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RACER’s Marshall Pruett recaps race day at the Indy 500 and interviews Pato O’Ward, Scott Dixon, Christian Rasmussen, Santino Ferrucci and Newgarden superfan Greg Dixon. Presented by RACER’s Indy 500 Trackside Report is presented by The American …
RACER’s Marshall Pruett recaps race day at the Indy 500 and interviews Pato O’Ward, Scott Dixon, Christian Rasmussen, Santino Ferrucci and Newgarden superfan Greg Dixon.
Santino Ferrucci drove like his career depended on securing a top-10 finish at Barber Motorsports Park. His No. 14 A.J. Foyt Racing Chevy had more than a few scuff marks and divots on its flanks after multiple bouts of contact – most notably with …
Santino Ferrucci drove like his career depended on securing a top-10 finish at Barber Motorsports Park. His No. 14 A.J. Foyt Racing Chevy had more than a few scuff marks and divots on its flanks after multiple bouts of contact — most notably with championship leader Colton Herta — on the way to the Connecticut product’s run to seventh on Sunday.
“It feels good,” Ferrucci told RACER. “We’ve been off to a rocky start in some sessions, to say the least, and it’s been a lot of learning. We’re learning to get the sustained full potential out of everything. St. Pete was great. We missed FP2 though, which hurt us in qualifying, but I had a good race car.
“At Long Beach, we didn’t really practice at all because of technical issues. So things that were more out of our control in St. Pete, we were just on the wrong strategy at Long Beach. This weekend at Barber, we missed it again in qualifying but we just had a really strong race car. And I’m kind of sick and tired of being pushed around.”
Barber was a perfect example of how Ferrucci might be among the smallest drivers in physical stature, but behind the steering wheel, he isn’t afraid to take the gloves off and give his rivals the business.
“I was a little flustered in the warmup when [Romain] Grosjean hit us for no reason whatsoever in Turn 5,” he said of the corner where his No. 14 moved or was moved by others in the race. “So I was like, ‘Well, if that’s how we’re racing today, I know I’m faster. I know I have a better car than most of the people that I’m gonna be starting around. I know what we were capable of. I might as well roll up the sleeves a little bit.’
“I’m not going to not challenge just because people think that it’s a clean sport. It’s very much not. It’s now almost impossible to pass because it’s so competitive and so tight. When you do make them, you need to put full commitment. You can’t half-ass it like you saw a lot of as well on Sunday. I took a very calculated approach, where I knew people were on different strategies and I knew where people were lifting. I knew my car’s potential. And I exploited everything to the max.”
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Ferrucci raised his hand on the roughhousing with Herta, who ended up finishing one spot behind the No. 14 Chevy in eighth.
“The Herta thing was quite strange, I’m not gonna lie. That one, probably not among my proudest moments,” he admitted. “Turn 1, he braked, I’m gonna assume because when he went off the track in Turn 17 your tires going into Turn 1 have dirt on them, and they’re not going to have the same grip. So to be perfectly honest with you, in my case, at the incoming rate that I had, it was way easier just to send it up the inside because the gap in the space was there and the hole to make the pass was there.
“I was putting my front wheel almost into his front wheel. He turned in because he saw me and you can see him turn in and turn out. And I was like, ‘You know, two can play this game.’ So that’s why the pass back on him (at Turn 5) was as aggressive as it was. It was more of saying, ‘Look, I’m quicker, so chill out a little bit.’”
With finishes of ninth at St. Petersburg, 21st at Long Beach, and seventh at Barber, the Foyt team and its lead car and driver enters the month of May with its strongest position in the championship since 2016 when Takuma Sato held seventh in the standings after three races. Sitting 10th, Ferrucci credits many people for Foyt’s surprisingly strong start to 2024, including team principal Larry Foyt and technical director Michael Cannon.
“It’s kind of funny for both myself and Cannon when we came here, because we told Larry, ‘Look, it’s gonna take a little bit of work to get it right,’” he said. “But for clarity, look at Arrow McLaren when they changed over from Schmidt Peterson and it took them a couple of years to really get that program up and going. Nothing ever happens overnight. And to see all the mechanics working as hard as they are, the engineers, and everybody pushing to be in the top 10 to start the year is really gratifying.
