Yahoo Autos Foyt still yet to green-light a third Indy 500 entry
For most of the offseason, the A.J. Foyt Racing team felt confident it would field an extra car for May’s Indianapolis 500.
Thanks to its massive rise in competitiveness last year at the Speedway, where its team owner became the first driver to earn four wins at ‘The Greatest Spectacle In Racing,’ Foyt was expected to capitalize on its stellar performance by adding a third car to complement Santino Ferrucci and Sting Ray Robb. But there are new questions as to whether the team will run more than two.
“We’re definitely having conversations, but we have not pulled the trigger,” team president Larry Foyt told RACER. “So could we? Yes. But at the moment we have not moved forward. We know we have to make a decision quickly. Obviously, this comes down to funding. That’s how it works in our program.”
Ferrucci’s charge to third at Indy in the No. 14 Chevy showed how far the Foyt team progressed with the addition of technical director Michael Cannon, a two-time Indy 500 pole-winning race engineer with Scott Dixon at Chip Ganassi Racing.
A mid-season technical alliance forged with Team Penske, defending winners of the Indy 500, only increased the interest held among drivers seeking a front-running seat for the 2024 race. In light of Foyt’s strong showing, most of the known drivers and co-entrants with funding to offer have spoken with Foyt about securing the third car, which is said to require a sizable budget, but no takers have emerged.
Unless another team can secure an engine lease from Chevy or Honda and offer another path to race in the Indy 500, Foyt’s third entry could be the only available opportunity left to try and make the field of 33 starters.
With a busy rotation of testing due to begin later this month and the start of the new season almost here, Foyt wants to lock in his Indy 500 plans at two or three cars before he gets to March.
“I’ll give it two more weeks and see where we’re at,” he said. “And then I’ll make a decision.”
