Latest news with #A.J.FoytRacing
Fox Sports
20-07-2025
- Automotive
- Fox Sports
Santino Ferrucci Out For Toronto After Morning Crash Damages Car Beyond Repair
TORONTO — Santino Ferrucci will miss the INDYCAR race today at Toronto, as a hard crash in the morning warm-up damaged the car beyond repair. With only three hours between the end of the warm-up and the start of the race, the A.J. Foyt Racing team did not have time to adequately repair the car or get the spare car ready to race. Ferrucci was icing his hand after the accident, but the team indicated it was not broken and Ferrucci said he would be OK. The accident occurred in the last few minutes of the 25-minute morning warm-up. Ferrucci said it was purely driver error, as he had not disengaged the hybrid power boost and was on the primary (harder) tires, which meant more power going into Turn 8. The rear of the car swung around and he slapped the outside wall hard. "Mistake," Ferrucci said. "I'm struggling obviously with the car. It was wet [from rain earlier] in that corner and I had been lifting and just out of habit, I'd been pulling the hybrid and I forgot to turn the hybrid off. ... I just lost the rear [of the car]. "It was a little bit of the boost in the power, it was just enough [and] we were also on the prime tire instead of the [softer] alternate just to get a read. Just a driving error. I feel pretty bad about that." Ferrucci was 10th in the series standings but had struggled this weekend on the Toronto streets. He was slated to start 23rd. Ferrucci will be awarded three points (instead of five for last place) for qualifying for the race but not starting. "The damage sustained to the car requires extensive repairs that cannot be completed to the standard of safety and performance necessary to race," the team said in a statement. "While this is a difficult decision for the team, the safety of our driver and our crew remains our top priority." Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass. recommended Item 1 of 1 Get more from the NTT INDYCAR SERIES Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more in this topic
Fox News
10-07-2025
- Automotive
- Fox News
Who Is David Malukas? The Gen Z Driver, Master Meme-Maker & Video Game Lover
Meet the Meme King of INDYCAR. At 23 years old, David Malukas already has 53 starts in the series, and it could have been more if not for a broken wrist suffered while mountain biking that turned his 2024 year into turmoil — the injury resulting in him being released from Arrow McLaren before ever appearing in a race. The now-A.J. Foyt Racing driver (who is seen as a possible replacement for Will Power at Team Penske) is 12th in the standings after 10 races this season. He is also a self-proclaimed video game addict and master meme-maker, as he details in this interview with FOX Sports. Who is David Malukas? David Malukas is a Gen Z INDYCAR driver. I like memes. I like to go fast. How would your friends or your girlfriend describe you? That's how, I think, they would describe me. Just very, I'd say, real. I am who I am. No matter the situation, I like to just be myself, show my jokes, my memes — no matter how serious things can be. We're at Road America, a place where you saw your dad race. How cool is it to race at a place where you watched your dad? (Father Henry is a racer and owner of HMD Motorsports in INDY NXT) It's very cool. And it was really cool because he was in the Corvette, too. I grew up here as a kid, did some karting and watched my dad drive around here, so it's pretty fun. Me and him can always talk and converse about how much INDYCAR is going through the carousel and the kink. He's always blown away that we're actually flat [on the throttle] going through there. It's awesome. Does he give you advice on how to drive an INDYCAR? No, definitely not. No advice from his side. When he was still doing some driving here and there, he was actually asking me for some advice, how to go through it. He did DD2 [karting], ... and he actually made it to the kart masters finals. So he was pretty good at the time. He was on it. You're from the Chicago area, so are you a Bulls fan in Indiana country? For me, I was never too much into the whole basketball thing. So actually, I went to the Pacers games and kind of had a connection. The game I tried to go to was when they were going against the Bulls. For me, it was a win-win situation. No matter what happens here, I'm going to be happy. That was a strategic game to go watch. Cubs or White Sox? It was always just motorsports, motorsports as a kid. But you kind of always had to pick a side. And for me, when I was very, very young, it was the White Sox. But now, we've been Cubs. As a Gen Z driver, do you think they need better music at the track? What's the suggestion of a Gen Z driver for an INDYCAR race? It's always to make things just feel fun. I think there's always a balance between being professional and obviously having some jokes here and there. For me, a little bit looser walking around the paddock, making some more jokes, like you said some good music. Anything that has to do with memes and just making memes out of everything. That's kind of been my spiel. How many memes have gotten you in trouble, and how many memes do people really like? I have to go through a very extensive course. It takes me hours or sometimes days before I even post something to make sure that the