A. J. Foyt

Anthony Joseph Foyt IV was born on May 25, 1984, in Hockley, Texas. Like his namesake, Foyt IV started driving race cars at an early age. When he was nine, his uncle Jerry (Foyt's son) asked Foyt IV to race a junior dragster. From this first driving experience, Foyt IV moved on to gokarts, where he quickly demonstrated his driving prowess. On the karting circuit, he won races and championships in both the International Karting Federation (IKF) and the World Karting Association (WKA). In 2001, he moved from karting to the Formula Continental Series, where he won the 2001 southwest regional championship and was named Rookie of the Year. Foyt IV also finished third in the point standings of this series, despite the fact that he had to miss three events to fulfill his commitment to working on his grandfather's Indy pit crew.

Foyt IV's pit-crew experiences exposed him to Indy Racing League cars, and also gave him the opportunity to test the cars out at the track. However, it was not long before he was driving his own. Although Foyt initially did not encourage Foyt IV to follow in his footsteps, once he saw his grandson's talent, he expressed his faith in his grandson the best way he knew how—by giving him an Indy car for his 18th birthday. The gift did not go to waste, as Foyt IV used it in 2002 to win the inaugural Infiniti Pro Series championship. The Infiniti Pro Series is an IRL-sanctioned series designed to groom young drivers to race in regular IRL competition. In October 2002, shortly after the conclusion of the series, Foyt IV passed his rookie test for his Indy Racing League license. In 2003, Foyt IV will enter regular IRL competition driving for his grandfather.