We are getting into the meat of the Chevrolet teams in this portion of the IndyCar team previews and this one will look at A.J. Foyt Racing.
After two seasons with all-Brazilian lineup, the 2020 season will look a little more diverse and see more drivers rotate through the team. Charlie Kimball has been brought in for a full-time seat replacing Matheus Leist. The #14 entry will be split between three drivers. Tony Kanaan will drive the five oval races in what is being celebrated as his final season in IndyCar. Sébastien Bourdais moves to the team and the four-time champion has four races scheduled for 2020. Rounding out the #14 lineup will be a rookie, Dalton Kellett.
2019 A.J. Foyt Racing Review
Wins: 0
Best Finish: 3rd (Gateway)
Poles: 0
Championship Finishes: 15th (Tony Kanaan) 19th (Matheus Leist)
2020 Drivers:
Charlie Kimball - #4 Novo Nordisk Chevrolet
For the first time since 2010, Kimball did not have a full-time IndyCar ride but he was able to secure a five-race schedule with Carlin.
Kimball's season did start at St. Petersburg and it started on an encouraging note with an eighth place qualifying effort. The day was looking good with Kimball in the top ten but an unscheduled pit stop was required for repairs, knocking him off the lead lap. His next appearance was the Indianapolis 500 and he was the only Carlin car in the race. He started 20th but improved throughout the race and was in the top ten when he was collected in the Graham Rahal-Sébastien Bourdais incident. The damage put Kimball four laps down and he was classified in 25th. Texas made it three consecutive mechanical issues, as a wheel bearing failure ended Kimball's race after 86 laps.
The next race was Pocono and Kimball finished 10th after avoiding all the accidents and the rain. Due to a driver shuffle after Max Chilton decided to step away from ovals and Patricio O'Ward had Red Bull junior team responsibilities in Japan, Kimball added Gateway and Portland to his schedule. Gateway was a forgettable 15th place finish but he went from 21st to tenth at Portland. He went from 20th to 15th in the season finale at Laguna Seca.
Numbers to Remember:
6.333: Average number of top ten finishes in a season.
6: Seasons with at least one top five finish in a nine-year career.
96: Starts since Kimball's only IndyCar victory at Mid-Ohio in 2013
14.375: Average championship finish in Kimball's eight full seasons in IndyCar.
Predictions/Goals:
A lot of races where Kimball qualifies somewhere between 16th and 20th but ends up finishing somewhere between tenth and 13th.
That is kind of Kimball's M.O. In his last eight seasons in IndyCar his average finish has been better than in average starting position. In five of those seasons his average finish was better by at least two positions and in four of those five seasons it was better by at least three positions.
Foyt's cars were horrible at qualifying last year and we did not see many races where one car went from 20th to 11th. It was mostly start 20th and finish 15th or start 22nd and finish 18th. Kimball will have to get better starting positions. There is a big difference starting 17th versus 21st and those four spots could mean three or four more top ten finishes.
Kimball is a smart driver. He might not light up qualifying but he will keep it clean in a race and make sure the car is still running at the checkered flag while making sure the car moves up the running order. He is not going to turn the team into a constant podium contender but he should improve the finishes and at least get the ball rolling in the right direction.
Foyt needs one season where it is not constantly languishing at the back. It cannot be the team where we pencil its cars on one of the final two rows on the grid and then forget about it. It needs to at least be in the mix and that means pushing to advance from the first round of road/street course qualifying and maybe once in a while actually advancing.
I think better days are ahead for this team with Kimball. That does not mean he is going to be in the top ten of the championship. In fact, I think if Kimball can get back to 15th in the championship but has six to eight top ten finishes, has an average starting position below 18.0 and advances from the first round of qualifying at least once or twice that is something the team can be proud about. It would be an incremental gain but one that is desperately needed.
Tony Kanaan - #14 A.J. Foyt Racing Chevrolet
The 2019 season was another difficult year for IndyCar's ironman.
After not picking up a top ten finish in the final five races of 2018, Kanaan's 2019 season started with five consecutive finishes outside the top ten and he finished off the lead lap in four of those five races. Cautions almost went his way at St. Petersburg but poor pit stops cost him a shot at a top ten finish. He was 12th at Austin, 18th at Barber, brought out a red flag in qualifying at Long Beach and that put him behind the eight ball for the race, and he qualified 24th and finished 20th in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis.
