INDYCAR: 4-Time Indy Winner To Replace Trump In Pace Car?

IndyCar

INDYCAR: 4-Time Indy Winner To Replace Trump In Pace Car?

It's believed Mari Hulman George will make the offer to Foyt on Friday and Indy's first 4-time winner was traveling to the Kentucky Derby and could not be reached for comment.

Robin Miller | Posted May 05, 2011 Indianapolis, IN

It's hard to think of a more deserving Indy Centennial pace car driver than A.J. Foyt. (LAT)

Want to see A.J. Foyt drive the Pace Car this month for the Indianapolis 500 and Indianapolis Motor Speedway's 100th year anniversary? So do most of the fans who voiced their opinion Thursday on racing web sites after Donald Trump backed out.

In the first big controversy of May, IMS officials got a reprieve from all the people angry about Trump's choice when The Donald announced he was too busy to fulfill his obligations.

It's believed Mari Hulman George will make the offer to Foyt on Friday and Indy's first 4-time winner was traveling to the Kentucky Derby and could not be reached for comment.

As a close friend of the Hulman family it's hard to imagine Super Tex turning down Tony Hulman's daughter's request to wheel the Chevy Camaro on May 29th.

In the meantime, IMS president Jeff Belskus was fielding offers from all over the world to replace Trump.

"I've been over-whelmed with all the emails," said Belskus, who heard from legendary owner Andy Granatelli and Justin Beiber's manager, to name a few. "I've received emails from people I've never heard of so I imagine a lot of them are just fans.

"It's wild but we will probably have a replacement before the weekend."

It's believed that INDYCAR series sponsor IZOD asked IMS officials to get Trump the drive but the Speedway has come under fire from fans to Baptist ministers to democrats.

Trump recently pressed President Barack Obama to prove his birthplace, which created a media firestorm. Speedway officials felt the backlash and were inundated by complaints on social media, including a Facebook page called “Dump Trump.”