When Richard Petty opened up on his IndyCar banter with AJ Foyt

NASCAR and IndyCar legends Richard Petty and AJ Foyt once exchanged some light-hearted banter about the former's participation in the CART Series. Petty revealed the incident during an interview in 2015.

Seven-time IndyCar champion Foyt and seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Petty remain two of the greatest to ever grace motorsports. Both these racing titans dominated their respective series during the same era, however their paths rarely intertwined.

While Foyt competed in, and even won multiple races in the Cup Series, including a Daytona 500, the same cannot be said about Petty. The King, as he is affectionately known as, could never take the reins of an open-wheel car during his career, and the 87-year-old once reflected on that.

In an interview with IndyCar.com back in February 2015, Richard Petty revealed the story of how AJ Foyt tried getting him on-board to compete in the IndyCar Series. He recalled:

"I told A.J. I can’t fit in that little ole’ car. Foyt came back with a pair of shoes and said, ‘You have to put on those shoes.’ They were size 7. He said anything bigger than that wouldn’t fit in the cockpit to get your feet on the pedals."

However, Petty's foot size did not permit him to participate in an IndyCar race. He noted:

"I had size 11-1/2 feet so that eliminated me."

Beyond winning the NASCAR Cup Series seven times in his career, Richard Petty also won seven Daytona 500s. With 200 wins, he also remains the winningest driver in the history of the sport.

---

What were Richard Petty's reactions on AJ Foyt winning the Daytona 500?

Courtesy of AJ Foyt's 128-race NASCAR career, both the drivers found themselves competing against each other on a few occasions. One such moment came during the 1972 Daytona 500.

That year, both drivers were favorites. Foyt, driving a 1971 Mercury, and Petty, in his familiar No. 43 Plymouth, were joined by Bobby Allison as the trio to beat.

The race was a clean one, with just three cautions over 17 laps. There were only three different leaders, and they traded the lead 13 times among themselves. Petty, however, dropped out after his car suffered a mechanical failure. Foyt seized the opportunity and led 167 of the 200 laps and lapped the field en route to his Daytona victory.

Reflecting on that race, Richard Petty stated in the same interview:

"He was ‘King of the Hill’ that day for sure." don’t know how competitive I was for him at that time."

Petty also reminisced another encounter with Foyt during the 1979 Daytona 500, one of the most iconic races that he ended up winning in NASCAR history. He said:

"The one time I remember racing against him was in 1979 because after Donnie Allison and Cale Yarborough wrecked each other on the last lap I was racing Darrell Waltrip and A.J. Foyt for third place. After them boys got into it on the backstretch, suddenly it was the three of us racing for the win. I felt secure racing with A.J. than I did Darrell Waltrip."

Both AJ Foyt and Richard Petty decided to hang up their racing helmets around the same time. While Petty retired in 1992, Foyt's final race came in 1994. Both the racing icons would also go on to own teams of their own at one point in their careers.