The team was founded in 1965. During the USAC National Championship era it won three championships — in 1967, 1975, and 1979 — and two Indianapolis 500s, in 1967 and 1977, all with A. J. Foyt driving. Other drivers during this period included Al Unser (1965), George Snider (1966, 1969–1970, 1972–1974, 1978), Joe Leonard (1967), Jim Hurtubise (1967), Jim McElreath (1968, 1970), and Donnie Allison (1970–1971).
During its CART participation from 1979 to 1995, A. J. Foyt Enterprises seldom ran a full-season schedule through 1987, with Foyt himself driving the primary car. The team typically entered all three 500-mile races — Indianapolis, Michigan, and Pocono — plus selected oval events. Additional drivers at Indy during this period included George Snider, Davy Jones, Stan Fox, and Rocky Moran. At the 1987 Indianapolis 500 the team qualified four cars, with Foyt starting fourth and Fox finishing seventh.
In 1988 the team returned to a full-time schedule. Foyt recorded four top-five finishes between 1988 and 1990. A serious crash at Road America in 1990 left Foyt with severe leg injuries requiring lengthy rehabilitation. He returned in 1991 and retired in May 1993. The team fielded nine different drivers in 1992, then signed rookie Robby Gordon for 1993; Gordon recorded ten top-ten finishes including a second place at Mid-Ohio. Chip Ganassi also drove for the team in 1985.
For 1994, the team signed Davy Jones but parted ways after three races. Rookie Bryan Herta was picked up mid-month at Indianapolis, qualified, and finished ninth on race day before contesting four further races with the team. Eddie Cheever was hired to complete the 1994 season and remained for 1995 without notable results. At the 1995 Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix, Cheever led with just over one lap remaining when the car ran out of fuel — the team's closest approach to a CART victory. A. J. Foyt Enterprises never won a CART-sanctioned event; its best series result was second place, achieved on two occasions.
After leaving CART, the team won the IRL championship in 1996 with Scott Sharp and in 1998 with Kenny Bräck. Bräck also won the 1999 Indianapolis 500 for the team.
In 2006 the team signed experienced driver Felipe Giaffone with hopes of a competitive return, but parted ways after the eighth race of the season. Jeff Bucknum completed the year. In 2007, Larry Foyt became team manager and Darren Manning was signed as driver; Manning took three top-five finishes over two seasons, including a second place at Watkins Glen International in 2008. Vítor Meira replaced Manning for 2009, but was injured in that year's Indianapolis 500; Ryan Hunter-Reay and Paul Tracy drove the remainder of the season. Meira returned in 2010 before parting ways at season's end.
Takuma Sato joined the team in 2013 and won that year at Long Beach. In October 2014, the team announced a second full-time car (No. 41) for Jack Hawksworth starting in 2015. In 2017 the team switched from works Honda engines — used since 2006 — to customer Chevrolet power. During the 2021 season, the team fielded full-time drivers Sébastien Bourdais and Dalton Kellett alongside part-timers Charlie Kimball and J. R. Hildebrand in spare chassis designated for Indianapolis only. In 2023, A. J. Foyt Racing entered a technical partnership with Team Penske.
A. J. Foyt began fielding NASCAR teams in 1973 with a part-time schedule driving a Purolator-sponsored Chevrolet numbered 50. Over the 1970s he made limited appearances, collecting one pole and nine top-ten finishes. Ron Hutcherson was the first driver other than Foyt to run the car; Johnny Rutherford drove for the team in 1978. Through the 1980s Foyt was almost the sole driver, switching to the No. 14 with Valvoline sponsorship in 1983 and recording his final career top-five at Talladega two years later in a Copenhagen-sponsored car. In 1989 Tracy Leslie drove two races; in 1991 Mike Chase drove the car while Foyt himself did not compete, finishing no better than 25th. The team was inactive until the inaugural Brickyard 400 in 1994, where Foyt qualified 40th and finished 30th. Attempts at the Brickyard in 1995 and 1996 failed to qualify, ending Foyt's driving career.
For the 2000 season, Mike Bliss was hired as driver of the No. 14 Conseco-sponsored Pontiac Grand Prix. After Bliss failed to qualify for three consecutive races following Daytona, he was released and briefly replaced by Dick Trickle, who then left for another offer. Rick Mast joined after he and several crew members departed the bankrupt Larry Hedrick Motorsports team; Mast remained for the rest of the season, recording two top-tens at Pocono and Bristol. Ron Hornaday Jr. drove in 2001 with one top-ten finish and was dismissed at season's end.
Stacy Compton drove in 2002 with only three top-20 finishes before departing. P. J. Jones then ran the Sirius Satellite Radio at the Glen and finished fourth — the team's best NASCAR Cup result. Mike Wallace subsequently posted a tenth at Bristol. The team switched to Dodge with engines from Evernham Motorsports for 2003, with Larry Foyt driving; Conseco's bankruptcy limited the operation to one car, which qualified for 20 races with a best finish of 16th. Larry Foyt qualified for three races in 2004 without major sponsorship, after which the team was effectively inactive. Foyt sold the owner's points to ppc Racing that season. A. J. Foyt Racing officially closed its Cup team in 2006 following an auction of NASCAR equipment in August.
The team also fielded entries in the NASCAR Busch Series, with Larry Foyt driving the No. 14 Harrah's Chevrolet in 2001 (finishing 22nd in points) and recording two top-tens in 2002.
This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.
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