meme I'm posting won't get taken wrong in any way. I ask so many different people of all different categories. I'm like, "What do you see out of this?" The majority of the people outside of Gen Z say, "I don't even know what that means." So I'm like, "OK, great." That's what I wanted to hear because then nobody even understands what's going on. So we do take extensive care to make sure that what I post is not going to be conflicting in any way. But also, some of the time, that is part of the Gen Z jokes is pushing the edge a little bit on a lot of stuff. It seems like that type of attitude has also probably helped you over the last 18 months. Of course — 100 percent. You go into it having full confidence, and I just do what I want to do. I don't let anything kind of change who I am or change what I want to do. I just go out there and do my thing. And you are a little bit of a gamer, too? Or a lot? Yeah, a lot. So what's the best game you're playing right now? Football Manager is what I'm playing right now. It's soccer. During my puberty years, I really got connected with soccer — football internationally — because I lived in England and the Premier League over there is just such a big deal. It's massive over there. So I got that connection over there. Shout out my team, Chelsea. I've just been in love with football. So I got on this Football Manager, super nerdy, really into detail. Anything that you could think of from a management standpoint, making sure that everybody's happy and then the players are in the right mood, and figuring out their skill sets. It goes super into detail. And I love it. Growing up as a kid, it was Call of Duty, the casual ones. And now it's more very nerdy stuff. The more brain intensive to cure my ADHD, the better. Are you somebody who can't start playing because you're going to play it for four hours so you just don't start? Yes. That's all the games that I play. By the time you actually get into the zone and start the game, it's like two hours have gone by. So, normally, in these times when it's like 30 minutes, an hour, I can't really get it done. So you don't even try? No, I don't even try. It's just not going to happen. Do you ever worry about getting addicted? Addicted? I'm already addicted. 100 percent, yes. It is what it is. My whole family, ADHD is a big thing. Anything that can help with our hyper-fixations, the better. So for me, gaming just lets me kind of switch everything off and be super hyper-fixated on this one thing that's going on. And I think that also correlates to my successes on track. You get so hyper-fixated on what's in front of you and hitting your lines, and you get into this rhythm, this other zone, and it just cures whatever's going on inside my brain. Do you have pseudonym name so nobody knows who you are on those games? Oh, yeah, 100 percent. So you've never had anybody come up to you at the track and be like, 'Hey, I was playing you'? No, but being a super-intense gamer, I'm on Reddit, by the way, you Redditors. Man, if I've had a bad race, I don't go on Reddit because people are aggressive, so stay away from Reddit. But I'm on Reddit. I'm on Discord. I'm actually part of the INDYCAR Discord channel, so I've connected with a lot of players on there, and so they actually know my name and see me play. And obviously, Discord tells them what I'm playing. So some people definitely do know from the INDYCAR paddock, but most don't. Finally, do you try to explain this stuff to your team boss Larry Foyt? I haven't even tried. I think it would go right over his head. Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.
Fox Sports
23-06-2025
- Automotive
- Fox Sports
INDYCAR Power Rankings: Who Joins Alex Palou In Moving Up?
Alex Palou is back on top. No surprise after his sixth victory of the season Sunday at Road America. And the driver who finished second to him, Felix Rosenqvist, is back in these power rankings. He and David Malukas are now on the list. Off the list? All the Penske drivers. Hard to fathom but they just have not had the results in recent weeks. They've had speed. It would be no surprise to see any of them win a race. But their recent results have to be frustrating. They've got no top 10s in the last two races. Here are the power rankings after back-to-back race weekends. The series has an off-week coming up, before four consecutive weeks of racing at Mid-Ohio, Iowa, Toronto and Laguna Seca. Dropped out: Will Power (Last Week: 6), Scott McLaughlin (LW: 10) On the verge: Scott McLaughlin, Josef Newgarden, Will Power 10. Colton Herta (LW: 8) Herta was 16th at Road America and just did not have a good weekend. Yes, Power was ahead of him on the list previously and finished a couple of spots ahead of him on Sunday, but Herta has earned more points than Power over the last month, keeping Herta on the list. 9. David Malukas (LW: NR) A seventh-place finish was his second top 10 in the last four races with the other finishes in the top 15. The A.J. Foyt Racing driver is grinding out good finishes, despite some adversity in races. 