Anthony Foyt DUI Charges Confirmed
Written by Allan Brewer · March 7, 2007
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AJ Foyt IV at Chicagoland. Photo: ChrisJonesIRL
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Vision Team Owner Says Ride is Safe “Pending” Resolution of Affair
“His status as a driver of the team is not affected…” Tony George
Anthony Foyt IV will drive for Vision Racing despite a “Driving Under the Influence” charge levied in North Carolina last December.
Team co-owner Tony George said in the Indianapolis Star on Wednesday that the youngest Foyt will have an opportunity to present his side of the story before a decision about his permanent status is made.
IndyStar.com: AJ Foyt IV Keeps Ride
Foyt was charged with the crime December 10th in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina not far from his residence in Huntersville.
Run redlight pulls cops carside
Police pulled the 22 year old over for running a stoplight on red, but soon were conducting tests to determine his sobriety.
That led to DUI charges.
Foyt’s appearance in court on April 9th could become the pivot point for the young driver’s career. In some respects he has been living on “second chances” for a time already.
Anthony returned to the IndyCar driver’s seat as a sub for injured Dario Franchitti at the Indy Racing League season finale in Chicago last September.
He has a wealth of experience in the League with forty-eight starts under the Foyt Racing banner. The team is owned by his grandfather A J Foyt, Jr. the four-time Indy 500 winner.
Prior to Foyt IV’s open-seat reappearance last fall, he took a turn at the wheel of a NASCAR training ride with Ray Evernham’s team but failed to catch on permanently there.
Foyt not the only one with law trouble
Foyt’s incident preceded the recent woes of Al Unser, Jr…another open-wheeler with DUI concerns.
Unser was charged with alcohol-related infractions after allegedly side-swiping a car outside Las Vegas in late January.
The challenge for young Anthony and his team is to prevent him from following a similar path toward misery.
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6 Responses to “Anthony Foyt DUI Charges Confirmed”
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If the racing organizations were really smart, and I mean all of the racing organizations, they would stop any and all Non-Legal activities from their participants by kicking them out of and/or denying them a competition license when they have been convicited of ANYTHING.
Perhaps racing could actually set the standard that ALL sporting series should follow.
It is wonderful seeing guys beating their wives, doing drugs, driving while stupid (drunk), etc, and just getting a bigger contract the next cycle.
Perhaps if the bodies that run those sports (including racing) would stop allowing those people to compete and therefore making an income, this would all come to a screeching halt.
After all, it is not like there aren’t people (other competitors) there are available to take their place.
Perhaps it would really help to put sportmanship, back into sports!
And just what are we trying to teach our children? That it is okay to be an idiot and commit a crime (whatever the crime is) and all will be forgiven. In fact, you may just end up with a bigger contract next time!
Okay, I put this up, and feel responsible to respond to you.
First, Anthony Foyt has not been convicted of anything.
About a third of all DUI charges are thrown out by the judge for various reasons: overzealous policemen, malfunctioning breathalyzers, procedural breaches, etc.
Second, alcoholism (which nobody says is Anthony’s problem) is a disease to be treated and overcome, just like many other diseases such as depression and phobias that are cast by hardliners as “choices”.
Finally, what kind of example does it send to our kids to take a youngster of twenty-odd years and remove him or her from the only vocation they know, put them out of work permanently, and send them to skid-row…where presumably their addiction will become complete?
Think for a minute what kind of justice you want for yourself and your own family; and I’ll venture it’s somewhere shy of where you’re telling Tony George to go with this.
Thanks.
Allan
If he is found guilty, he pays the penalty. If he needs rehab, so be it.
He made a mistake and luckily no one else got hurt or killed. I do not see why the IRL needs to add punishment. The ‘extra’ punishment could come from his sponsor or team for poor judgement.The IRL keeps letting Al Unser jr back. Besides I think he should be more afraid of A J Foyt Sr.
I attended a funeral last week for my dear friends 18-year old son. He died from blunt-force trauma after slamming into a tree. It was not the first time this this young man drove a car when he had been drinking. I wish he had experienced serious consequences the first time it was known he had been drinking and driving. Maybe he would still be here to enjoy a bright future. If these drivers were arrested on a drug charge there would be little doubt about their driving career. I believe we excuse drunk/buzzed driving because most of us know we have done the same thing.
If you noticed I did say “convicted” in my post!
The fact of the matter is that ALL sports have a tendency of coddling their stars either past or future.
However, as long as the sports take a “Hey he didn’t kill anyone” approuch to the problem, whether it be drugs, alcohol, stupid behaviour, or anything else that places a dark cloud over the sport then it is detriminal to THAT SPORT.
And it does send a BAD message to our children.
Lookie me, I have been CONVICITED of (insert f-up here) and I still have a job, life and riches.
Of course if you, normal working class blue/white collar person, do the same thing, you will loose your license, and you may end up going to jail.
But because I am a SPORTS HERO / ROCK STAR / MOVIE STAR I don’t.
It is time that SPORTS, ALL SPORTS, put a stop to this behavour!
I would really feel sorry for Foyt, loosing his competition license, and make it so that he has to WORK for a living. Of course, I would feel even worse for to poor person that he hits and cripples or kills. But he hasn’t done that….YET!
And I can say that I have never driven while impaired. I learned a early and harsh lesson, even before I started driving.
And yes I agree, there are overzealous police, etc, and that is why I did say that the persons competition license should be removed if CONVICTED!
Perhaps, just perhaps, if the sanctioning body makes an example of a competitor that is “CONVICTED” of (insert stupid behavour here), by making it so that person cannot compete, then maybe we as fans of the sport would see an amazing drop in stupid behavour.
Whether that sport be baseball, football, or Auto Racing!
The entire issue of DUI is so emotional it’s difficult to know what the right answer is. No one should have their economic life taken from them for a mistake, a mistake that caused no harm. His risk was large and if found guilty his penalty will be commensurate with his degree of responsibility.
I can’t agree with a death penalty sentence (banishment from motorsports) for an infraction that hurt only himself. And you can’t convict someone for what might, I repeat MIGHT have happened. It’s just not our way.