Santino Ferrucci – BITNILE.com Grand Prix of Portland – Photo by Joe Skibinski

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio

A.J. Foyt Racing’s relentless pursuit of NTT IndyCar Series relevance reached the sharp end of the grid Saturday at Portland International Raceway, where Santino Ferrucci said goodbye to a guy named “tail-end Charlie.”

Ferrucci delivered the team founded by Houston native A.J. Foyt Jr. its first series pole since 2014 during Firestone Fast Six qualifying for Sunday’s BITNILE.COM Grand Prix of Portland in Oregon. Ferrucci earned his first career series pole in his inaugural Fast Six appearance via a hot lap of 58.2046-seconds/121.475 mph in the No. 14 Phoenix Investors Chevrolet owned by Foyt, first four-time champion of the Indianapolis 500 and the sport’s all-time wins leader with 67.

“I mean, this is definitely one of the greatest days of my career,” said Ferrucci, a transplanted resident of Dallas in his second year with Foyt’s Waller, Texas-based organization. “In qualifying, too, it’s so tight. This series is so incredible talented. To be doing this today is such a feat for us and the team, and shows how hard we’ve been working. I can’t thank everybody enough for believing in me.”

Ferrucci earned the first NTT P1 Award for Foyt’s team since Japanese ace Takuma Sato won pole in June 2014 for the second race of the Raceway at Belle Isle doubleheader in Detroit. The team also qualified on-pole at the 2014 season-opener on the Streets of St. Petersburg, Fla. Ferrucci’s previous best start was second in Race 2 of the doubleheader in 2020 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, when he drove for Dale Coyne Racing in an event that didn’t include the Fast Six due to pandemic-related event format changes.

Overall, Santino posted the quickest lap so far this weekend in three sessions on PIR’s 1.964-mile/12-turn natural terrain road-course.

“We just felt it,” said Ferrucci, a 26-year-old native of Woodbury, Conn. “We just rolled off the truck amazing. It’s been a year of hard work and progression, and we’ve shown some real speed at some times. It’s just great to put it together, man.”

The pole is the high point, so far, of the technical alliance between Team Penske’s open-wheel juggernaut and Foyt Racing that started this season. In fact, two-time series champion Will Power of Australia will share the front row with Ferrucci for the 110-lap/216.04-mile race (3 p.m. EDT, USA Network, Peacock, INDYCAR Radio Network) after qualifying second at 58.3120-seconds/121.251 mph in the No. 12 Verizon Business Team Penske Chevrolet.

“It’s just awesome,” said Larry Foyt, team president and A.J.’s youngest son. “I mean, the trajectory where we’ve been headed as a team, it’s just been great. We’ve added so many great people to our group. Santino is just getting better all of the time. This is just a testament to everything we’re doing.

“A lot of people have stuck with us through the hard times, and as well as a lot of new people have come in and been a great addition. Definitely the Penske alliance has been great. They’re a great company to work with. We go back so far. A.J. and Roger go way back. Obviously, Tim Cindric. I’ve learned a lot.

“Those guys are awesome, but our guys just really delivered today and Santino drove the wheels off. It’ll be good to call dad. It’ll be a fun call for a change.”

A.J. Foyt, 89, offered his congratulations by noting, “We’ve been close before but it’s so close now where they’ve been right there three or four times, so I’m just glad it finally happened. I told Larry to tell Santino and the team congratulations because they’ve worked really hard and I’m proud of them.”

Larry Foyt gave up his driving career in NASCAR to join his dad’s team in 2006. Appointed team president in 2015, Larry has overseen the day-to-day operation of an organization that has gone through a revolving door of driver and engineering changes. A graduate of TCU in Fort Worth, Larry Foyt termed Ferrucci’s pole run a “huge” accomplishment.

“I think you can just see how happy everybody is because a couple years ago it was a struggle,” Foyt said. “We’ve just kept building this team, kept adding better people. It’s led to all this.

“Having some consistency with Santino, man, everyone is just really happy. This whole year, even fighting for a top-10 in the championship was a huge step-up. We have such a good group working together from the engineering, mechanics and a hell of a driver. So it feels great.”

