Racing icons AJ Foyt and Dan Gurney are among the five people who will be inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame this October, adding extra lustre to the former's 50 years in motorsport. source: crash.net Also elected were mechanical engineer Charles King - who was inducted posthumously - renowned auto designer Sergio Pininfarina and former Toyota chairman Shoichiro Toyoda. Foyt, who is celebrating his 50th year in Indycar racing, shared the spotlight with Gurney in 1967 when they partnered to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans in a Ford GT-40. He is the only driver to have won the Indianapolis 500, Daytona 500 and 24 Hours of Le Mans. The four-time Indianapolis 500 champion also bagged 67 Indycar victories and seven national championships. Overall, he has won twelve national titles and 172 major races in a career spanning four decades. Although AJ himself has cut back on his time behind the wheel, AJ Foyt Racing currently fields Darren Manning in the IndyCar Series and has three cars entered for the 91st Indianapolis 500 in May. "I used to read books about AJ Foyt when I was younger, and he's still racing," Rahal Letterman rival Jeff Simmons said in tribute, "I remember the way he used to manhandle a car and make it do what he wanted to do. "Driving for him was a great honour and, without him, I wouldn't have the opportunity to drive in the IndyCar Series. I drove his Indy Pro Series car [in 2004], but he allowed me to drive his IndyCar Series car for rookie orientation.''
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