IRL: Brack and IMS team up to honor AJ Foyt

BRACK AND INDY TEAM UP TO HONOR RACING LEGEND A.J. FOYT

INDIANAPOLIS May 3, 2007 -- For years, Indianapolis 500 champion Kenny Brack has entertained race fans all over the world with his unique guitar playing and interpretations of songs. Working with Indianapolis Motor Speedway to honor old friend A.J. Foyt, Brack wrote a witty tribute to his former Indy 500 winning team owner entitled "Legend of the Speedway." The song is on the highly anticipated CD "Brack , greatest hits volume 1" being released today on brackmusic.com. The CD will be sold at the Speedway gift stores throughout May.

"Writing it came easy to me," said Brack, who actually wrote the song in 2003, four years after he won Indy with Foyt. "Come on," he laughed, "is there any easier character to write about? I'm just surprised no one has written a song about him before."

"I always knew Kenny could play the guitar, but after hearing this song, I found out he can write too," said Indy's first four-time winner. "I thought the song was funny and different, just like Kenny. I really appreciate that he wrote a song about me but I don't know about that part about fitting in the race car. Wait till I see him at the Speedway! To be truthful, I think the world of him, and not just because we had a lot of success together. I respect him. He's good people...and he's one helluva a race driver."

The CD will also feature the songs that Brack and singer/songwriter Franc Aledia wrote, recorded and produced over the last two and a half years--songs that captured life with and without racing.

Along with the release of the CD, Brack and Niche Productions partner Allen Farst created a music video for the "Legend of the Speedway" which can be viewed on brackmusic.com. It will be featured at the Speedway during May as part of the celebration surrounding Foyt's 50th anniversary in Indy car racing. The music video will be played on 35 Jumbo Tron displays, six times a day, at the historic speedway. It can also be seen on the front page of IndyCar.com, the official website of IndyCar racing.

Brack and Niche Productions had three days to shoot, edit and complete the rock video. Recounting the making of the video only adds to the lore surrounding the Speedway and the spirit it embodies.

As Brack stood on the track he once called home he prepared this time not to race but to honor his good friend and former team owner A.J. It had rained for eight days straight at Indy, but on this very special day, the sun appeared to welcome him.

"Look at this day! Even Mother Nature loves A.J," marveled Brack as he walked down Gasoline Alley towards the set. "It's like a gift from Heaven, like it's meant to be," he told Farst, who directed and edited the video. Brack had only one day to film his part. When the day was done, the rain resumed.

Appearing from the shadows of the grandstands five historic race cars slowly, one by one, were rolled on to the front stretch of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It looked like Indy's version of a scene from the movie "Field of Dreams" when the angels of baseball history appeared from the cornfield, happy to be back together on the stage they dominated, in a game they loved to play. The five cars with five Indy 500 championships between them stood unusually silent as Kenny and his new band Brack performed their debut single "Legend of the Speedway." Spirits stirred as the cameras rolled.

"To have all five of A.J's winning cars on the track was a special day," said Farst. "The fact that A.J. sent all of his old uniforms and original helmets up for the video was even cooler. We went to put the 1961 helmet on Tyler Walker [playing young A.J.] and dirt came out of it. Everyone felt the pressure from that point on that the video needed to reflect a champion."

Brack and his new songwriting partner and Brack lead singer Aledia were finishing up on their long awaited CD when Kenny pulled A.J.'s song out of the drawer and played it for Aledia.

"Kenny trying to imitate a Texas accent in his Swedish accent was it for me. I fell in love with it," said Aledia, who has written songs appearing on MTV and film soundtracks. They quickly recorded the song and presented it to A.J.'s camp and the IRL IndyCar Series, sanctioning body for the Indy 500. Brack never thought that it would serve as the soundtrack to something as historical as A.J.'s 50th anniversary but who better to immortalize the man behind all the Indy 500 victories in song than the songwriter who won one for him?

"Kenny Brack is a true multi-talent," said Tony George, owner of Indianapolis Motor Speedway. "He is a talented race car driver, songwriter and musician and he thrives as a coach and mentor of young people. One particular song on the (Brack) CD, "Legend of the Speedway" is a testimony of his strong and unique relationship with A.J. Foyt and his respect for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. As an Indy 500 champion, Kenny ensured his own legendary status."

-credit: ajfr