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INDIANAPOLIS — Sixty years later, and the memory still shakes A.J. Foyt to his core. His friend’s arm dangling, lifeless, as the car burned. Doctors would later say that fan-favorite Pat O’Connor probably died instantly from a skull fracture suffered when his car flipped upside down amid a horrific, 15-car, Lap 1 pileup. But that was little consolation to a 23-year-old Foyt as he circled the track, easing up the gas, a rookie just trying to survive his first Indianapolis 500. He considered O’Connor a mentor as well as a friend. The jovial Hoosier, who appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated the week before the race, taught Foyt the ropes of racing on high-banking tracks, including Indianapolis
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