|
|
A.J. Foyt II - A.J Foyt IV - A.J. Foyt III |
|
 |
One good turn...
 Two
years ago when the Foyt team traveled to Japan, Tetsuo Kuramochi, a
young Japanese native of Utsonomiya, befriended Nancy and Tony Foyt, the
parents of A.J. Foyt IV. He was quite helpful during their stay in
Utsonomiya, where the team's hotel was located. As a result the Foyts
extended an invitation to the races at Twin Ring Motegi. Returning to
Japan again this year, the team was delighted to invite Tetsuo back
again. This year, Tetsuo became part of the race team.
He took on the responsibility of keeping the race car immaculate and at
any time he could be seen polishing one of its surfaces, or listening
intently on the radio while it was on track. When the team was charged
with repairing the car after a crash in final practice, Tetsuo stayed
late to help in any way he could. The next day he brought his dad out to
the races to meet the Foyt team.
The Foyts said good-bye and suggested that he come to Indy sometime.
Tetsuo took the invite as seriously as it was intended, and although he
didn't make it to Indy, he did travel to San Francisco for the race at
Infineon Raceway last weekend...and the No. 14 ABC Supply car gleamed with
his efforts.
What were the young college student's first impressions of America?
"Everything is big," said Tetsuo. "And everyone is very kind to
strangers."
 A.J.
IV invited Tetsuo to come hang out with him in Texas and Tetsuo, who
keeps in touch with his parents via cell phone, flew home on A.J. Foyt's
private jet.
"At first I was very worried," recounted Tetsuo in a phone interview. "I
had no tickets and no reservations and I didn't know how I was going to
fly to Texas. They took me somewhere to an airport and I got on A.J.'s
private jet. We don't have many private jets in Japan, it is very
unusual. I came into the plane and there were hot hamburgers and
potatoes (French Fries) and cold Cokes waiting for us. I felt like a
rich man.
"The Captain (Robert Janke, A.J.'s pilot) gave us a very nice flight
because I could sleep well--I was very tired after the race. The cities
looked beautiful at night with all the lights and so did the stars. It
was very beautiful."
Once in Texas Tetsuo phoned his mother to let her know that he was no
longer in California and that he would be staying with the Foyts in
Texas.
He plans to return home after the race at Chicagoland Speedway but in
the meantime, Tetsuo has been ‘hanging' with A.J. IV at the Foyt ranch
in Hockley, about 20 miles northwest of Houston The two have gone
shopping at the mall and wake-boarding at a nearby lake.
"I took Tetsuo out on my boat the other day," said A.J. IV. "He'd never
been on a boat before. He went wakeboarding and he popped right up on
the first try. He's so light, he pops his butt right out of the water."
"Wakeboarding was easier than I thought it would be," said Tetsuo. "It
was very exciting."
They also checked out the activity at the team's race shop where the
crew is prepping the No. 14 ABC Supply Chevrolet for the IndyCar race at
Chicagoland Speedway Sep 11th. He also saw the showroom which houses
memorable race cars and many trophies and artifacts from the careers of
three generations of winning Foyts (one of which, A.J. III or Tony as
he's called, won races using horses instead of horsepower).
In response to a question about what was the most fun to date, Tetsuo
replied, "Going to the race shop." Perhaps because there are even more
cars to polish?
At the time of the interview, the two young men were headed off to
Austin for the Labor Day weekend.
"We're going to journey to the college world so Tetsuo can find out
about American college life," said A.J. IV (who also mentioned something
about blondes, a rarity in Japan). "We're also going to do some more
wake-boarding. If he thought he was tired after the race, wait until he
gets through with this weekend spending all that time on the lake."
Concluding the interview, Tetsuo said, "I want to say thank you for
giving me a great experience. Thank you to A.J., Anthony, Nancy and Tony
and everyone on the team."
It's said that racing is a sport where the participants feel like family
as they pursue their nomadic life for eight months of the year. Well the
Foyts' racing family just became bigger. After all, it's the American
way |
|
|
|
|
|
|