“I’m really, really, really proud of Larry, because it really takes someone to believe in a company, it takes the owner to really completely believe that we want to change, and to really believe in me and to believe in everybody that we have to do that. He’s done a phenomenal job making that a reality.”
Santino Ferrucci was understandably pleased to learn he would be returning to A.J. Foyt Racing in 2024, and more so regarding the manner of that return, which is for the entirety of the season. After the team got through a turbulent close to the …
Santino Ferrucci was understandably pleased to learn he would be returning to A.J. Foyt Racing in 2024, and more so regarding the manner of that return, which is for the entirety of the season.
After the team got through a turbulent close to the year where the prolonged parting of ways was formalized with Benjamin Pedersen, Ferrucci’s most recent teammate, the decision could be made on who would take command of the team’s No. 14 Chevy.
Partnered with newcomer Sting Ray Robb, who joins Foyt after spending his rookie season with Dale Coyne Racing, Foyt has a lineup of Coyne graduates who have a reason to be optimistic after more retooling within the team and the ongoing technical relationship with Team Penske has filled the program with heightened expectations.
For the 25-year-old from Connecticut, the stronger foundation starts with consistency.
“It’s my first back-to-back season that’s been normal with a team,” Ferrucci told RACER. “My first season where I went back to the same team was with Dale Coyne, but that was the COVID season, which wasn’t normal! It was a short schedule, so this is going to be my true first back-to-back, which I’m stoked for.
“They had so many drivers that could pay to be in that 14 car — and good drivers, too — so the fact that they decided to keep me there is huge for my career. I think it shows the team wants to go in this direction with someone that they like and that they trust.”
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In a frenetic season where misfortune was a frequent visitor to the Foyt team, Ferrucci was able to star for the team at the Indianapolis 500 with a run to third and claim 19th in the drivers’ championship, which was a sharp improvement from 2022, where the No. 14 placed 24th in the standings.
“I’ve seen this team change quite a bit this past season, and I think we’re going to be very capable to do more this coming season,” he said. “It’s honestly going to be a lot of fun. Working with Larry Foyt and keeping that open dialogue and staying in touch and tracking what the team has been doing with Penske definitely makes me really excited.
“And we can do a lot better. What we did at the 500 was special, but obviously, we were a little rocky at other tracks. But it wasn’t due to lack of trying — there’s just so much of a learning curve, so much more than I actually anticipated. It was truly way more difficult than I would have ever been able to foresee it. But now with a year’s worth of notes, a slight change in the engineering lineup and the Penske alliance being very clear and very transparent between the two teams — which I’ve also never seen — things are in a great place. Penske helping is truly above and beyond anything I’ve seen.”
Ferrucci still looks like a kid, but he’s amassed six seasons of IndyCar racing so far and, critically, has taken a greater responsibility for being a team leader. There’s more maturity in his thoughts and words, and they’ll be needed as Robb finds his way inside a new team after enduring a rough rookie campaign.
At 22, Robb is also young, but he’s got a veteran in Ferrucci to lean on and pick up the finer aspects of road racing and oval racing in his sophomore season.
“I’m stoked to have him as a teammate; I’ve met him a couple of times in the paddock and I’ve seen his junior career, because it’s really hard to miss a guy with the name Sting Ray!” Ferrucci said with a laugh. “I am looking forward to start working with him and to see what he can bring to the table. I’m sure that he’ll be quite a bit of an open book. In that sense as well, I don’t have any expectations for him. If he has a clean year and keeps all four on the black stuff — and same with me — we’ll both have strong seasons and will hopefully have one car pushing into the top 10 in the championship and the other one following closely right behind.”
Santino Ferrucci has become the third driver to be issued a six-place grid penalty for this weekend’s NTT IndyCar Series season-finale at Laguna Seca for an unappoved engine change. Ferrucci’s penalty comes after the No. 14 A.J. Foyt Racing Chevy …
Santino Ferrucci has become the third driver to be issued a six-place grid penalty for this weekend’s NTT IndyCar Series season-finale at Laguna Seca for an unappoved engine change.
