Foyt trying out stem-cell therapy

Perhaps A.J. Foyt’s greatest title isn’t first four-time Indianapolis 500 winner. Maybe it’s: survivor. Foyt, whose list of injuries is almost as long as that of his legendary racing achievements, had right foot toe surgery Wednesday – just days after stem cell therapy in Mexico. So the winner of Phoenix International Raceway’s debut event in 1964 won’t be at Saturday night’s Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix.

Pain in a smashed smaller toe – remnant of a devastating 1990 crash through a dirt embankment at Wisconsin’s Road America course when his brakes failed -was so severe Foyt considered amputation.

Foyt, 82, admits he “probably waited too long” to try the stem cell therapy, which isn’t approved in the U.S. Doctors removed stomach tissue and he explained “it takes something like 10 weeks to grow back to produce the stem cells.”

Adult stem cells can grow and become part of a specific tissue. Foyt mentioned retired NFL quarterbacks Peyton Manning and Dan Pastorini as two athletes the procedure helped. Foyt likely won’t feel the effects of injections into his shoulders or ankles, two areas the treatment is targeting to relieve pain and gain strength and functionality, for three months.

Typical for Foyt, though, he didn’t allow his ailments to keep him from completely revamping his two-car ABC Supply Co.-sponsored team after an unsuccessful 2016.

Out: drivers Takuma Sato (now with Michael Andretti’s team) and Jack Hawksworth (not in IndyCar). In: former Andretti driver Carlos Munoz, and Conor Daly, both 25, in only his second full season. Foyt changed to Chevrolet engines, from Honda, and moved Daly’s crew to a shop almost in sight of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, while Munoz’ team operates from Foyt’s traditional Houston base.

Sato won the 2013 Long Beach Grand Prix but Foyt called him “a little weak” and “we were just having too many crashes.”

Foyt’s first instructions to Munoz and Daly?

“I told them when we started testing: ‘We’re not here to set a record or see how fast we can run. We’re here to get the cars to where they drive very comfortable.

With only a few widely recognized driver names to help sell tickets to the evening headliner, PIR is trying to compensate with a near non-stop Saturday afternoon.

The 100-lap USAC Silver Crown event features front-engine cars that are a reminder of Indy 500 cars before the early 1960s “rear-engine revolution.” Some of Indy’s greatest drivers, including Foyt, came up in similar cars.

Chris Windom, defending Silver Crown champion, has won three consecutive races (including the last two in 2016). All, however, were on dirt tracks.

Vintage open-wheel cars will be displayed