Surviving Crashes: Bulldozers and Race Cars
By A.J. Foyt

It was a wild week for me both on and off the track.


It began on Thursday when I was doing a little "yard work" on some property I had recently bought. I was on my bulldozer working around a pond when the pond’s edge gave way and down I went, bulldozer and all.


It rolled over and sank upside down about 15 feet; I couldn’t see a thing. It was dark and quiet, except for the pounding of my heart. I grabbed onto the cool exhaust pipe and switched off the engine before the dozer completely submerged… I have no idea why, reflexes from cutting off race car engines I guess. When it hit bottom I began trying to find my way out—the cab was enclosed on three sides by a wire mesh cage and the ‘open’ end had two rollbars in front of it.

It took about a minute to a minute-and-a-half, plus a couple gulps of water, but I finally made it to the surface. Out of breath, I was only able to stand on the top of the bulldozer and yell for help. I knew I couldn’t swim over to the bank and climb up because there wasn’t anything to grab on to that would support my weight. So I stood with there with water up to my chin and yelled.


There was a ranch hand working across the field. I knew he wouldn’t be able to hear me because of his machine but I yelled anyway. When a water moccasin snake came floating by me, I splashed like hell. As scared as I was at that point I probably could have pinched his head off with my bare hands. The guy finally noticed that the dozer had disappeared and he came over to see why and saw me splashing and heard me yelling.


I told him to get a rope and he pulled me out. I won’t lie, I was scared. I had almost drowned when I was a kid when my boat capsized in a storm in the Galveston bay. The only reason I didn’t was because I was cold earlier and had put on a life jacket. My other two friends didn’t. One made it and my other buddy drowned on his 16th birthday. I never forgot it.


When I was down on the bottom of that pond, I really thought that was the end. And the more I think about it now, the more scared I get. So many things could have stopped me from getting out…like the big knot on my head that I don’t remember getting –it happened either when I hit bottom or was working my way out. My blue jeans could have hooked onto something in the dozer like the gearshift or the cage. The thought of what could have happened still sends a chill down my back.

After Sunday’s IndyCar race at Michigan International Speedway, I bet Dario Franchitti, Scott Dixon, my grandson Anthony and my driver Darren Manning feel the same way. They were all very lucky and I’ll tell you why.


In Darren’s case, he was coming up through the field (the ABC Supply car was handling well and handled better on the long runs). He was making his way towards the front which was rewarding because we were not happy with the car at all the day before. We talked it over and made some changes after qualifying and they were the right ones for the race. Anyway, Darren was happy with the car and he had just said about 20 laps earlier that his car handled good even when other cars’ handling fell off.


He came up on Marco Andretti who was running eighth. In turn three, Andretti slid up in front of Darren who had the wheel cranked and as he lifted to avoid hitting Andretti, the tires grabbed and the car did a half spin up the track. It car slid hard into the turn four SAFER barrier hitting the left rear and then the left front. The left rear wheel broke away (it was still tethered though) and bounced into the cockpit as he slid down across the track.


As if that wasn’t bad enough, part of the suspension was still attached to the wheel. If the wheel had bounced on a different angle, it could have been disastrous for Darren. That’s the downside of tethers. They prevent wheels bouncing into the grandstands, the infield or other cars, but the tethers make it more dangerous for the drivers because now the wheels bounce around them while they are trapped in the cockpits. Darren was very lucky to walk away from that accident with just a headache and a cut on his knee.


His was the fourth crash that day. Jon Herb and Sarah Fisher had single car crashes and then Vitor Meira and Helio Castroneves also crashed hard on the front straight. No one got hurt.


Thirty laps after our accident, the leaders’ battle triggered one of the most spectacular crashes of the season which has already seen cars flipping through the air twice (Marco at Indy and Mid-Ohio). The crash at MIS made all the news’ highlight reels.


Franchitti was passing Dan Wheldon for the lead on the outside when Wheldon touched Franchitti’s left rear wheel, turning Dario sideways going down the backstretch. The car got airborne and as it landed upside down on the track Dixon ran into it and so did Anthony, both of them having nowhere to go.


In Anthony’s case, it looked like he tried to slice his way between Dario and Dixon on the left and Wheldon (up against the wall) directly ahead of him. When he swerved to miss Wheldon, Dario had bounced into his path. Anthony had rubber marks on his helmet. Six or seven cars were involved. I don’t know how, but everyone escaped uninjured.


The angels were working overtime.


The Firestone Indy 400 may be the last one at Michigan International Speedway because the track and IRL can’t agree on a suitable date for next year. Maybe it will take a year for everyone to collect their breath after Sunday because this last race was one a lot of people won’t forget for a very long time.


The good news is that everyone will be around to race this weekend at Kentucky Speedway. The race will be broadcast Saturday evening on ESPN2 at 6:30 pm eastern time. I hope you tune in.


As for me, I’m parking the bulldozer--this week anyway—and giving the angels a well-deserved rest!