Things improved at the Indianapolis 500, where Kanaan qualified 16th and pulled out a ninth place finish. Things took a downturn at Belle Isle with a 15th in race one and a second race that didn't even make it through turn three on lap one. Texas was not the homecoming A.J. Foyt Racing was hoping for with Kanaan in 16th.
Kanaan would finish off the lead lap in the next four races at Road America, Toronto, Iowa and Mid-Ohio but he was able to pick up a tenth place finish at Iowa. He was eighth at Pocono and his best race was Gateway after holding out as long as he could for his final pit stop. The caution came out before Kanaan could stop, this cycled him from being 14th or 15th to 2nd and ended up third at the checkered flag. His season ended with 12th at Portland and 16th at Laguna Seca.
Numbers to Remember:
317: Consecutive starts.
377: Career starts, 30 starts behind Mario Andretti for the all-time record.
6,846: Days between the 2001 Belle Isle CART race, the last IndyCar race Kanaan missed, and the 2020 St. Petersburg season opener. That is 18 years, eight months and 27 days.
Predictions/Goals:
Tears but in a good way.
This is it for Tony Kanaan's IndyCar career. Five races: Indianapolis, Texas, Richmond, Iowa and Gateway.
It feels right and yet it still feels too soon.
Let's be honest with ourselves, we should not be expecting some type of fairy tale ending. We should be hopeful of a respectful finish to Kanaan's career. Perhaps h gets another top ten finish at Indianapolis and another top ten finish at Texas, Iowa and/or Gateway but we are likely not going to see Kanaan win his second Indianapolis 500. We are not going to see Kanaan close his career with five top five finishes. We are not going to see him win at Richmond or end his career with a victory at Gateway. It is just not likely to happen.
In the four returning races, Kanaan had finishes of ninth at Indianapolis, 16th at Texas, tenth at Iowa and third at Gateway. The third is a little misleading because of the nature of that finish with the timely caution but his average finish was 9.5. At Richmond, he won there in 2008, had four top five finishes in seven starts and averaged a finish of 8.3.
I think we would all be happy if Kanaan gets two or three top ten finishes. He didn't lead a lap in 2019, led 20 laps in 2018, 55 laps in 2017 and 37 laps in 2016. We shouldn't think Kanaan will have one standout race but we should hope Kanaan gets to run every lap, take the checkered flag and get out of the car to applause.
Sébastien Bourdais - #14 A.J. Foyt Racing Chevrolet
After winning at St. Petersburg the previous two years it was going to be difficult for Bourdais to keep up that form. The bad news for him is an engine failure ended any hope of a three-peat after 11 laps.
Things were not looking good at Austin and Bourdais qualified 17th but the car got better in the race and the only caution for Felix Rosenqvist's accident lifted him further up the order only for the race to end in a fifth place effort. The momentum of Texas carried over to Barber, where he qualified fifth and finished third.
After two 11th-place finishes at Long Beach and the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, Bourdais had one of his best Indianapolis 500 starts. He was in contention for a top five finish but contact with Graham Rahal ended that run in turn three and with less than 25 laps to the checkered flag. Things got better at Belle Isle with finishes of 11th and ninth and spring ended with an eighth place finish at Texas.
Bourdais was outside the top ten for most of the day at Road America and was 12th. He was eighth at Toronto, went from 21st to ninth at Iowa and contact with Colton Herta kept Bourdais from getting a top ten at Mid-Ohio but he still charged from behind to finish 11th.
A seventh place finish followed at Pocono and Gateway was his most encouraging race. Bourdais started second but spun exiting turn four while in the top five. He was ninth at Portland and he was fighting a sore neck the entire Laguna Seca weekend and nearly was taken out of the car but he ran the entire weekend, qualified 19th and through pain drove to a seventh place finish.
Numbers to Remember:
2: Bourdais could become the second Frenchman to drive for A.J. Foyt Racing. Frank Perera ran the 2008 finale at Chicagoland for Foyt and finished 15th.
7: Consecutive seasons with a podium finish.
8.5714: Average number of top ten finishes in a season.