Ferrucci made four NTT IndyCar Series starts for Dale Coyne Racing in 2018, with a best finish of 11^th on the Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway road-course. He tested in Indy cars that season at Sonoma and on Texas Motor Speedway’s high-banked/1.5-mile oval in Fort Worth. Santino rejoined DCR in 2019 after climbing the Formula One ladder as a Haas F1 developmental driver over three seasons. That team is owned by American entrepreneur Gene Haas.

A key addition to Foyt Racing’s behind-the-scenes operation has been Technical Director Michael Cannon, who previously worked with Ferrucci at Dale Coyne Racing in 2019. “This has been a 19-month project getting here and I can’t thank Larry enough for giving me this opportunity to build a racing team, Roger Penske and his group,” said Cannon, a native of Canada. “With all of the help they’ve been giving us, it’s made a world of difference. We’ve turned this team completely around from ‘tail-end Charlie’ to pole. This is magnificent.

“It means everything. It was what I was hired to do. A lot of us came in here given a blank slate _ not necessarily a blank check_ but a blank slate. To pull this off is remarkable. It’s one of the best days of my 42 years of racing that I can remember. Just truly remarkable, so proud of (this crew), and I’m so glad I could do this for Larry and A.J.”

Cannon leads an engineering staff Ferrucci dubbed as “really overqualified.”

“There’s so much more that goes into it between just the alliance and working with everybody,” Ferrucci said. “Our engineering staff is unreal. They’ve worked together so well. It’s one of those things to where it’s kind of created a perfect storm for us to where everybody has just gelled seamlessly. The car, we found good setups throughout the year. We found a lot of speed at a lot of different tracks, a lot of different disciplines.”

Meanwhile, Foyt’s organization joined the “Silly Season” mix recently with the hire of native Chicagoan David Malukas, currently of Meyer Shank Racing, as one of its fulltime drivers beginning in 2025. That announcement did not indicate who would partner Malukas, 22, in the planned second Foyt car next season. Foyt’s current lineup features Ferrucci and Sting Ray Robb in the No. 41 Chevrolet.

Ferrucci _ a free agent after this season _ noted Saturday’s pole may help him land another contract with the team. “Hell, I’ve got some more bargaining power for next year. I love it,” Ferrucci said. “I don’t think it’s any secret that I very much found a home here with Larry and A.J. Foyt. I want to stay. That’s kind of in the cards here. Obviously, there’s a lot that needs to happen, still a pretty big off-season.

“Yeah, I think it’s been a very interesting two years. I think me and Larry have worked really well together. That news (Malukas’ hiring) is honestly a huge steppingstone for the team. There’s a lot behind that. Obviously for me it’s a bit of an unknown. Things like today help. The Indy results that we’ve had during the 500 help. Being 10th in the championship helps. We’ve really brought it together.

“Regardless of the news, I never really found it demoralizing if that makes sense just because of how much we’ve been able to accomplish in the last two years. I don’t see it as a negative. I see it as a massive positive for something like that to come along. It’s exciting for the future. I can’t wait to see what unfolds.”

Larry Foyt reiterated his appreciation for the energy the oft-fiesty Ferrucci has brought to the organization. “Yeah, this whole season is a big tribute to a lot of what Santino brings to the table,” Foyt said. “Fighting for us to get top-10 in the championship, first time in two decades this late in the season we’re fighting for that. That’s a big testament to a lot that he’s done.

“We have a great relationship. I’m sure things will work out the way they should.”

Two-time/reigning series champion Alex Palou of Spain continued his march toward a third title in four seasons by qualifying third at 58.4316-seconds/121.003 mph in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Palou leads second-place Colton Herta of Andretti Global by 59 points _ slightly over a race’s worth of points _ with four events remaining.

But even Palou, a bona fide road-racing ace, will have to find a way around Ferrucci and Power either on-track or via pit strategy. “We’ve been so good in race craft, that’s actually the least of my worries,” Ferrucci said. “The racing’s so good for us. We’ve been struggling everywhere else on the weekend, so to knock this out of the park, I’m excited.