Ferrucci’s penalty comes after the No. 14 A.J. Foyt Racing Chevy coasted to a stop with smoke billowing from its rear during Saturday morning’s practice session. Similar grid penalties have already been issued to Juncos Hollinger’s Augustin Canapino and Rahal Letterman Lanigan’s Juri Vips.
According to IndyCar, Ferrucci’s penalty comes in response to a violation of Rule 16.2.3.2, which states:
“A fifth (5th) Engine is eligible to earn Engine Manufacturer points if a Full Season Entrant has completed the Full Season Entrant Engine Mileage with its first four (4) Engines. Otherwise, a fifth (5th) or more Engine does not earn Engine Manufacturer points and will be considered an Unapproved Engine change-out.
“According to Rule 16.6.1.2, the penalty is a six-position starting grid penalty on road and street course events and nine positions at oval events and will be served at the series’ next event, which is the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey Sunday, Sept. 10 in Monterey, California.”
A.J. Foyt Racing was one of the surprise stars of qualifying in Saturday at Road America, so Santino Ferrucci joined RACER’s Marshall Pruett to discuss the team’s progress. Or CLICK HERE to watch on YouTube. Presented by: RACER’s IndyCar Trackside …
A.J. Foyt Racing was one of the surprise stars of qualifying in Saturday at Road America, so Santino Ferrucci joined RACER’s Marshall Pruett to discuss the team’s progress.
Or CLICK HERE to watch on YouTube.
RACER’s IndyCar Trackside Report at Road America is presented by Skip Barber Racing School.
With multiple locations in the US, Skip Barber Racing School has developed more winning racers than any other school. Their alumni have taken the podium in all facets of motorsports including NASCAR, INDYCAR, SCCA, World Challenge and IMSA. Click to learn more.
The 107th Indianapolis 500 is over and RACER’s Marshall Pruett, third-place finisher Santino Ferrucci, 11th-place Ryan Hunter-Reay, Team Penske race-winning managing director Ron Ruzewski, and 15th-place Helio Castroneves share their stories from …
The 107th Indianapolis 500 is over and RACER’s Marshall Pruett, third-place finisher Santino Ferrucci, 11th-place Ryan Hunter-Reay, Team Penske race-winning managing director Ron Ruzewski, and 15th-place Helio Castroneves share their stories from the Indy 500 captured by Josef Newgarden.
Josef Newgarden’s triumph in the Indianapolis 500, and the fight over second and third, created some fascinating statistics that are part of the fabric of Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Scott Richards, a Speedway employee, has run the numbers and …
Josef Newgarden’s triumph in the Indianapolis 500, and the fight over second and third, created some fascinating statistics that are part of the fabric of Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Scott Richards, a Speedway employee, has run the numbers and discovered some more stats beyond Newgarden scoring Team Penske’s 19th Indy 500 triumph and becoming the first Tennessee native to drink the milk.
In his 12th start, Newgarden has become the most experienced first-time 500 winner since Tony Kanaan in 2013, and the most experienced American-born first-time winner since Sam Hanks in 1957.
That long experience is reflected by his other IndyCar stats. With 186 previous IndyCar starts, Newgarden is the second most experienced driver to win his first 500 (Kanaan was in his 262nd start in 2013).
And with 26 previous IndyCar Series wins, no other driver has scored more IndyCar wins before achieving their first 500 victory.
After his strong and methodical climb through the field, on-track and in pitlane, it’s the farthest back that the 500 winner has started since Ryan Hunter-Reay qualified 19th in 2014.
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Today marked the ninth time that the defending winner (Marcus Ericsson) finished runner-up, but it’s been a rare occurrence in recent years. The last time it happened was when Helio Castroneves failed to complete three straight wins by finishing second to Penske teammate Gil de Ferran in 2003.
