Article: A.J. FOYT HAS CHEATED DEATH TO BECOME INDY IMMORTAL WHEN A RACE DRIVER NAMED JOHNNY HOTSHOE DIED, HE WOKE UP AT A SPEEDWAY IN THE CLOUDS. IT WAS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL THING HE HAD EVER SEEN. THE TRACK WAS PAVED IN GOLD AND THE SILVER GRANDSTANDS SHIMMERED IN THE SUNLIGHT. HE HEARD ENGINES ROARING AROUND THE TRACK AND LOOKED OUT TO SEE LONG DECEASED DRIVERS SUCH AS MAURI ROSE, BILL VUCKOVICH AND JIMMY BRYAN WHIZZING BY IN THEIR CARS. ''WOW,'' JOHNNY SAID TO HIMSELF, ''THIS MUST BE HEAVEN.'' THEN TO HIS AMAZEMENT, HE SAW A BRIGHT ORANGE HELMET WITH THE INITIALS ''A.J.'' FLASH BY AND WATCHED AS THE CAR STEERED INTO THE TURN DEEPER THAN ANYONE ELSE. JOHNNY TURNED TO ST. PETER, WHO WAS STANDING NEXT TO HIM, AND CRIED, ''OH NO! WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN?'' ''DON'T WORRY. FOYT ISN'T HERE YET,'' SAID ST. PETER REASSURINGLY. ''IT'S JUST GOD. HE LIKES TO THINK THAT HE'S A.J.''--EXCERPT FROM THE POSTSCRIPT IN FOYT'S MEDIA GUIDE.

INDIANAPOLIS - Anthony Joseph Foyt Jr. no longer has to worry about his appointment with the hereafter. He's canceled it.

He has achieved the status of an immortal -- at least around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where he will make his 30th consecutive start in the Indianapolis 500 tomorrow.

For the past 29 years, Foyt has come to Indy and overcome personal tragedies as well as other hardships in order to qualify for the Memorial Day weekend race.

That is an even more remarkable feat when you consider that of the 32 drivers who competed against Foyt in his first year here, 1958, more than half are dead. Thirteen were killed in racing accidents, and only one -- Bill Cheesbourg, ...

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