AJ Foyt Racing head to the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway this weekend with momentum on their side.
Santino Ferrucci in the No.14 Bommarito Automotive Chevrolet heads to World Wide Technology Raceway off the back of his career-best result in Detroit of second.
Ferrucci sat down with AJ Foyt Racing to preview this weekend’s race.
Why do you like racing at WWT Raceway?
SF: “I think it’s a challenging track and I’ve come close to winning there a few times. I think it provides a solid challenge because [turns] one and two and three and four are completely different, so setting up a car is not easy. Also, there’s the way that you have to drive; you have to change your driving style back and forth [between the two ends of the track]. You definitely use the weight jacker a lot more there than you would almost any other oval and the same with the front and rear bar. You’re tuning the car consistently every lap.”
Do you have any favorite restaurants in the area that you like to frequent?
SF: “One of my favorite restaurants is Cafe Napoli or 801 Chop House.”
How does the hybrid affect running a short oval like WWT Raceway?
SF: “I don’t think it does. The hybrid does makes it a little bit more difficult to drive the car because it’s heavy, and the weight in the back just makes the car move a lot more. At the end of the day, it’s part of the series.”
FOX is running this race in prime time on a Sunday night. What do you think of the partnership Penske Entertainment has forged with FOX?
SF: “I think the partnership been really good for the series. Having all of our races on the FOX network has really increased INDYCAR’s visibility and I believe has contributed to its rise in popularity. Running in prime time on Sunday night is like doubling down on a good thing. I think it’s great.”
With Mike Armbrester’s elevation to technical director, Adam Kolesar becomes your race engineer. Your thoughts?
SF: “I’m very happy for the decisions they’re making with the team. I think it’s the right decision for the moment. Adam ran the car for me at the October test at the speedway, and he’s been very helpful to me over the last two years. I believe he’s ready to move up. With Mike as the technical director, he’ll have a little bit more oversight, will be pulling the team together, and making sure things are done right inside the team. He’ll be helping with direction and organization, which he is very good at.”
How did your relationship with John Bommarito come about?
SF: “My relationship with John started when I was first in the series driving for another team and then eventually driving the car that was sponsored by them. I’ve known John and his family for quite a few years. I was there when they first started sponsoring the team at this race in 2022 and was actually with Larry helping to get it done. They sponsored me at Indy in 2022 and they wanted to have a car and a driver for their race at WWT Raceway. I helped with the introduction, and I think it turned out to be a very solid relationship throughout the years and I benefitted from it as well.
“John really loves doing this race. It’s going to be the ninth one that they’ve been the title sponsor of, and he’s done a great job promoting it all throughout St Louis. And I think he’s the one that helps really draw a crowd there. We do commercials for the race some for years now so it’s been pretty awesome. So, very thankful that as a sponsor, he goes above and beyond to help with the race’s promotion.”
What are your expectations for this weekend?
SF: “Having a clean weekend will be very important. Assuming we have everything kind of set the way we did last year, we should be a contender to win. So that’d be the expectation this year.”
David Malukas goes into the weekend off some solid results such as his second-place finish at the Indianapolis 500 followed by a front row start in Detroit.
At WWT Raceway, if you finish, you were in the top three in Indy NXT (including two wins) and INDYCAR. Last year you qualified outside pole. What is it about this track that suits you?
DM: “I don’t really know. I think it’s something that I’ve managed to understand pretty early in my IndyCar career. It also just goes back to the INDY NXT days and running through the Road to Indy ladder series which helped me learn a lot. I knew there was something special about WWT Raceway, and maybe I could take that and apply it to all the tracks throughout the year. But, yeah, I don’t really know what it is, but I’m gonna be taking it either way.”
Without giving anything away, what is the key to getting around there?
DM: “Well, I think what makes WWT Raceway special is the differences of [corners] one and two to three and four. They’re very different when it comes to speed, and I think setting up the car for both ends of the tracks is the goal to getting around this circuit as fast as possible.”
Did the hybrid make it easier or harder to set up the car?
DM: “For short ovals, it hasn’t been as big of an effect as it was in the 500. I think the 500 this year definitely had some big effects with the setup of the car and changing things around. But from what I can remember at the end of last year, the few races that we did, I don’t think it really affected it too much. We were able to go out and qualify well and still fight for the lead. To me, everything still felt very similar to what it was before the hybrid.”
Do you feel you are finding your groove with AJ Foyt Racing, given the recent success?
DM: “Of course. I think there was a lot of talk in the beginning of the season of what’s going on? Why are we not there? But we had a lot of changes with the team and new teammates coming in. I was brand new to the team, a lot of new guys came onto the team. So it takes time for these things to gel and start connecting and moving forward with the setup that we needed. I said from the start of the season, to the team and to everybody, that we were waiting for that month of May, when we’re with the guys every single day. We wake up, it’s racing. You go to bed, it’s racing. It’s racing non-stop and I think it’s showed. We figured out the setup for the 500, and in return, we ended up building that confidence and found a setup towards street courses. I think the road courses are still something to look forward to, and obviously the short ovals are also unknown. It’s gonna be my first weekend here on a short oval with the team, so we’ll see how that goes. But yes, I do think that the recent success is coming in and giving us confidence, and I think the second half of the season is going to be a really good turnaround for the AJ Foyt Racing guys.”
What are your expectations for WWT Raceway this year?
DM: “We’ve had really good results every single time with the unfortunate exception of last season, we’ve always been there. I think with every race, you always want to try to go and get the best result and go for that win. But for me especially, I think WWT Raceway, I feel like I’ve been really close and I just want to get it done that one more step. Obviously it’s going to be very hard and we’re going to have to get everything perfect. As long as we can get consistent results, I just want consistency for the second half of the season and start securing some good points for the team