Phoenix to honor Foyt with race winner’s trophy

Phoenix International Raceway will honor one of the greats of Indy car racing by unveiling the A.J. Foyt Champions Trophy on March 30. The trophy will be presented to the winner of the Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix when the Verizon IndyCar Series returns to PIR to race under the lights April 2 (8:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN).

Foyt won the inaugural race at PIR, leading every lap of the Phoenix 100 on March 22, 1964. He went on to win a record 67 Indy car races and seven Indy car championships as a driver, including the Indianapolis 500 in 1961, 1964, 1967 and 1977.

Tickets for the Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix race weekend, the first Verizon IndyCar Series race at the 1.022-mile oval since 2005, are available at PhoenixRaceway.com. Action begins with practice and qualifying on April 1. The opening practice (1-2:15 p.m. ET) and qualifying (5-6 p.m. ET) will be telecast live on NBCSN. The final practice session (9:15-9:45 p.m. ET) will be streamed on RaceControl.IndyCar.com.