You can say what you will about me, but I was correct on two things since my last post. I had a couple of rough days after my medical procedure on Friday Sep 18 and really did not feel like sitting down and writing in the first few days following it. There was nothing wrong, mind you – everything I experienced was expected. But that still didn’t make me want to sit down and write anything out earlier than I said I would. But for the record, the procedure went ahead flawlessly, it worked and I now feel fine. That is, until I watched my Tennessee Vols take it on the chin this past Saturday. It was the Texas Longhorns doing the damage 20-17, in their first-ever visit to Knoxville.
My other prediction? I correctly predicted that as soon as I signed off for a twelve-day break, some unexpected signing would occur that would be old news by the time I returned. That is exactly what happened. It’s about the only prediction I’ve gotten right, but at least I can say “I told you so”.
Within five hours of my post, we all learned the very unexpected news that AJ Foyt Racing had signed Dennis Hauger for the 2027 season, at the expense of popular driver Santino Ferrucci. I use the word “popular” to describe Ferrucci, knowing that he has his critics. Some dislike him for his political stances; while others can’t get past some of his antics involving his teammate, when he was driving in Europe. But for the most part, Santino Ferrucci is one of the most popular drivers among IndyCar fans.
There is no denying his record in the Indianapolis 500, where he has never scored a finish outside of the Top-Ten after eight starts. His best starting positions for the 500 all came during his tenure at AJ Foyt Racing, with starts of fourth, sixth, fifteenth and fifth just this past May. Those also happen to be the best starting positions in the 500 for any Foyt driver since Billy Boat started on the pole for Foyt in 1998.
I was stunned at this move, and I was not happy about it at all. Santino Ferrucci, along with David Malukas, were the first drivers in a while to challenge the old adage that “the Foyt team is where careers go to die”. The list was long, consisting of once strong or promising drivers like Eddie Cheever, Darren Manning, Vitor Meira, Dan Wheldon, Paul Tracy, Tony Kanaan. Ryan Hunter-Reay and Takuma Sato are the only drivers that come to mind whose careers flourished after a stint at Foyt.
Ferrucci made the Foyt team relevant again, with a driving style that made the team’s namesake proud. In his four years at Foyt, Ferrucci scored one pole and three podiums. That record probably would have gotten him fired at Penske or Ganassi, but it signaled a rebirth at the Foyt team. The Foyt-Ferrucci pairing was especially impressive at the Indianapolis 500, where the daily progress of the No.14 car was actually garnering attention, instead of being an afterthought.
At the end of the 2024 season, the team finished ninth in the final standings. A Top-Ten finish in points was a first for the Foyt team in a generation. But the team backslid in the last couple of seasons. Rumor has it that the technical support from Team Penske was limited to the No. 4 Malukas car in 2025, and was practically non-existent for both cars in 2026, once Malukas made the shift over to Team Penske this season.
This past season saw Ferrucci score only three Top-Ten finishes, compared to eleven in 2024 and six in 2025. In that time, there was a revolving door of engineering and other support staff. Most drivers would have been trying to take their services elsewhere to greener pastures. But Ferrucci was happy at Foyt. He knew he was not being eyed for a seat at Team Penske. He was allowed to be himself as he and the team seemed to be building something for the long term.
From what I understand, Ferrucci was also popular with the military veterans he worked with through the Homes for our Troops program. Although he carried an Italian sounding name, he was as American as he could be and was considered a patriot.
While Ferrucci had a disappointing season, problems started to arise when Caio Collet developed a regular habit of crashing his No. 4 Dallara/Chevy. The Brazilian rookie showed flashes of great speed, but suffered several crashes in races or practice sessions. Not only was he incurring a high amount of expensive crash damage for the team, he was adding up the DNFs – which ultimately put him below the Top-22 in the final points standing. This put him outside the Leaders Circle, which ultimately cost the team an additional $1.7 Million.
Supposedly, not making the Leaders Circle in 2026 was what deterred their interest in signing Collet for 2027, despite the fact that he brought budget. The team soon turned their attention to Indy NXT driver Josh Pierson – an American driver who had a mostly disappointing season in 2026, finishing eleventh. What does Pierson bring to the table? Money, and a lot of it. From what I’ve heard, Larry Foyt had penciled Pierson into the No. 4 car alongside Ferrucci.
But a funny thing happened before they could complete the signing. IndyCar announced what some are calling the Josh Pierson rule, valuing on-track accomplishments over deep pockets. Drivers now need to prove their worth on the track if they don’t automatically meet the qualifications laid out by IndyCar. Showing up with a helmet and a fat check book is now no longer enough.
Some are applauding this rule that is designed to keep unqualified drivers off of the track, while others fear it will eventually spell the end of some teams who sometimes have to hire drivers with budget in order to stay afloat.
It certainly seems to have had an effect on the Foyt team. Shortly after these rules were announced, Larry Foyt had a sudden interest in signing Dennis Hauger, who had some budget and will drive cheaper than Santino Ferrucci, who essentially had zero budget.