“This is the last road-course of the year, and, trust me, I want to get on that podium so bad _ stand on that top step _ and a road-course would be a way to make it happen.”

Power noted his alliance with Ferrucci goes beyond the term technical. “Yeah, I’m good friends with Santino,” Power said. “We go-kart together, go to dinner, so on. I was upset that I didn’t get pole, I really wanted it here, I wanted it badly. I was kind of a little bit upset.

“Couldn’t be happier for Santino. He’s driving extremely well. And Foyt, it’s a great partnership for those guys. It’s good stuff, man. Good stuff. A fiercely competitive field. As you’ve seen, you never know who is going to get pole, you never know who will be the top six, you never know who is going to win the race.”

Power is fourth in the standings, 66 points behind Palou. Power agreed that Ferrucci could prove to be an asset during the race by taking points away from Palou. “Obviously, yes, they (Ferrucci and his team) can take points from us, but that’s just the name of the game,” Power said. “They got a good driver in Santino, obviously a good car with the partnership we have.

“Yeah, like I said before, I couldn’t be happier for Santino to get a pole. He works hard, deserves it.”

Louis Foster continued his march toward the INDY NXT by Firestone championship Saturday by winning pole position for the Grand Prix of Portland. A 21-year-old native of Great Britain, Foster secured P1 with a top lap of 1-minute, 2.1396-seconds/113.783 mph in the No. 26 Copart/Novara Technologies car fielded by Andretti Global.

Foster broke the track record he set by winning pole last year with the quickest trip around the 1.964-mile/12-turn natural terrain road-course. All three sessions this weekend were led by Foster.

“Turn 1 is just absolutely bananas here,” Foster said. “My goal this weekend, honestly, was just to get through Turn 1 safely. And the best way to do that is to sit on-pole. Happy to have done that.”

Coverage of the 35-lap/68.74-mile/55-minute race starts at 1:15 p.m. (EDT) today on Peacock and the INDYCAR Radio Network. Championship leader Foster has won six of the last eight races this season in INDYCAR’s developmental series.

This was the fifth pole of 2024 for Foster. It’s also the ninth of his two-season career in INDY NXT, tying him for sixth on the all-time list. The last driver to win as many poles in a season was current Chip Ganassi Racing NTT IndyCar Series regular Linus Lundqvist of Sweden, who took six top spots en route to the INDY NXT title in 2022.

Foster leads the standings by 91 points over Jacob Abel and needs to expand that gap to 108 points after the race to clinch the title. There are only three races remaining this season.

Brazilian rookie Caio Collet was runner-up to Foster for the third straight session this weekend, qualifying second at 1:02.2922/113.504 mph in the No. 18 HMD Motorsports car. But Collet will start eighth in the race due to a six starting-spot penalty for blocking and avoidable contact in an incident with Jamie Chadwick last Saturday on the World Wide Technology Raceway oval in Madison, Ill.

Abel qualified third at 1:02.4418/113.232 mph in the No. 51 Abel Construction car fielded by Abel Motorsports, followed by James Roe at 1:02.7614/112.655 mph in the No. 29 Topcon machine of Andretti Global.

Reece Gold qualified fifth at 1:02.6777/112.806 mph in the No. 10 HMD Motorsports. Yuven Sundaramoorthy will join him in the third row after qualifying sixth at 1:02.8024/112.582 mph in the No. 22 S Team Motorsports/Abel Motorsports machine.

