Yahoo Autos Ferrucci drives AJ Foyt Racing to best Indy 500 finish since 2000
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.”
