A.J. Foyt remembers Tom Carnegie

Tom Carnegie, a veteran broadcaster and the voice of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to generations of Indy 500 fans, died Friday. He was 91.

Foyt, who won the Indy 500 four times, had this to say about Carnegie:

“People like Tom,  you can’t replace them. I thought so much of him and one of the highlights I remember is when people would break records and you’d hear him say in that voice, ‘And it’s a new track record.’  No one is going to replace that. He just had a voice that you’re not going to replace and it’s a shame to see someone like that pass on. He was at Indy so many years and he loved Indy so much. We were very good friends. I thought the world of him and I think he thought the world of me.

“When I retired in ’93, [May 15, Pole Day]  it was so hard because I was choking up and Tom was right there with me. I think he hated to see me retire.  He told me later, not on the p.a., ‘Well there comes a time when we all have to do this AJ.  I know how hard it was for you to do that and I just appreciate you doing the interview with me.’  I would rather have done it with him than anybody else even though I’ve got a lot of good friends there. He knew how to ask questions and when to ask. He knew when something was bad and he just knew how to do it. I think it’s born in you, it’s not something you learn.
 

“I did a lot of interviews with him and through the years, I’d be walking down the pit lane and he’d say, ‘Come over here A.J., talk to me’ and I always did. Anytime he wanted anything from me, I was more than glad to do it for him. I’m going to miss him, we’re all going to miss him.”