Oilpressure

Yesterday while I was at lunch, I got a text from a friend of mine in Indianapolis saying “Malukas to Foyt? Seems like an odd choice considering his options”. I looked at that text and was stunned. Before getting that text, I had no idea that there was even a slight possibility that David Malukas would sign a multi-year deal to drive for AJ Foyt Enterprises, starting in 2025. This announcement yesterday has provided a lot of questions, but very few answers.

Based on a Racer.com article I read on Monday, I had convinced myself that Malukas was staying at Meyer Shank Racing (MSR). Knowing what I know now, I can see where he was simply acknowledging his gratitude toward MSR, but he was moving on. Sometimes my blind optimism makes me overlook the obvious.

I’ll be honest, this deal is a head-scratcher on the surface – for both sides.

Foyt is a team on the rise, due mostly to the technical alliance signed with Team Penske last summer. Santino Ferrucci has placed the famous No. 14 in the Top-Ten in points with only five races to go. This may be the first time that a Foyt car has been that high, this late in the season since Airton Daré finished ninth in the 2002 championship for Foyt. This is not a normal occurrence.

Ferrucci was able to be retained from last season, due to the large amount of cash brought to the table by second-year driver Sting Ray Robb. Although he currently sits twenty-fourth in points, Robb has improved significantly since his 2023 rookie outing with Dale Coyne Racing. He has been caught up in many incidents not of his own making. Still the results are his, and he is on the cusp of missing the Leaders Circle for Foyt, and missing out on a roughly $1 Million payout from the series.

After being dropped by McLaren before ever racing for them, due to a pre-season biking incident, Malukas proved his worth with a resurgent run for MSR after he joined the team at Laguna Seca. He showed flashes of brilliance over the course of five races with MSR. His low point was crashing on the opening lap of the first race at Iowa and finishing dead-last. The high point was finishing sixth in the most recent race – the streets of Toronto.

After a miserable 2023, MSR went through its own resurgence in 2024 with Felix Rosenqvist providing outstanding qualifying results along with some decent race finishes. Once Malukas joined the team, MSR had a consistent one-two punch that provided a threat for both drivers to win races. MSR seemed to like Malukas, and Malukas seemed to like being there.

Behind another Arrow McLaren alumnus in Alexander Rossi, Malukas was the second-most coveted free-agent for 2025. He reportedly had offers from MSR, Rahal Letterman Lanigan and possibly others. Why did he pick Foyt?

Another burning question is, what is the status of Santino Ferrucci? The young American driver from Connecticut is in his second year ay Foyt, and has provided a spark at that team we’ve not seem in decades. He is tenth in points and is coming off of his second consecutive second-row start in the Indianapolis 500, where he has finished third and eighth for Foyt in those same two years. Not only has he excelled at Foyt, he is also a favorite of the team’s namesake. AJ Foyt was a fierce competitor on and off the track, and Ferrucci exhibits the same level of feistiness with his fellow drivers. Like Foyt, Ferrucci is not for everyone. Fans either love him or hate him. Put me in the first category.

Tuesday’s press release did not specify a car number for Malukas. By being such a good fit and providing results the team hasn’t seen in years, it’s hard for me to imagine the team parting ways with Ferrucci.

That brings up another question; what about Sting Ray Robb? While he is flirting with being on the outside of the IndyCar Leader’s Circle; Robb brings cash. From what I understand – he brings a lot of cash. So much cash, Robb is funding his own program and much of Ferrucci’s. If Robb is out, that leaves a huge hole in the budget.

Malukas apparently brings no budget. After funding his first two years at Coyne, his father (HMD Trucking) has made it clear he cannot fund his son anymore. His money is tied up with multi-car Indy NXT team HMD Motorsports.

With everything we see on the surface, who is the odd man out at Foyt? We already know it’s not Malukas. I’ve seen one theory that Malukas will be parked at Foyt in a three-car team for a year, until Malukas slides into the No 12 car at Penske when Will Power retires. I don’t think I can but that one. That would require another Chevy lease, which currently doesn’t exist with PREMA coming onto the scene next season.

Is Ferrucci the odd man out? If he is still in the Top-Ten at the end of the season, I just don’t see how Foyt could dare let him walk. Does Ferrucci already have a deal somewhere else for 2025 that we don’t know about, but Ferrucci and Foyt do? That is the only way I can envision him not being in the No. 14 car next season.

What about Sting Ray Robb? Most say that Robb is the odd man out. But if they replace Robb, they also have to replace the millions he brings to the table. With Malukas not bringing budget, where is the money coming from? Remember, Robb is currently funding all of the No. 41 and a good chunk of the No. 14. That’s quite a large amount of cash to replace, without an obvious source to replace it.

Is this an elaborate look to the future? Has the elder Malukas decided to fund his son with HMD Trucking dollars, with the idea of getting one or both AJ Foyt charters at a reduced or free rate in the near future, in exchange for substantial funding now? The charter system that will be arriving soon, would be the only way to justify athree car team at Foyt – and that’s if three on one team would be allowed. Again, I don’t see that happening due to the Chevy lease issue. But what if Andretti becomes a Chevy team as many suspect. Most likely, Andretti would take the two Foyt Chevy leases (still needing one more), and Foyt could get the three Honda leases that belonged to Andretti. It’s all too confusing.

One thing is for certain – the silly season just got a lot sillier with yesterday’s announcement of Malukas going to Foyt. There are so many questions, with so few answers. It will be interesting to watch and see how this unfolds. And remember – we are still five races away from the offseason. Stay tuned. This is going to get good.

George Phillips

This entry was posted on August 14, 2024 at 4:01 am and is filed under IndyCar. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.