Come May, Foyt took a pair of rooms at the Speedway Motel, one for sleeping and another filled with exercise equipment. He sat out the first two days of practice, took a few shakedown laps on day three, hit 216.5 on day five, jazzed it to 220.751 on the Thursday before qualifying opened and cut a Friday lap at 223.925.
The fastest guys — Rick Mears, Emerson Fittipaldi and the Andrettis, Mario and Michael — were over 225, but Foyt was in the ballpark.
And on Pole Day, Foyt brought the house down.
The weather was hot and muggy, so the optimal time to qualify would be early, before the sun made the track slick. Luck was with Foyt: Jim Gilmore, his friend and sponsor, stood in for him at the traditional qualifying lottery, and pulled a “3.” The only two cars with lower numbers were backups entered by other teams, and would go unused.
When qualifications opened at 11 a.m., Foyt went out immediately. Each lap he made was faster than the one before. He opened with a 221.171, jumped to 222.211, hit 222.932 on his third lap and closed with a 223.469. His average speed was 222.443 mph.
He was the oldest man ever to qualify for an Indianapolis 500, limping and feeling all of those 56 years.
Everyone in the place choked up, Foyt included. Responding to the crowd’s applause, he said, “I love you dearly.”
By 12:45 p.m., 18 drivers had qualified, but none threatened Foyt. Mario Andretti’s run of 221.818 mph had him second. But the 19th man out was Rick Mears, the best qualifier of his era with six Indy poles.
At 12:51 p.m., Mears set out coolly and, just like Foyt, went quicker with each successive lap. But Mears was faster: 223.447, 224.221, 224.344 and 224.444, for an average speed of 224.113 mph.
At a little past 4 p.m., rain fell, and that was that. The top three qualifiers for the 1991 Indianapolis 500 were Mears, Foyt and Andretti. Many consider it the best front row ever.
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