Qualifying results for Sunday’s BITNILE.COM Grand Prix of Portland NTT IndyCar Series event on the 1.964-mile/12-turn Portland International Raceway in Oregon, with qualifying position, car number in parentheses, driver, engine, time and speed in parentheses:

1. (14) Santino Ferrucci, Chevrolet, 58.2046 (121.475 mph)
   2. (12) Will Power, Chevrolet, 58.3120 (121.251)
   3. (10) Alex Palou, Honda, 58.4316 (121.003)
   4. (45) Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 58.5809 (120.695)
   5. (27) Kyle Kirkwood, Honda, 58.5960 (120.664)
   6. (15) Graham Rahal, Honda, 58.6332 (120.587)
   7. (2) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 58.4163 (121.035)
   8. (77) Romain Grosjean, Chevrolet, 58.4494 (120.966)
   9. (11) Marcus Armstrong, Honda, 58.4518 (120.961)
   10. (26) Colton Herta, Honda, 58.4593 (120.946)
   11. (9) Scott Dixon, Honda, 58.4772 (120.909)
   12. (28) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 58.5044 (120.852)
   13. (30) Pietro Fittipaldi, Honda, 58.4955 (120.871)
   14. (3) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 58.4489 (120.967)
   15. (21) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 58.5074 (120.846)
   16. (75) Juri Vips, Honda, 58.6209 (120.612)
   17. (20) Christian Rasmussen, Chevrolet, 58.5493 (120.760)
   18. (7) Alexander Rossi, Chevrolet, 58.6822 (120.486)
   19. (66) David Malukas, Honda, 58.6299 (120.594)
   20. (60) Felix Rosenqvist, Honda, 58.7179 (120.413)
   21. (51) Toby Sowery, Honda, 58.7204 (120.408)
   22. (8) Linus Lundqvist, Honda, 58.7726 (120.301)
   23. (5) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 58.7903 (120.265)
   24. (6) Nolan Siegel, Chevrolet, 58.8205 (120.203)
   25. (41) Sting Ray Robb, Chevrolet, 58.8687 (120.105)
   26. (4) Kyffin Simpson, Honda, 58.8525 (120.138)
   27. (78) Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 58.9721 (119.894)
   28. (18) Jack Harvey, Honda, 59.1787 (119.475)

NTT IndyCar Series point standings _ 1, Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing, 443; 2, Colton Herta, Andretti Global, 384; 3, Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing, 378; 4, Will Power, Team Penske, 377; 5, Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske, 370; 6, Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren, 345; 7, Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global, 322; 8, Josef Newgarden, Team Penske, 317; 9, Alexander Rossi, Arrow McLaren, 277; 10, Santino Ferrucci, A.J. Foyt Racing, 249;

11, Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank Racing, 249; 12, Christian Lundgaard, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 244; 13, Marcus Ericsson, Andretti Global, 229; 14, Marcus Armstrong, Chip Ganassi Racing, 227; 15, Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing, 221; 16, Romain Grosjean, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 213; 17, Linus Lundqvist, Chip Ganassi Racing, 209; 18, Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 205; 19, Pietro Fittipaldi, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 151; 20, Sting Ray Robb, A.J. Foyt Racing, 144;

21, Kyffin Simpson, Chip Ganassi Racing, 138; 22, Nolan Siegel, Arrow McLaren, 115; 23, Christian Rasmussen, Ed Carpenter Racing, 109; 24, Augustin Canapino, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 109; 25, David Malukas, Meyer Shank Racing, 92; 26, Theo Pourchaire, Arrow McLaren, 91; 27, Jack Harvey, Dale Coyne Racing, 90; 28, Tom Blomqvist, Meyer Shank Racing, 46; 29, Ed Carpenter, Ed Carpenter Racing, 45; 30, Conor Daly, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 43;

31, Callum Ilott, Arrow McLaren, 39; 32, Toby Sowery, Dale Coyne Racing, 32; 33, Nolan Siegel, Arrow McLaren, 29; 34, Katherine Legge, Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing, 29; 35, Luca Ghiotto, Dale Coyne Racing, 27; 36, Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing, 26; 37, Kyle Larson, Hendrickcars.com Arrow McLaren, 21; 38, Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 19; 39, Tristan Vautier, Dale Coyne Racing, 12; 40, Colin Braun, Dale Coyne Racing, 10;

41, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing-Cusick Motorsports, 6; 42, Hunter McElrea, Dale Coyne Racing, 6; 43, Marco Andretti, Andretti Herta with Marco & Curb Agajanian, 5.