HOUSTON (AP) Four-time Indianapolis 500 winner A.J. Foyt has been released from a Houston hospital more than three weeks after triple-bypass heart surgery.
Spokeswoman Anne Fornoro said Foyt was released from Baylor-St. Luke's Medical Center on Tuesday and is recovering at home. She says the Nov. 12 surgery was successful, but he developed serious complications and was kept on a ventilator for eight days to allow his lungs to recover full function.
In all, Foyt spent 25 days in the hospital after being admitted Nov. 7 with chest pains, including 10 days in intensive care. Fornoro said previously that doctors found blockages in three arteries in which Foyt previously had stents placed.
''It's been pretty rough but I guess I slept through the roughest part,'' said Foyt, who will turn 80 in January. ''I had some problems that most people don't have after open heart surgery so I made my doctors work extra hard but they saved my life. We've turned a corner so everything's pretty good. I've got a long way to go but I'm feeling better every day.''
Foyt is expected to make a full recovery.
Last year, Foyt had back surgery and left hip and right knee replacements. In 2012, he battled a life-threatening staph infection following surgery to remove bone spurs in his artificial left knee.
Earlier this year, Foyt announced his IndyCar team was expanding to two full-time cars in 2015 and that he had bought a new race shop in Indianapolis.