5.5714: Average number of top five finishes in a season.
13: Yeas since Bourdais had more than five top five finishes in a season when he had ten top five finishes in the 2007 Champ Car season.
Predictions/Goals:
Get strong enough results to remind every team what they are missing.
The combination of Kimball, Kanaan and Bourdais is one of the best Foyt has ever had. These are proven drivers and we know what they are capable of. Bourdais lost his ride at Dale Coyne Racing but he hasn't lost a step. He was still the top driver in that team last year and finished third at Barber. This is a much difference scenario for Bourdais but he should be able to pick the team up and get much better results.
We are hoping Kimball can get Foyt out of the first round of qualifying. Bourdais should get this team out of the first round of qualifying. Bourdais isn't the magic fix and take the team from 20th on the grid into the Fast Six but things should be better and there should be more competitive races.
Bourdais' schedule will be St. Petersburg, Barber, Long Beach and Portland and while that is better than nothing it seems like he would have been a great third option for the team for the Indianapolis 500. He is only going to get four cracks at the 2020 IndyCar season and he might have two or three really strong races, races that make Foyt really contemplate Bourdais getting a full-time opportunity in 2021. A limited number of races does make it harder to standout. One race with a mechanical failure can let all the air out of the balloon.
All Bourdais can do is the best he can and leave an impression on people. He didn't lose his ride at Coyne because of ability. He can still be competitive and I think this is a great chance to show it.
Dalton Kellett - #14 A.J. Foyt Racing Chevrolet
Kellett ran his fourth full season in Indy Lights in 2019 and after three years with Andretti Autosport the Canadian made a move to Juncos Racing.
The season started with a finish off the lead lap at St. Petersburg in tenth and he was eighth in the second race. His next four finishes between Austin and Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course were ninth, ninth, eighth and seventh. He started fourth for the Freedom 100 and he finished fifth, his fourth consecutive top five finish in the event.
At Road America, he had finishes of eighth and seventh with an eighth in the first Toronto race following. In the second Toronto race, Kellett started fourth and with help from some attrition he ended up on the podium in third place.
Mid-Ohio would see finishes of seventh and eighth with a sixth at Gateway. The season would end with finishes of fifth and sixth at Portland and a pair of sixth place finishes at Laguna Seca.
Numbers to Remember:
126: Road to Indy starts from 2012 to 2019.
0: Road to Indy victories.
8: Road to Indy podium finishes.
16: Road to Indy top five finishes.
Predictions/Goals:
Not be as bad as Matheus Leist.
Kellett's season will begin at Austin, he will run the Grand Prix of Indianapolis and the Indianapolis 500 in a third entry for Foyt. He will continue at Belle Isle, Road America, Toronto, Mid-Ohio and Laguna Seca.
Kellett's track record is not great. Is he a hazard? No. He is not the quickest driver but in his Road to Indy career he was never a dangerous driver. He was not making boneheaded mistake after boneheaded mistake. With all that said, he was still far from being competitive outside of a few Freedom 100s.
Foyt saw Leist have one good year in Indy Lights where he won the Freedom 100, had two other victories but had a handful of poor results on street courses and he was not ready for IndyCar but that didn't stop Foyt from picking a peach that was not yet ripe. Kellett has a lot of junior series experience and he might hold his own in an IndyCar but nothing from his Road to Indy career suggests he will be a competitive IndyCar driver.
There were eight full-time drivers in Indy Lights in 2019. Kellett was seventh of those eight drivers. The average Indy Lights grid size in 2019 was 9.0555 and Kellett's average finish was 7.0.
I don't think this will be a case where Kellett is a danger on track but I do not think he is going to be fighting for many top fifteen finishes. I think he will be just as bad if not worse than Leist. These aren't a few appearances; this will be a 13-race schedule for Kellett. The numbers are going to be comparable. Other than not running the other four ovals he is going to run every track and we are going to have a clear idea where he stands.
It is hard to see Kellett jumping into the car and being able to rub elbows with the veteran drivers on the IndyCar grid when he was not even close to the other rookies in the class of 2020.
The 2020 NTT IndyCar Series season opens on Sunday March 15th with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. NBCSN's coverage begins at 3:30 p.m. ET
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