Yahoo Autos Ferrucci eager to build consistency with Foyt
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.”
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 and team boss Larry Foyt have laid foundations for success that they hope to build on this year via the team’s new association with Penske. Motorsport Images
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.”
