Racing Legend Changes His Team’s Car Number From 88 To 55 Due To Comparisons To White Supremacy Slogan

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AJ Foyt is a legend in the world of auto racing. The man they call Super Tex has won the Indianapolis 500 four times, the Daytona 500, 24 Hours of Daytona and the 24 hours of Le Mans.

However, Foyt has not has had quite as much success in recent years as a team owner. The team began in 1967 and he won two of his four Indy 500 victories under its banner. But they’ve not won the 500 or a series championship since the turn of the century.

Despite those issues, the 88-year-old Foyt could’ve never imagined the problem he ran into earlier this week.

A.J. Foyt Switches Team’s New Car Number To Avoid White Supremacist Ties

AJ Foyt racing recently announced that rookie driver Benjamin Pedersen would drive the No. 88 car alongside teammate Santino Ferrucci in the No. 14 in 2023.

But after revealing the new car, the team ran into some backlash.

“After the reveal of the No. 88 livery last week, it was brought to our attention that the combination of our two individually entered numbers carries certain ideologic and symbolic references.

A.J. Foyt Racing does not condone nor support any such ideologies or symbols and to avoid any reprehensible associations we have changed the entry number from 88 to 55.” – A.J. Foyt Racing Statement

Nick Bromberg of Yahoo Sports further explained the changed.

1488 is recognized as a hate symbol by the Anti-Defamation League. The 14 is short for a 14-word slogan used by white supremacists and 88 is used as code for “Heil Hitler” as the letter H is the eighth word of the alphabet. – via Yahoo Sports

Not all fans were happy with the change.

Though others supported the change.

Ultimately, the decision probably only registers on an extremely small scale. But given Ferrucci’s suspect past, it’s probably best for all if A.J. Foyt racing separates itself from anything remotely controversial.

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Clay Sauertieg is an Editor at BroBible. A Pennsylvania based writer, he largely focuses on college football, motorsports and soccer in addition to other sports and culture news.