The excitement surrounding AJ Foyt Racing’s performances this year was not overplayed. Santino Ferrucci qualified fourth and finished third, scoring the first top-three finish for a Foyt car since Eliseo Salazar scored the same result 2000. Ferrucci’s extraordinary run at the 500 over the past half-decade – 7th-4th-6th-10th-3rd – means he joins Harry Hartz (1922-’27) and Helio Castroneves (2001-’05) as the only drivers to finish in the top 10 in all of their first five 500s.
Ferrucci is even the first driver since Alex Barron (2002-’07) to finish ahead of his starting position in each of his first five 500s.
A more obscure, but almost more unlikely, statistic was generated by polesitter Alex Palou: Sunday saw him become the first driver since Tony Stewart in 1996 and ’97 to lead the first lap in two consecutive 500s. Come the checkered flag, Ganassi also showed its class by joining Andretti Autosport’s stat from 2006 and ’14 in having four finishers inside the top seven.
Simon Pagenaud, the 2019 Indy winner, created a more doleful stat. He previously held the record for most 500s without a DNF, but with a DNF in his 12th — caused by Scott McLaughlin punting him into a spin — that record goes back to Howdy Holmes and Carlos Munoz, who each achieved six finishes and never retired.
There were several points during Sunday’s Indianapolis 500 where it looked like A.J. Foyt Racing was going to win at the Brickyard for the first time in nearly a quarter of a century. The cards ultimately fell the way of Team Penske’s Josef …
There were several points during Sunday’s Indianapolis 500 where it looked like A.J. Foyt Racing was going to win at the Brickyard for the first time in nearly a quarter of a century.
The cards ultimately fell the way of Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden, but Santino Ferrucci’s superb run to third in the No. 14 Chevrolet once again brought one of the Speedway’s most famous names back to the fore on Memorial Day Weekend.
Ferrucci’s pre-race confidence in his car’s pace was backed up with an afternoon spent entirely among the frontrunners. He was shuffled back a spot or two amid the chaos of the last couple of restarts, but still found the silver lining in an afternoon full of what-might-have-beens.
“Just emotional,” he said. “Bittersweet. It was emotional getting in the car, which was kind of strange because you feel like there’s a lot of people that really want this, the team really wants this.
“We worked so hard to be where we were. We ran out front all day long. It’s definitely one of the more difficult races that I’ve ever run, and we knew that we had a really good car.
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“We got really close with Felix (Rosenqvist) when he was wrecking, so very thankful we were able to avoid that. And then coming to the end, I think on the second to final restart, me and Marcus battling it into Turn 1, and obviously it going red when it did…it’s part of this place, it’s part of racing, it’s part of the Speedway.
“I’m just bummed because… I’m sure Marcus thinks the same thing I do. We definitely, all three of us, could have won it at any point in time. Yeah, it’s bittersweet.”
Ferrucci’s result continues the 24-year-old’s extraordinary strike rate at Indy: in five starts, he’s never finished outside the top 10. It also gave Foyt its first IndyCar podium since Tony Kanaan’s third at Gateway in 2019, and its best result at the 500 since Eliseo Salazar’s third in 2000.
“We’ve been so good this entire month (so) you get to race day and it’s actually a relief, because you know you’ve been up front, you know you’ve qualified well, and I had so much fun driving the car today,” Ferrucci said. “I’m sure the No. 14 got its fair amount of TV time.
“When you finish third, knowing that you led into Turn 1 with three or four to go, it’s tough. But at the end of the day, I’m really happy with the way that things played out. This place does pick you as a winner. It’s very true. But I just really wanted to win this race like everybody else. We’ll come back next year, probably a little stronger.”
A.J. Foyt Racing will carry primary sponsorship from longtime partner ABC Supply for the Indianapolis 500 and continue the tradition of raising awareness and donations for Homes For Our Troops. The HFOT initiative aims to raise $1 million through …
A.J. Foyt Racing will carry primary sponsorship from longtime partner ABC Supply for the Indianapolis 500 and continue the tradition of raising awareness and donations for Homes For Our Troops.
The HFOT initiative aims to raise $1 million through the promotions on the No. 14 chevy driven by Connecticut’s Santino Ferrucci, and in kind, ABC Supply has committed to match up to $1 million in donations to build home for injured American military veterans.
