Racing driver and team owner · United States · Competition driver · Indianapolis 500 winner · not ownership

A.J. Foyt

1964 Sheraton-Thompson Special · Watson/Offy · race no. 1

The actual cream, red and blue number 1 Sheraton-Thompson Watson-Offenhauser that A.J. Foyt drove to win the 1964 Indianapolis 500, displayed indoors and viewed from the front left.
The actual 1964 Indianapolis 500-winning Sheraton-Thompson Watson-Offy, race no. 1, photographed at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum in May 2026. The painted 1 is its race number, not a registration plate.Photo: OctaviaCombi · CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photo details

Joyride serves the 4032 × 3024 Commons original JPEG byte-for-byte. No crop, resize, retouching, metadata removal, generation or vehicle reconstruction; a responsive frame may crop displayed edges.

A.J. Foyt speaking into a microphone at the 2019 Daytona 500.
A.J. Foyt2019 · Identification portraitZach Catanzareti Photo · CC BY 2.0.
Photo details

Joyride serves the current 1985 × 2754 Commons JPEG byte-for-byte. Commons records an earlier transfer from Flickr and a July 2020 precise crop; Joyride applies no additional crop, resize, retouching, metadata removal or generation. This identification portrait remains separate from OctaviaCombi’s actual-car photograph.

The final front-engine winner led almost three quarters of the race

Connection
Competition driver · Indianapolis 500 winner · not ownership
When
Indianapolis 500 victory on May 30, 1964
Identity
Individual 1964 Indianapolis 500-winning Sheraton-Thompson Special · Ansted-Thompson Racing entry · Watson chassis, Offenhauser engine · race no. 1

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s race ledger is unusually precise about A.J. Foyt’s 1964 winner. It names the car Sheraton-Thompson, the entrant Ansted-Thompson Racing and the make/model Watson/Offy. Foyt started fifth in race number 1, completed all 200 laps and led 146 of them. Those fields bind the driver, entrant and machine without requiring an ownership guess.

The race also marked a turning point. Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s historical account calls Foyt the last driver to win the 500 in a front-engined car. Rear-engined machines were already reshaping the field, yet the Watson-Offenhauser roadster carried him to his second Indianapolis victory and a recorded average of 147.350 mph.

OctaviaCombi’s May 12, 2026 museum photograph identifies the displayed car as Ansted-Thompson Racing’s 1964 Indy 500-winning Watson-Offenhauser piloted by Foyt. The image shows the complete cream, red and blue no. 1 from the front left. Joyride preserves that individual-car description and the museum-display context while making no claim about current ownership, untouched components or a game-compatible specification.

Documented custody

Where the car went next

  1. May 1964Fifth on the grid

    The official result records Foyt starting fifth in Ansted-Thompson Racing’s no. 1 Sheraton-Thompson Watson/Offy.

  2. May 30, 1964Two hundred laps and 146 in front

    Foyt completed the full 500 miles and led 146 laps, more than any other driver in the official result.

  3. May 30, 1964A second Indianapolis victory

    The win was Foyt’s second at Indianapolis and, by the Speedway’s own historical account, the last by a front-engined car.

  4. May 12, 2026The individual winner on display

    OctaviaCombi photographed the identified 1964-winning Watson-Offenhauser at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum.

Follow the evidence

Sources for this story

Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s official 1964 result binds Foyt, race no. 1, Sheraton-Thompson, Ansted-Thompson Racing and Watson/Offy, and records first place, 200 laps and 146 laps led. The Speedway’s historical account supplies the last-front-engine-winner context. OctaviaCombi identifies the photographed museum display as that winning individual car and licenses the photograph CC BY-SA 4.0. No personal ownership, current institutional title, untouched specification, chassis number, complete restoration history, exact Joyride catalog match or compatible game representation is claimed.

  • 1964 Indianapolis 500 Race ResultsIndianapolis Motor Speedway · official race record · reviewed 2026-10-12 · external source

    Foyt’s victory, fifth starting position, race no. 1, Sheraton-Thompson car name, Ansted-Thompson Racing entrant, Watson/Offy identity, 200 laps completed, 146 laps led and 147.350 mph recorded average.

  • Memory Lane: A.J. Foyt Wins 1964 Indianapolis 500Indianapolis Motor Speedway · 2018-05-04 · external source

    The rear-engine transition and Speedway characterization of Foyt as the final Indianapolis 500 winner in a front-engined car.

  • Ansted-Thompson Racing Watson-Offenhauser 1964 Indy 500 Winner - A.J. FoytWikimedia Commons · OctaviaCombi · photographed 2026-05-12 · external source

    The photographed museum display’s exact winning-car identity, photographer, capture date, original dimensions and CC BY-SA 4.0 reuse terms.

Reviewed

Why this is the actual car
  • Photo identity evidence

    The official result identifies Foyt’s winning no. 1 as the Sheraton-Thompson entered by Ansted-Thompson Racing and built as a Watson/Offy.

  • Photo identity evidence

    OctaviaCombi identifies the May 12, 2026 museum photograph as Ansted-Thompson Racing’s 1964 Indy 500-winning Watson-Offenhauser driven by Foyt and licenses the original CC BY-SA 4.0.

The matching photographer, venue, date and vehicle history establish the identification; the chassis stamp is not visible in these photographs.