8. Marcus Armstrong (LW: 9) Armstrong was a solid fifth at Road America, giving him three consecutive top-10 finishes. The Meyer Shank Racing driver has five top 10s in the nine races this year. 7. Christian Lundgaard (LW: 5) Lundgaard, at one point, was the fastest car on his tire strategy. But his day went south with a spin while racing Herta at Road America. The Arrow McLaren driver had to settle for 24th. 6. Felix Rosenqvist (LW: NR) After finishes of 21st and 16th in the previous two races, Rosenqvist earned his fourth top five of the year with a second-place finish at Road America. The Meyer Shank driver hopes that he will get back some of the momentum he had earlier in the year. 5. Santino Ferrucci (LW: 7) Ferrucci earned his fourth consecutive top-five finish with a third at Road America, giving the A.J. Foyt Racing driver a second, a third and two fifths in his last four starts. 4. Pato O'Ward (LW: 3) A forgettable weekend pretty much for O'Ward, as he finished 17th at Road America. Expect the Arrow McLaren driver to be better at Mid-Ohio. He won there last year. 3. Scott Dixon (LW: 4) Dixon had speed but not the strategy, as he had to pit from the lead with a couple laps remaining to finish ninth. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver could use some luck. 2. Kyle Kirkwood (LW: 1) Kirkwood didn't have the speed to keep pace with the leaders but made the most of his strategy and finished fourth. The Andretti driver was coming off back-to-back wins and has five top fives this year. 1. Alex Palou (LW: 2) Palou was fast all weekend and ended up having the victorious strategy at Road America. With six wins this year, it makes you wonder if this is a battle for second. Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass. recommended Get more from NTT INDYCAR SERIES Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
Indianapolis Star
22-06-2025
- Sport
- Indianapolis Star
Drink Wisconsinbly: Santino Ferrucci celebrates podium at Road America with fan's beer
It was hot in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, on Sunday. And Santino Ferrucci had earned a beer. Ferrucci finished third in Sunday's Xpel Grand Prix at Road America, but like many drivers, his car ran out of fuel before he could get back to pit road. A fan helped out by throwing a beer to him a catch fence. The 27-year-old made a nice grab and promptly chugged the beer. Ferrucci has put up a lot of strong results recently for A.J. Foyt Racing: This was his fourth top 5 in a row, and he finished second at Detroit.
Fox Sports
02-06-2025
- Automotive
- Fox Sports
INDYCAR Power Rankings: Santino Ferrucci enters the chat
Is there a new No. 1 considering Alex Palou didn't win at the Detroit Grand Prix? Yeah, right. Palou has won five of the first seven races and remains atop these power rankings. INDYCAR now heads into a weekend off before a June 15 night race at World Wide Technology Raceway, commonly known as Gateway (outside of St. Louis). Dropped out: Felix Rosenqvist (Last Week: 5), Marcu Ericsson (LW: 9) On the verge: Marcus Ericsson, Felix Rosenqvist, Alexander Rossi 10. Santino Ferrucci (LW: Not Ranked) Ferrucci's second-place finish gave the A.J. Foyt Racing driver back-to-back top fives, vaulting him to 10th in the standings. He started the race 21st, so to execute the strategy well enough and hold on to second was impressive. 9. Josef Newgarden (LW: NR) Newgarden had a horrible qualifying, as he started 24th and was able to race his way to ninth. That's not what the Team Penske driver wanted, but at least he entered the weekend knowing he had a decent race. 8. Scott Dixon (LW: 8) Dixon finished 11th at Detroit after starting 16th. And that was thanks in part to a six-spot grid penalty for already being on his fifth engine with none of his previous four engines meeting the mileage minimum. The Ganassi driver, who was the defending Detroit race winner, is seventh in the standings. 7. Scott McLaughlin (LW: 6) Working his way back to 12th after a stop-and-go penalty for avoidable contact when he turned Nolan Siegel, McLaughlin can at least feel a little better than he did after the Indy 500 when he didn't complete a lap. He is eighth in the standings. 6. Colton Herta (LW: 10) Herta won the Detroit pole and said he needed to have a solid Sunday. He did, as he finished third. The Andretti driver finally has a podium this season, and he has four finishes of seventh or better. 5. Will Power (LW: 7) Power placed fourth with a fine drive at Detroit and moved up to fifth in the standings. The Penske driver has five finishes of sixth or better this year. 4. Christian Lundgaard (LW: 4) Lundgaard started fourth and finished eighth at Detroit. The McLaren driver was probably hoping for more, considering where he started. He sits fourth in the standings. 3. Pato O'Ward (LW: 2) O'Ward finished one spot ahead of his Arrow McLaren teammate Lundgaard as he finished seventh. He remained second in the series standings but did miss an opportunity to potentially gain significant points on Palou. 2. Kyle Kirkwood (LW: 3) Kirkwood picked up his second win of the season. He had a great weekend, minus the push from Power in practice Friday. He arguably had the best car and the best strategy and the best execution on the way to the win. He moved to third in the series standings. 1. Alex Palou (LW: 1) A 25th-place finish after being wrecked by David Malukas ended Palou's incredible start of five wins and one second-place finish. Malukas got a stop-and-go for avoidable contact, but that was little consolation to the Ganassi driver, whose race was ruined. Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass. recommended Get more from NTT INDYCAR SERIES Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
