foyt and then-IMS President Tony George decided to take the car out for a few laps on the 2.5-mile IMS oval. Foyt drove a few laps followed by George driving a few laps. The next day the Indianapolis Star had a black-and-white picture of Foyt driving under the flag stand and across the Yard of Bricks with the caption, “NASCAR at Indy? A preview of things to come, perhaps?” Which turned out to be exactly the case in 1994.
– Dave O’Brien