Did Larry Foyt panic? Hauger was the 2026 IndyCar Rookie of the Year who had some money he could bring to the table. It wasn’t near as much as what Pierson reportedly has, but it was enough to keep the lights turned on. Remember that in past seasons, whether it was Benjamin Pedersen or Dalton Kellett – they brought enough money to cover the expenses of the second car at Foyt, as well as cover Ferrucci’s salary. With Pierson’s signing suddenly in serious jeopardy, that appeared to no longer be possible. So Ferrucci suddenly became very expendable.
It didn’t help that Ferrucci was coming off of a very unproductive season that saw him slip to seventeenth in points. Was that his fault or the team’s? I could argue that the team let Ferrucci down, but it’s a lot easier to change the driver than the entire crew.
So how will Dennis Hauger fare in the No. 14? The 2025 Indy NXT Champion started off well enough, scoring a Top-Ten finish for Dale Coyne in his debut at St. Petersburg. Over the spring, Hauger wasn’t overly impressive in his Dale Coyne ride, but I would say he held his own through the Indianapolis 500 and Detroit. But then the Norwegian driver seemed to hit a wall, where a twentieth place finish at Road America was his best finish in a four-race stretch. Just as people were starting to notice that Hauger had turned invisible for the summer, he turned things back on at Portland, Markham and DC, before finishing the season with a twenty-first, twenty-first and twenty-fifth. If I had one word to describe Dennis Hauger’s rookie IndyCar season, it would be: inconsistent.
While fans and the media all seemed to swoon over Dennis Hauger, I was not overly impressed. He came across as extremely bland, but seemed to be very talented in a race car when he was fully motivated to perform. Contrast that with the popular, personable and outspoken Ferrucci, who also could work magic with a race car – especially on ovals, and I think you will see the Foyt team fade back into the obscurity it was in back in the days of Filipe Giaffone.
Out of the car, I can’t help but think a driver from Norway will have a tougher time relating to US veterans than a personable American like Ferrucci. I’m normally not one to clamor for only American drivers, and have never had a problem with foreign drivers. But when your sponsor is affiliated with US veterans, I can’t help but think that an American driver would be more effective in that role.
To show how much he liked it at Foyt, Ferrucci is even entertaining the idea of staying at Foyt and running a third car at Indianapolis. In all honesty, I hope he doesn’t do that. First of all, I feel like Ferrucci has been done dirty at Foyt. Second of all, is there a worst ride for the Indianapolis 500 than the third car at Foyt?
It’s pretty late in the game for Ferrucci to find a fulltime ride. There are still two seats at Coyne, though Romain Grosjean is now favored for one of them. There is also one seat left at whatever Juncos Hollinger will be called in the future, as Sting Ray Robb is not expected to be invited back. Although we’ve heard nothing official yet, I don’t think the No. 9 at Ganassi is open. Wouldn’t it be ironic if the two former Foyt teammates, Ferrucci and Collet, end up battling it out for the last remaining spot.
If he can’t get a fulltime ride, I’d like to see Ferrucci get a good ride for the Indianapolis 500. We’ve always heard “imagine what Ferrucci could do in top equipment at Indianapolis”. I doubt that Penske would put him in a car. They usually don’t run an extra car at Indianapolis, and I’m not sure how well Ferrucci would fit in there. If Colton Herta doesn’t return to Indianapolis this May, I would love to see him in an Andretti car. What about Ferrucci at Ganassi for Indianapolis? I guess anything is possible.
During my absence, we also observed the passing of racing legend Jigger Sirois, last week. Named for another racing legend, Leon Duray (The Flying Frenchman, who was really named George Stewart and was not French at all), Sirois is best known as a curious footnote on what might have been in qualifying for the 1969 Indianapolis 500. But he was an excellent midget racer who should be known for his prowess on the midwest short tracks, than for having a run waved off which may or may not have kept him on the pole in 1969, due to the rules back then. Donald Davidson believes that Sirois would have eventually been bumped that year. Sirois never qualified for the Indianapolis 500, although he tried several times. Still he was an outstanding racer, and never shied away from his infamous 1969 qualifying run. He is and always will be part of the fabric that makes up the history of the Indianapolis 500, and he was a fixture at The Speedway for many decades afterwards.
That pretty well covered the main IndyCar stories since I went on my self-imposed sabbatical for a medical procedure. We did learn that Scott Dixon will be running No. 6 at Arrow McLaren in 2027. That means if sponsorships line up as they did in 2026, Dixon will be driving the same color car, with the number turned upside down. Felix Rosenqvist will be running the No. 7, while Pato O’Ward remains in the No. 5.
That will about do it. As far as I know, I have no other large spans of time-off from here planned. I will continue to post semi-regularly through the offseason, especially when warranted. But I will no longer be writing useless puff-pieces just to continue the MWF schedule I maintained for years.
George Phillips
