A.J. Foyt on fear, his stem cell therapy and more

It’s been a long and wild ride, and A.J. Foyt has enjoyed nearly every second of it.

“I had a lot of fun,” the 82-year-old racing legend told IndyStar on Wednesday at his racing garage in Speedway. “If I passed out talking to you right now and fell on the floor, at least I made good money, had a happy life and what else can you ask for? So many people are so miserable with their jobs and that. I had a wonderful job doing what was fun.”

Foyt’s job — driving into racing's history books — provided him with a lifetime’s worth of close friends, amazing stories and thrilling adventures. But it also often required him to put his life on the line. 

"I guess I was a little bit crazy back in those days," Foyt, who walks with a limp but without assistance, said with a smile.

But being crazy was part of the job, he said. He needed it to overcome his fears. 

"A lot of race drivers you talk to these days say they've never been scared in racing," Foyt said. "Well, they're lying to you and they're lying to themselves. I cannot name you one race at one time or another that I didn't scare the hell out of myself. Honestly. I don't know if that's good or bad, but I'm just being honest with you."

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Despite those healthy fears, his long and prestigious racing career resulted in a laundry list of injuries and eventual ailments that would — and have — horrified doctors.

The four-time Indianapolis 500 champion has stared death and dismemberment in the face more times than he’d care to count, dealing with car wrecks, killer bees, a bulldozer accident, heart ailments and two staph infections. As a result, he’s nearly had his feet amputated, broken his back two or three times, has two false knees and a false hip, a titanium plate in his chest from open heart surgery and said he’ll be on antibiotics for the rest of his life because of the amount of metal he has inside of him.

But he's far from discouraged and fights to keep going with the same vigor and courage the colored his youth. One way he's done so recently is by undergoing stem cell therapy. Foyt said his wife, Lucy, who suffers from diabetes and arthritis, suggested that they both take on the treatment in order to try and find "the fountain of youth."

“I mainly did it for her,” Foyt said. “She got sugar diabetes real bad, and (is) pretty sick, but, of course, I did it for myself too, don’t get me wrong. But she’s really been suffering the last five or six years. So we just thought we’d try it.”

A.J. and Lucy Foyt spent seven days in Cancun, Mexico — the treatment is not performed in the United States — undergoing a therapy he said likely won’t take effect for another month at least. A.J. Foyt had adult stem cells injected into each shoulder and ankle, as well as into his blood. 

There’s no guarantees the treatment will help either of them, but the uncertainty doesn’t bother him.

“I figure if we gain something, fine, and if we don’t, well, I’ve lost before," Foyt said.

But giving Foyt an edge in his fight against injury, ailment and Father Time is a competitive fire that has burned within him his whole life. 

 A little more than a month ago, Foyt and fellow driving legend Dan Gurney were honored in Long Beach, Calif., for the 50th anniversary of their all-American victory at 24 Hours of Le Mans. Many racing greats attended the event, and Foyt was happy to see them, but he couldn't help but stack himself up one more time against his old rivals. 

“I guess I’m doing better than them,” Foyt said with a smile. “Poor Parnelli (Jones) has a lot of back trouble. Dan was in a wheelchair. Last three or four years I’ve been going in and out of them, but I’m still going pretty strong. So far I’m hanging in there pretty good. ... Every day’s a good day. And I guess that’s good when you’re getting ready to kick."

Follow IndyStar Motor Sports Insider Jim Ayello on Twitter and Instagram: @jimayello.