We have moved into the final half of our IndyCar Wrap-Ups and we are starting to click off the drivers that finished in the top ten of the championship. Little did we expect to wait this long to get to A.J. Foyt Racing, but the team had its best season in a long time. Victory did not occur, but for the first time in 22 years, the team had a driver finish in the top ten of the championship. Results were a little one-sided in this organization, but the first year of the Team Penske technical partnership yielded great fruit.
Santino Ferrucci
Year two with A.J. Foyt Racing could not have gone much better for Ferrucci. After a year where he was third in the Indianapolis 500 but that was his only top ten finish in the entire 2023 season, Ferrucci became a regular top ten finisher in 2024. He showed pace at many different circuits with ovals still being his comfort zone. He wasn't closer to victory, but he was more competitive across the board.
What objectively was his best race?
Ferrucci's only two top five finishes were both fourth place finishes and both were at Milwaukee. In the first race, Ferrucci went from 19th to fourth and was making up five to six spots on every restart. In the second race, he went from 12th to fourth, again making aggressive passes all over the place.
What subjectively was his best race?
It is probably the first Milwaukee race, but the second one also deserves a mention. In both races, he kept taking the outside and flying pass other cars. Barber Motorsports Park also deserves a mention because Ferrucci went off strategy at that race and ran a three-stop strategy. It saw him lead 14 laps and he finished seventh in a race where if he ran a two-stop strategy he likely finishes 15th at best.
What objectively was his worst race?
At the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, Ferrucci was 27th, retiring after completing only 55 laps after he damaged his own car when running Romain Grosjean of the road. Ferrucci's aggressive was his own downfall in this race.
What subjectively was his worst race?
At the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, Ferrucci was 27th, retiring after completing only 55 laps after he damaged his own car when running Romain Grosjean of the road. Ferrucci's aggressive was his own downfall in this race.
What subjectively was his worst race?
It is the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, but some of the antics carried over the entire season. In the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, it was pretty deliberate the driving he did to Grosjean, and this was after the two had a run-in during practice. It was a theme this season where Ferrucci was stepping on toes in practice and unnecessarily so. He ended up having a good season, but there were still things where Ferrucci could work on.
Santino Ferrucci's 2024 Statistics
Championship Position: 9th (367 points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Top Fives: 2
Top Tens: 11
Laps Led: 21
Poles: 1
Fast Sixes: 2
Fast Twelves: 3
Average Start: 14.764
Average Finish: 10.941
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Top Fives: 2
Top Tens: 11
Laps Led: 21
Poles: 1
Fast Sixes: 2
Fast Twelves: 3
Average Start: 14.764
Average Finish: 10.941
Sting Ray Robb
Expectations were not that high for Robb's sophomore season. After failing to score a top ten finish and never starting inside the top twenty as a rookie for Dale Coyne Racing, minimal gains were expected. Robb had some rough days and repeated many of his 2023 performances, but he did make strides in other areas, though was still well off his Foyt teammate.
What objectively was his best race?
Robb got his first career top ten finish at Gateway Motorsports Park. He was ninth after starting 24th, and his first career top ten finish came in the 30th start of his career.
What subjectively was his best race?
It is Gateway, though this ninth-place finish wasn't all due to a phenomenal drive from Robb. Robb benefitted from the misfortune of others. Patricio O'Ward lost his engine early. Marcus Ericsson had mechanical problems. Kyle Kirkwood had damage after contact with Conor Daly and Romain Grosjean. David Malukas, Will Power, Alexander Rossi and Jack Harvey all were caught in accidents. Robb probably should have finished 15th or 16th but he kept his nose clean.
Robb's Indianapolis 500 should also get a mention because he finished 16th, but he went off-strategy early in an attempt to pull off some unthinkable strategy to leap ahead of the front runners. It put him in the lead and at the front for a bit, where he held his own, but as the race played out, he settled into the middle of the field.
What objectively was his worst race?
Robb had an accident at Barber Motorsports Park leave him 26th.
What subjectively was his worst race?
