Larry Foyt has found lightning in a bottle this year with Santino Ferrucci and the No. 14 Chevy.
He’s adding a new bolt of energy next season with the incoming talents of David Malukas, and while some assumed the move involves trading one driver for the other, Foyt’s working on keeping the pair and forming AJ Foyt Racing’s most powerful duo in decades.
“Where we’re at, with what Santino has accomplished, we’re definitely talking and I don’t think you can let that go,” Foyt told RACER. “He’s been a big part of helping us get back to where we want to be, so we would certainly love to keep him. I’m trying to get everything done now, and should know in a couple weeks.
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“Within the next two weeks I’d like to know who our two drivers are so that we know exactly where we’re headed. It would be one of the earlier times in the past few years that we know exactly what we’re doing. I think it just helps, and that’s why it’s just so important that your organization, and even outsiders, sees what direction you’re headed.”
Ferrucci, who holds 10th in the championship entering the final race, is keen to continue with the team for his third season, which would be the longest he’s spent with any IndyCar program since making his debut in 2018.
“Me and Larry are pretty close to working something out,” Ferrucci said. “I’m more waiting on Larry than I am anything else. But Larry knows that. He’s also got a race team to run and budget to get together for the No.14, so I try not to push.”
Foyt will have a busy offseason as he onboards Malukas and, possibly, consolidates the team, which runs one of its car from its longstanding shop in Waller, Texas, into a unified home for both cars and crews at its other base in Indianapolis, Indiana.
“We’re in some big talks about it,” Foyt said. “If you look at the big picture of where we’re headed as a team, it’s probably the next step to continue getting to where we want to be. At the same time, there’s not many people more loyal than AJ Foyt, so we just want to make sure that however we do this, that all our people that have been with us a long time in Texas are happy and have places to go.
“That’s certainly on my mind a lot right now, because we’re definitely taking a really hard look at it because it’s probably in the progression of things. It’s one of the things to come, for sure.”