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“We are thrilled ABC Supply will spotlight Homes For Our Troops for another year during the 2023 Indy 500,” said HFOT President and CEO, Brigadier General (Ret) Tom Landwermeyer. “In addition to generating revenue with a generous $1 million match, the initiative will raise much-needed awareness about our mission throughout the country. ABC Supply’s incredible enthusiasm and patriotic commitment to our mission enables us to get even more injured Veterans and their families into the specially adapted homes they need and deserve.”
The patriotic endeavor is a perfect fit for the Foyt team and its owner.
“Racing has given us many wonderful opportunities, but being part of the Homes For Our Troops campaign to raise awareness and help our troops who have suffered such severe injuries is a true privilege,” A.J. Foyt said. “We’re proud to partner with ABC Supply to support this very worthy cause.”
If there was a starring performance during last weekend’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach that went under the radar, it was Santino Ferrucci at A.J. Foyt Racing. Having weathered a brutal start to the new NTT IndyCar Series season with his new team, …
If there was a starring performance during last weekend’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach that went under the radar, it was Santino Ferrucci at A.J. Foyt Racing.
Having weathered a brutal start to the new NTT IndyCar Series season with his new team, Ferrucci arrived in Long Beach with hopes for a faster car and less adversity. His wishes were realized on Saturday with a run to 18th in qualifying within the 27-car field. Considering how the opening rounds at St. Petersburg and Texas Motor Speedway went, it was an encouraging sign for the Connecticut native.
Ferrucci’s charge forward over 85 laps on Sunday to improve to 11th was another highlight for the No. 14 Chevy program, which delivered the team’s best result so far in 2023.
“I think even going back to St. Pete, we were competitive in qualifying, but we just got caught out by the red flag and we almost were going to advance until [Simon] Pagenaud put it in the wall. It went red with 600 feet to go for me to hit the timing line. And the rest of that weekend wasn’t great for us,” Ferrucci told RACER.
“Obviously, Texas, our luck wasn’t any better with the clutch failing. But things improved in Long Beach and it was kind of like the St. Pete I thought we could have had. Because we started on the alternate tires and we made the fuel number work, it ended up being a super textbook race. [Team president] Larry [Foyt] was calling the race and he’s really good at strategy. And I think we’ve proved that we can do well if things just go normally for us like it did this weekend.”
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Fighting with drivers representing Team Penske and Rahal Letterman Lanigan offered a visual indicator of where Ferrucci and the No. 14 Chevy belonged during the 85-lap race.
“One of the things that stood out was going three wide into Turn 6,” he said. “I was passing I think [Agustin] Canapino on the outside and then Pato [O’Ward] went around me on the outside. I knew I braked late and he braked like 20 feet later that I did — I was like, ‘There’s no way he makes the corner.’ And he did. Unbelievable. I was thinking to myself, ‘I know if I did that, I definitely would have hit the wall.’ No way that my car was gonna turn. But that was entertaining.
“Honestly, the most fun I had during that race was right in the end of the second stint when everybody’s tires were going off and I kept them underneath us. I just worked my way past like three cars — I ran down [Scott] McLaughlin, and I actually thought I was gonna get him. I don’t know if I would have been able to stay ahead of him; it would have been a tough, tough battle for me, but I sure as hell would have tried to hold on to that position because it would have been big for us.”
With the recent and unexpected loss of Lucy Foyt, wife of A.J. Foyt and mother to Larry Foyt, the team was grieving throughout Long Beach. A charging drive from Ferrucci only helped to celebrate the team matriarch.
“Honestly, for all things considered, that was the best-case scenario for us to move forward and get our legs to stand on,” he said. “It’s great to lift everybody’s spirits. I know A.J. was really happy; he called the team immediately after the checkered flag came out, and I wasn’t even back in the pits yet. Because that was the first thing I was told when I got out of the car, that A.J. was really happy with the result and he watched the whole race.
“I’m happy that Larry was able to make it out after losing his mom. It was really tough for everybody, but it was a great way to cap that weekend. It definitely makes everybody happy going into the Indy test and hungry going into Barber. So now it’s all about carrying momentum.”
