Devlin DeFrancesco is headed into the final races of his two-year contract with Andretti Autosport and finds himself in the enviable position of having four of the 10 full-time teams interested in adding him to their rosters.
The Canadian-Italian will leave the No. 29 Andretti Steinbrenner Racing Honda behind next month, and if all goes according to plan, he’ll move across to a new home with names that range from Carpenter to Coyne to Foyt to Juncos. A starring performance at the recent IMS road course race, where he was Andretti’s top qualifier and charged from fifth to first on the opening lap, has done wonders for his value in the paddock, and with the strong commercial support that comes with the 23-year-old from Toronto in tow, DeFrancesco has emerged as a significant player on the free agent market.
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“Obviously, the last race was a big step forward,” DeFrancesco told RACER. “I’m looking forward to finishing the season in a strong way with Andretti Steinbrenner and letting my management team of Sean Jones, the Steinbrenner family, and Michael Maroney take care of the rest. I’m just trying to finish as best and as strong as I can and keep my head down.”
The good news for DeFrancesco is that he has several teams who are keen to have him their cars, but those teams are in talks with other drivers as well. Before a firm plan for the future can be made, a few signings will need to take place that will clear the path for DeFrancesco to sign a deal of his own. In the meantime, he’s focused on keeping the Brickyard momentum going and turning more heads on Sunday at World Wide Technology Raceway.
“I think we’ll have pretty good cars here and I think we can do a good job here,” he said. “We had quite a successful test here last week, and I like this oval in particular. So I’m really looking forward to this and nailing a good finish for myself and the 29 car crew.”