The team was founded in 1965 and won three National Championships (in 1967, 1975, and 1979) and two Indianapolis 500s (in 1967 and 1977), all with A. J. Foyt at the wheel.
During the CART years, A. J. Foyt Enterprises seldom ran a full-season schedule. The team ran partial schedules through 1987, with A. J. Foyt himself driving the primary car. The team usually entered all three 500-mile races — Indianapolis, Michigan, and Pocono — and selected races, mostly on ovals. Additional drivers were entered, particularly at Indy, including George Snider, Davy Jones, Stan Fox, Rocky Moran, and others. At the 1987 Indianapolis 500, the Foyt team notably qualified four team cars, with Foyt starting 4th and Fox finishing 7th.
In 1988 the team returned to a full-time schedule. Foyt posted four top-five finishes between 1988 and 1990. A devastating crash at Road America in 1990 saw Foyt suffer serious leg injuries, requiring lengthy rehabilitation. Foyt returned in 1991 and retired in May 1993. The team ran nine different drivers in 1992, then signed promising rookie Robby Gordon for the 1993 season. Gordon notched ten top-ten finishes including a 2nd place at Mid-Ohio.
For 1994, the team initially signed Davy Jones but parted ways after only three races. At Indianapolis they picked up rookie Bryan Herta mid-month; Herta posted a 9th-place finish on race day and ran four additional races. The team then hired Eddie Cheever to finish out 1994. Cheever stayed for 1995 but saw little success.
A. J. Foyt Enterprises never won a CART-sanctioned event during its participation from 1979 to 1995. At the 1995 Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix, Cheever was leading with just over one lap to go when the car ran out of fuel — the closest the team came to winning a CART race. The team's best CART series finish was 2nd place, achieved on two occasions.
Foyt Enterprises won IRL titles in 1996 with Scott Sharp and in 1998 with Kenny Bräck. Bräck also won the Indianapolis 500 for the team in 1999.
In 2006 the team attempted a revival with experienced driver Felipe Giaffone and a more level playing field brought by a spec engine. After a strong start, the team struggled following the Indianapolis 500 and parted ways with Giaffone after the eighth race; Jeff Bucknum was brought in for the remainder of the year.
In 2007 Foyt announced that Larry Foyt would take over as team manager, with Darren Manning signed as driver. Manning captured three top-five finishes across two seasons, including a second place at Watkins Glen International in 2008. High-profile veteran Vítor Meira then replaced Manning for 2009. Meira was sponsored by ABC Supply and was injured in the 2009 Indianapolis 500; Ryan Hunter-Reay and Paul Tracy took over driving duties for the remainder of that season. Meira returned in 2010 but split from the team after the season.
Japanese driver Takuma Sato joined Foyt's team in 2013 and won that year at Long Beach. The team announced in October 2014 that it would field a second car — No. 41 — full-time in 2015 for Jack Hawksworth.
In 2017, A. J. Foyt Racing switched to customer Chevrolet engines after eleven seasons on works Honda engines since 2006.
For the balance of the 2021 IndyCar campaign, Foyt Enterprises fielded two full-time drivers: Sébastien Bourdais alongside Dalton Kellett, with part-timers Charlie Kimball and J. R. Hildebrand in spare chassis designated for Indianapolis only. In 2023 Foyt entered a technical partnership with Team Penske.
A. J. Foyt began fielding NASCAR teams in 1973 part-time, driving the Purolator-sponsored Chevrolet as No. 50. He drove on a very limited schedule throughout the seventies, picking up one pole and nine top-tens. Ron Hutcherson was the first driver besides Foyt to drive the car; Johnny Rutherford drove for the team in 1978. In the 1980s Foyt was almost the sole driver, switching to No. 14 with a Valvoline sponsorship in 1983, and posting his final career top-5 at Talladega two years later in the Copenhagen-sponsored car. In 1989, Tracy Leslie drove for the team in two races. Foyt did not drive in 1991; he allowed Mike Chase to drive, whose best finish was no better than 25th.
Foyt did not field a team again until the inaugural Brickyard 400 in 1994, where he qualified 40th and finished 30th in the No. 50. He attempted the Brickyard in 1995 and 1996 but did not qualify for either race.
During the 1999 season Foyt revived the Cup operation, hiring rookie Mike Bliss in the No. 14 Conseco-sponsored Pontiac Grand Prix. Bliss qualified for the Daytona 500 but after failing to qualify for the next three races was released, briefly replaced by Dick Trickle, then by Rick Mast — who had left the bankrupt Larry Hedrick Motorsports. Mast remained for the rest of the season and recorded two top-10s at Pocono and Bristol Motor Speedway.
In 2001, Ron Hornaday Jr. was selected as driver but posted only one top-10, at Las Vegas, and was dismissed at season's end. Stacy Compton drove in 2002; after only three top-20 finishes Compton left, and P. J. Jones took over at the Sirius Satellite Radio at the Glen, posting a fourth-place finish — the team's best-ever NASCAR result. Mike Wallace then drove, posting a 10th-place run at Bristol.
For 2003 the team switched its Cup effort to Dodge, with engines provided by Evernham Motorsports. Foyt qualified for only 20 races with a best finish of 16th and finished 41st in points. The team officially closed its Cup program in 2006 following an auction of NASCAR equipment in August.
In 2001 Foyt started a Busch team — the No. 14 Harrah's Chevrolet — driven by Larry Foyt. Despite failing to finish in the top ten, the team finished 22nd in points. In 2002 the team had two top-tens and improved two spots in the standings.
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