A.J. Foyt CHICKEN?!

J

judas1

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check this out:p


Fired? Check yes or no
By Marty Smith, Turner Sports Interactive July 25, 2002
10:56 AM EDT (1456 GMT)




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Hello, and welcome to seventh grade.



Marty Smith

Remember when you were younger, "going steady" with that cute little girl in homeroom class and suddenly, in your frivolous pubescent mind you get bored with her and MUST break it off immediately?

Scared to death and too gutless to face her, you wait until that evening to ring her on the telephone and break the disheartening news.

She is emotionally crushed, but rather than be there to offer a comforting hug as she sobs uncontrollably, you simply hang up the phone and carry on.

In a nutshell, that was the method A.J. Foyt used to inform Stacy Compton he would no longer be driving the No. 14 Pontiac.

That's as pathetic as it gets. You don't run a legitimate business like that.



Stacy Compton Credit: Autostock

Wednesday afternoon, I bolted through the door of my house, starving plumb to death and frothing at the mouth over the foot-long turkey sub I clutched in my left hand. Just as I crammed that scrumptious first bite into my mouth, I noticed that the message light on my answering machine showed a blinking "4."

Four messages in 10 minutes? What the...? They all said precisely the same thing:

"MartDawg, you hear about Stacy, man? Foyt mailed him a letter telling him he was fired. That's some (two-word expletive), bro."

Mail him a letter? That's even worse than the seventh grade breakup phone call. How cold could a guy be?

I simply couldn't believe it. Would such a renowned racing legend, known for his toughness and grit, stoop so low? I wouldn't believe it until I heard it for myself, straight from the source. So I called Stacy, left him a message and waited. Minutes later he called back. Immediately, I knew it was true.

"Yeah buddy, he did send me a letter in the mail," Compton said. "The thing of it is, he sent it out last Thursday, so that it would be here Monday when I got home from New Hampshire. Everybody knew about it but me."


Compton finished 30th at Loudon -- the last guy in the lead lap. Credit: Autostock
Foyt should be ashamed.

I'll admit, I'd be taken aback by such a cowardly deed were it administered to any elite driver, but Compton is different.

I've watched him race since I was 10, covered his career with the written word since I was 19 and sought advice on myriad subjects throughout our relationship.

Put simply, they don't make them any nicer than Stacy Compton. He's a homeboy, born and raised in rural Virginia and hasn't forgotten where he came from. He's genuinely kind and caring, a rarity in today's backstabbing, me-first society.

Plus, given proper equipment he can drive his rear off.

Lord knows Foyt didn't give him ample equipment.

If he had, he wouldn't have had to write such a pathetic letter.
 
I read that and what a bunch of bull Aj foyt racing is. Stacy is a good person and like Marty said can drive his butt off in good equipment but AJ's stuff is crap. I feel sorry for Mike Wallce having to drive that car i bet some of his fan are not liking that situation, but hey he is in a ride full time for the rest of the year so they can be happy for that. i hope that Mike does really well and at the end of the year he gets a good ride come his way and he leave AJ in the dust just like Aj did to Stacy
 
That whole situation says more about Foyt and his third-rate operation than it does about Compton and his abilities.
 
Marty Smith? Why do I get the feeling AJ was winning races before this guy was born? AJ was winning races before I was born for gosh sakes!!!!

AJ Foyt, Daytona 500 Winner, 4 time Indy 500 winner. A record 67 Indy Car wins. A record 7 Indy Car Championships. 7 NASCAR wins. 41 USAC stock car wins. 50 sprint, midget, and dirt wins. International Motorsports Hall of Fame Member.

Marty Smith who?:p
 
I like that article. Of course Foyt can't face Stacey face-to-face. B/c he knows the problem is his own cars, not Stacey.

My only question is, who's the next talent to get their career doused with that #14 team. Look at how driver's like Mike Bliss and Ron Hornaday had to prove themselves again after driving that car. If Mike Wallace is being talked to about driving that car, he better know what he's getting into.
 
71fan,

AJ Foyt is an experienced racer with a impressive past, but what does that do for him now.

What does he bring to the sport now, and really, does he really belong here? No matter what you were, to stay in this sport you have to stay competitive. AJ Foyt's cup team is not competitive, and when he gets frustrated that he can't reclaim the days of old, he tries putting the blame of his recent failure on other people's shoulders.

AJ Foyt was, emphasis on the was, a great racer and a great talent. But that doesn't mean he can jump into any racing series he wants and be a successful team owner.
 
His efforts of late HAVE been dismal, but when weighed against his contributions.....well ya know it ain't because he ain't trying.

Having dealt with contractural stuff, registered and certified letters are commonplace (along with telegrams) with many contracts calling for communication to be handled in this way.

I've gotten them myself, and perhaps when young Mr Smith eventually gets his non-renewal of contract notice via the mail he will better understand that it is simply the way biz is done.

Implying that AJ is "chicken", or that his biz practice is out of the ordinary is like implying that the moon is made of green cheese.
 
71 fan,

I dont believe that communications are done this way normally. I still find it hard to believe the man had the stuff sent out on thursday so stacey got the mail when he got home from the weekend. maybe it is normal after youre told, that i'll agree with, but not as the first source of information that youre fired:rolleyes:
 
Hey Jude......oooh I could have fun with this but I wont....I'm a real sicko.....I'll send ya a PM....anyways....

Marty Smith claims that Stacy said this...."Everybody knew about it but me."

So maybe there was no conversation over the weekend, but according to the Roanoke Times, AJ said this back about the 17th in regards to Stacy signing a two year Busch deal....."I don’t know what we’re going to do,” Foyt said. “I don’t know if my people want (that). I think they might want somebody to concentrate on one car. I’m not sure. I have to talk to them about it and what we’re going to do. I haven’t made a decision either way.”

Looks to me like maybe Stacy thumbed his nose at the big guy and the big guy retaliated.
 
i can see that, but wouldnt he get more pleasure telling him face to face after the race or somethin. it doesnt seem like he retaliated if he was afraid, ya know.
 
That's what's so funny about Smith's junk. AJ scared? Yea right.

Or maybe he was. Maybe AJ figured that he might want to pinch Stacy's neck off if he got to close to him:D :D :D
 
I'm glad for Stacy Compton's sake that he did have that Busch ride! Had he just been racing the #14 this year, his name would probably dissappeared out of the sport once he lost that ride b/c everybody would have thought he can't race any more.


And I'm sorry, but I don't buy this letter-in-the-mail bs. It just goes to show how everyone has started convincing themselves that owning a race team is a business. That's not how racing should be. Sure, in order for a team to thrive, it needs to run like a business, but the people in that business have to have good communication b/w one another in order for that team to gel. Look at Rudd's situation now, one reason why that team is struggling this year is b/c Rudd and Yates don't communicate well. They speak to eachother every month and a half or so. When the driver has problems, he has to wait a month for them to even be addressed. That's what it sounds like is going on with AJ Foyts team. He owns it, he hires a driver to race for his *crappy* team, and it if doesn't work out he feels it's no problem giving the driver the shoulder... b/c it's business. If that's all it is, then it's a good idea to get out of that situation before it's too late anyway.
 
i don't understand what the big deal is, would it have made Compton feel any better if he had been told by A.J.?, he would still be pissed off and dissapointed, only he would have wanted to argue with him, the problem is not JUST A.J.'s cars, Compton ain't exactly a great driver in the first place, 2nd rate driver+2nd rate cars = unsuccessful
 
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