AJ Foyt says that it was a pretty good Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on Sunday for his twam after Sebastien Bourdais in the No.14 ROKiT Chevrolet came from 22nd to finish inside the top ten in eighth place.
Today was a pretty good day. “I was hoping we would have run a little better but, you’ve got to take what you can get. The drivers and crews all did a good job. This track you’ve got to be real careful because you can get parked real easy.”
Sebastien Bourdais who will return to the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship in 2022 will reportedly be with Foyt on a part-time programme commented saying:
A pretty good day for the ROKiT Chevrolet No. 14 here with A.J. Foyt Racing. “From 22nd, (and then) essentially last, to P-8 with really good strategy from the boys. I had a pretty quick car, which I knew we were not that bad, but I didn’t think we’d be that quick during the race. Not quite sure what the future is going to be made of but if it was to be the last one, not too shabby for the last one, and I really hope to see you guys next year.”
Charlie Kimball competing in his first race of the season in the No.11 Tresiba Chevrolet was 18th and speaking following the action he said:
Well, it sure was a fun day in the No. 11 Tresiba Chevrolet!. “The guys at AJ Foyt Racing did a great job, the car ran flawlessly. We had a great race going, a few strategy calls, things were looking good but then a couple yellows helped the guys ahead of us. And then the last lap I got run into by someone not paying attention. But at the end of the day, it was a great day of racing and I can’t thank AJ Foyt Racing [enough], or Novo Nordisk for the years of support! What a way to finish the season here at Long Beach and crown a champion.”
Dalton Kellett in the No.4 K Line Insulator Chevrolet came home in 19th place having started the race from 26th place and speaking following the action he said:
Last race of the year, the 2021 INDYCAR season is wrapped up,” the 2. “Happy to end it on a pretty good note for the No. 4 K-Line Insulators USA team. We brought that Team Chevy home P19 I believe with a drag race to the finish with teammate Charlie Kimball, so that was exciting. Took that restart 16th, moved up from 26th so that was some good moves, but was a little over-zealous on the push-to-pass in the middle of the race, so with about 12 to go, I had no push-to-pass. I was having to defend pretty aggressively from Helio and Jimmy so lost a few spots there, but move on and learn as far as managing that. But happy with how we’re wrapping it up. Kind of an up and down year, but we’ve had some high spots and I think this was a good way to end the year.”
AJ Foyt Racing Team President Larry Foyt commented saying:
When Seb got hit on the first lap, it felt like more of the bad racing luck that has hovered over us all season. But what I love about this group is that we don’t give up, so for the ROKiT Chevrolet to come from last to a solid top-10 feels great to end the season. Dalton drove hard and did well for never having been to Long Beach, and I thought Charlie did amazing for being out of the car for a while and should have been top-15 if not for others’ mistakes. All in all, this was not the year that we were hoping for, but we never gave up and the team made gains. We aren’t exactly sure what our lineup will be at this point, but we will be back and focused on getting stronger and moving up further in the championship standings.”
The team will make an announcement regarding their 2022 driver line-up in the coming weeks. The 2022 NTT IndyCar Series season gets underway with the Firestone Grand Prix of St Petersburg on February 27.