Robb had an accident at Barber Motorsports Park leave him 26th.
What subjectively was his worst race?
Top ten finish aside, this year was a slight improvement from 2023 from Robb, and he didn't have many horrible days. Barber is probably his worst race in terms of on-track performance, but he didn't have many other races where he made notable mistakes. He did have two spins in the second Milwaukee race.
Sting Ray Robb's 2024 Statistics
Championship Position: 20th (185 points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Top Fives: 0
Top Tens: 1
Laps Led: 31
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 0
Fast Twelves: 0
Average Start: 23.882
Average Finish: 19.176
Wins: 0
Podiums: 0
Top Fives: 0
Top Tens: 1
Laps Led: 31
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 0
Fast Twelves: 0
Average Start: 23.882
Average Finish: 19.176
An Early Look Ahead
There will be a slight change in the Foyt line in 2025, as Ferrucci will stay but David Malukas will join the organization and take over the #41 Chevrolet from Robb.
Expectations are high and might have unreasonably shot through the roof.
Ferrucci had a great season by Foyt's standards. He set a personal-best for top ten finishes in a season. He won a pole position at Portland. He finished better than his starting position in 13 of 17 races. He did something no Foyt driver had done since 2002, finishing in the top ten of the championship. Foyt hasn't had the greatest list of drivers ever, but it has had some good names. None of Vitor Meira, Mike Conway, Takuma Sato, Tony Kanaan nor Sébastien Bourdais could do it. Ferrucci did.
It appears the alliance with Team Penske has benefitted A.J. Foyt Racing, but every other team will be making improvements into 2025. Chip Ganassi Racing will focus in on its three cars after spreading resources over five teams. Andretti Global is coming off its best season in a few years, and Marcus Ericsson is bound to rebound. Meyer Shank Racing is now in cahoots with Ganassi and that lineup has only gotten better with Marcus Armstrong joining Felix Rosenqvist. Arrow McLaren added Christian Lundgaard. Alexander Rossi moved to Ed Carpenter Racing.
It will take a lot of work just to get back to ninth in 2025 for Ferrucci and Foyt. Let's not forget Lundgaard was eighth in 2023, was the surprise of that season, and then he and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing came back down to earth in 2024. It was not a disastrous season for Lundgaard and RLLR, but it wasn't as good as the year before.
We do not have a long track record of sustained success for Foyt. Prior to 2024, Foyt had gone four consecutive years without a driver finishing in the top fifteen in the championship. Ferrucci was only the third Foyt driver since 2012 to finish in the top fifteen in the championship, and that isn't including 2013, the most recent year a Foyt driver won a race and was leading the championship entering the Indianapolis 500 with Sato.
Excitement is understandable, but history tells us to settle down.
Even with Malukas coming in, we should adjust emotions accordingly. For all the buzz Malukas has generated in three seasons in IndyCar, his results haven't been as flawless as they have been made out to be.
Malukas might have been on the path to a podium finish at Gateway, but his average points per start this year was only 14.8. That would have put him 18th in the championship, practically level with Graham Rahal. It actually down from Malukas' first two seasons when he averaged 17.941 points and 15.588 points per start.
Head-to-head with Felix Rosenqvist over the final ten races of 2024 with Meyer Shank Racing, Rosenqvist beat Malukas 6-4 in races and 7-3 in qualifying. They were nearly identical in average finish with Rosenqvist having the slight edge at 15.8 to Malukas' 16th. Malukas did have the edge in qualifying at 8.7 to Rosenqvist's 8.9.
There were positive signs from Malukas, but in three seasons his entire career is built upon three Gateway races. That should not make up for the ten finishes outside the top twenty in 44 career starts. He has finished outside the top fifteen in 21 of those starts. Malukas only has 11 top ten finishes in his career. He should be an improvement over Robb, but let's pump the brakes before thinking A.J. Foyt Racing is about to have two drivers finish in the top ten of the championship and each will be race winners. We have plenty of evidence to suggest that is unlikely no matter what fantasy we can create in our heads.
