Taking the opportunity to emerge from his legendary grandfather's long shadow, Anthony (A.J.) Foyt IV switched from the IRL IndyCar Series to NASCAR's Busch Series in 2006. His foray into NASCAR was short-lived however, and in 2007 he returns to the IRL IndyCar Series with a full-season drive although the official announcement has not been made yet.

Last year, Foyt signed an agreement with Ray Evernham to become part of Evernham's driver development program. Foyt drove the No. 38 Great Clips Dodge fielded by Braun-Akins Racing which has a technical alliance with Evernham Motorsports. After mixed results, Foyt parted ways with the team before the halfway point of the season.

Foyt returned to the IndyCar Series in September 2006 when he was asked by Andretti-Green Racing to fill in for an injured Dario Franchitti in the final race of the season at Chicagoland Speedway. Foyt qualified 11^th but a gamble on fuel strategy cost him a couple laps and he finished 14^th. His performance was strong enough to catch the attention of another IRL IndyCar owner who asked him to drive full-time for the 2007 season.

In 2005, Foyt IV posted his career best finish in the IndyCar Series--ninth--at the season opener in Miami and again at Kentucky when the ABC Supply-sponsored team switched to Chevy power in August. Due to his lack of testing at the road courses, he passed up the two road races at Infineon Raceway and Watkins Glen. His best finish in his final three starts was 11th at Chicagoland Speedway. He placed 20th in the standings.

In 2004, Foyt IV posted his career best start of sixth at Chicagoland Speedway and his career best finish of tenth at Texas Motor Speedway in the fall race. He lost out on several top-five finishes when he was a victim of someone else's mistakes. Throughout the tough season he maintained his cool.

"Everyone worked hard to run good and we did have some mistakes," said Foyt IV. "Some were mine, some were the crew's and then some were other drivers. You have to learn from it and then shrug it off and go on which is what I always try to do."

Foyt IV, who turned 19 the day of his first Indy 500 in 2003, faced some rugged competition in his rookie season driving for his grandfather A.J. Foyt. Foyt IV showed his resolve in the early part of the 2003 season as he adapted to the new cars, new tracks, new drivers and the glare of the media spotlight.

"I learned a lot," said Foyt IV. "One of the areas where I improved the most was my feedback to the team. By the end of the year we were communicating much better and that made it easier to set up the car."

His best finish in 2003 was 11th at Nazareth Speedway, a tough tri-oval in northeastern Pennsylvania. However, his proudest moment came when he finished 18th in his first Indy 500. The youngster's resilience saw him weather several stressful moments during the month of May. His most notable was a spin on his first qualifying run. He managed to keep the car off the wall while driving backwards at nearly 170 mph. He went out later in the day and qualified 23rd.

Foyt IV came into the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series in 2003 as the reigning champion of the Infiniti Pro Series. Started in 2002, the Pro Series provides super-speedway experience for drivers and mechanics wishing to compete at the IRL's top level, the IndyCar Series.

He made an impressive debut in the IRL Infiniti Pro Series' inaugural season by winning the pole and the race at the season opener at Kansas Speedway. Cutting short his winner's interview, he dashed to change into his crew uniform for the 200-lap IndyCar race which Airton Dare won in the famed No. 14. It was Dare's first triumph in the IRL IndyCar Series and a victory sweep for the Foyt Racing team that day.

Foyt IV went on to win three more races (Michigan, Kentucky and Texas) and claim three more poles (Kentucky, Chicagoland and Texas).

He won the 2001 southwest regional championship in the Formula Continental Series and the Rookie of the Year title, claiming six victories in nine starts. He finished third in the national standings despite missing three events due to commitments to his grandfather's IndyCar team.

Young Foyt began his motor-racing career in junior dragsters at age nine. He "retired" from the dragsters after winning two track titles and the Division 4 race of champions. Concentrating on go-karts, he began winning races and championships on a regular basis including titles in the International Karting Federation and the World Karting Association.

Anthony likes anything that goes fast. He was riding horses by age three because his dad, Tony, trained racehorses for a living. It appeared that he would have a career as a jockey, as did his uncle on his mother's side.

"He was so little as a child, and such a natural with horses, we thought he'd become a jockey," Nancy Foyt said about their only son. "However, we moved back to Houston so Tony could help his dad with his ranches after A.J. got hurt so badly at Elkhart Lake [September, 1990]. Then li'l A.J. began to grow--like a weed--and it became pretty clear he wasn't going to be a jockey. Being around big A.J. so much, I guess it was inevitable he'd get more interested in race cars. Once he tried it, there was no going back."

Anthony doesn't spend much time looking back--he's much too focused on his bright future.