Ferrucci & Foyt hitting IndyCar stride again in 2025

Credit: Joe Skibinski

“A lot of people laughed at me... I wasn’t messing around when I said I think we can run for a championship. 

“There’s a lot that goes into it but the biggest part is consistency. That’s something that you can’t teach. If we put that to this year and what we had going at the end of last year, plus the development all winter, being under one roof [in the same shop], we’re going to be a force. 

“We can expect more success: more top fives, hopefully some more poles and that maiden win.”

Speaking in January, Santino Ferrucci’s hopes for his third season with AJ Foyt Racing were lofty.

Though after a barren start to the 2025 season - a best finish of 11th and next-best of 14th through the first five races - one could have been forgiven for ridiculing those comments a little. It was a far cry from Ferrucci’s 11 top-10 finishes in last year's 17-race season as he jumped 10 positions to ninth in the championship the season prior. 

But as he made light work of a fan’s beer in the Turn 1 gravel trap only moments after the chequered flag at Road America a week ago on Sunday, there was a sweet taste of vindication layered on top of the alcohol. 

“I just did the one shotgun,” he said. “Felt great.”

Ferrucci had just crossed the line in third place for a second career podium in the span of only three races - this one counting for all the points earned after he was docked 25 points for an underweight driver ballast after finishing second in Detroit.

Credit: Dominic Loyer

Owing to his expert management of the Road America race, Ferrucci had run his car too dry of fuel to complete the cool-down lap but had kept enough in reserve to avoid an emergency late pit stop. He was the first of many to make up a graveyard of fuelless cars on the run to Turn 1, but beer in hand after a fine catch, Ferrucci was no doubt the most elated of all.

“[The fans] offered,” Ferrucci admitted of his beer-drinking. “I asked for Spotted Cow since we’re [in Wisconsin] but they gave me a Miller. I’ve been learning my shotgunning skills from the Chili Bowl, so if I did okay I’m happy with that. Giving my dirt racing guy some credit.”

Ferrucci was confined to an 18th-place starting spot at Road America. In fact, he has qualified no better than 15th since his season-best qualifying result of 11th on the Indianapolis road course - his only Fast 12 appearance in nine rounds so far this season.

But after uncertainty about changes made through practice and his disappointing qualifying, Ferrucci’s No.14 team struck the sweet spot by warmup - right in time for the race.

“[Qualifying was] not ideal,” he said. “But warmup was awesome [after] small changes overnight. We knew we’d come through the field. So at the start of the race, I was unlike myself, trying to be super patient and not make mistakes, not get into too many people because it was mayhem back there.”

Ferrucci actually stalled in the pits on one of his stops. But he made meticulous progress throughout the race and was eventually sitting pretty in third in the final stint. 

With his last stop on Lap 39 though - one lap before race winner Álex Palou and three laps before full-push second-place finisher Felix Rosenqvist - Ferrucci was left to embark on an ambitious 16-lap fuel-save mission. Behind the Foyt man, the in-form Kyle Kirkwood was on the same all-guns-blazing strategy as Rosenqvist too.

Credit: Dominic Loyer

“We had a massive fuel target for the last two stints,” Ferrucci explained. “So kudos to Chevrolet for giving me the tools to do that and honestly to my engineering team for giving me a car that can fuel save. 

“I’m not going to lie, I was stressed. I was really stressed out. I saw Felix come out of the pits in front of me and [the team] were like: ‘There’s your fuel target,’ lifting at like the 800-foot mark going into [Turn] 5. ‘Hmm, this is going to be a long 15 [or] something laps.’ 

“Then I could see on the dash the No.27 car [of Kirkwood] coming and know that he’s quick. I just tried to put my head down and do what I do best and hold him off.”

Ferrucci ultimately finished just shy of 18 seconds off the lead and almost 16 seconds behind Rosenqvist in front. But he was crucially able to save the necessary fuel to make the finish, fend off Kirkwood by over one second and secure a well-earned podium and fourth successive top-five result.

As he caught the eye for a resurgent Foyt outfit last season, Ferrucci was in the top five twice with two fourth-place finishes at the Milwaukee Mile, following on from pole in Portland - the team’s first in over a decade. But after a rocky start to 2025, not only has Ferrucci rediscovered this form but he has emphatically usurped it with his four-race top-five stretch.

His podium results in Detroit and now at Road America are his first outside of the Indianapolis 500, where he finished third in an otherwise bleak first season with Foyt in 2023. 

Before these last two road and street track visits, Ferrucci’s best non-oval result had been sixth since his series debut in 2018.

Credit: Dominic Loyer

It marks podiums in consecutive road and street course races for a driver famed for his oval prowess. And as he continues to emerge into a more complete driver, Ferrucci’s two other top-five results in the recent run came on ovals with an excellent Indy 500 recovery and strong Gateway drive.

The Detroit result was a little fortuitous thanks to a well-timed yellow, but Ferrucci held onto second where others in his position faded. Road America saw the No.14 team ace the call in a strategic frenzy and Ferrucci executed as big-hitters who stopped on the same laps - Scott McLaughlin (12th), Will Power (14th), Colton Herta (16th) - finished down the order.

This upwards trend for Foyt is team-wide too - and hardly a coincidence. There is certain merit to 2025 addition David Malukas’ suggestions that the Month of May and fortnight of Indy 500 preparation was a pivotal period to allow the team to gel and start to hit their stride.

“I’ve said throughout the start of the season that we really are looking forward to the Month of May because we’re with the team for the entire month,” Malukas said in Detroit. “We can really build on the car and work on the chemistry of each other and really understand what we want and start building some momentum for the second half of the season.” 

Malukas has similarly started to find form since finishing second in May’s Indy 500. Race results have occasionally evaded him amid the occasional error to cut out, but he impressively recovered to seventh at Road America after a Lap 1 gravel excursion, alongside his season being headlined by a runner-up result in the Indy 500.

Where Ferrucci has had a tougher time in qualifying, Malukas has started inside the top seven in the last four races, including a front-row start in Detroit and fourth at Gateway. 

Credit: Paul Hurley

The recent spell has seen Ferrucci lift himself to ninth in the standings - and would be seventh without his Detroit points loss for an infringement with negligible overall performance gain - and Malukas sits only 10 points behind in 12th. It crowns another significant step forward for Foyt that they now have two cars emerging as regular front-running contenders. 

There was a particular poignance to the latest chapter in Foyt’s renaissance too given the passing of Marlyne Sexton at the age of 86 in the days prior. Sexton Properties has been a decade-long sponsor of the team - more recently in primary form courtesy of Marlyne.

The Sexton family is a big reason why Ferrucci has finally landed continuity in a career of uncertainty. He achieved his third-place result at Road America in a black tribute livery. 

“She’s watching down on us clearly,” Ferrucci said. “I didn’t know her late husband [Joe] but he also was a very big AJ [Foyt] fan and helped AJ back in the day. Marlene has been on the car since I’ve been driving for AJ Foyt and for Larry [Foyt, team principal].

“I would not have had a full season ride without Larry and her support. What they've accomplished last year is where we’ve brought this team all the way from barely making leadership circle to winning the 500, top 10 in the points, fighting for top fives consistently.

“It’s her support that’s been behind us. So I’m very honored to be running that car with her riding along this weekend. To have the daughters here this weekend as well, Tracy and Nicole, was pretty amazing on the grid. It was hard not to be emotional about it. 

“Someone that was family to the team had passed away last week. I’m happy she was riding onboard with us to witness some greatness.”