Santino Ferrucci hangs on for IndyCar podium, celebrates with beer from a fan

Yahoo

5 days ago

When Santino Ferrucci was nervously stretching fuel to the finish of Sunday's XPEL Grand Prix, he could only think of one person.
'All I could think about to myself was 'We're doing this for Marlene [Sexton],'' Ferrucci told FOX Sports afterward.
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Ferrucci and the No. 14 A.J. Foyt Racing team entered the Road America race weekend with a goal of honoring Sexton, who passed away June 11 at age 86. The Connecticut native sported a special Sexton Properties tribute livery and hoped to bring home a solid result.
Early on, doing so seemed like a challenge. Ferrucci qualified a distant 18th and needed an eventful race to play out if he was going to have a chance to salvage the weekend. Thankfully for the 27-year-old, Sunday's atypically-hot race yielded a trio of early cautions that shook up the strategies and running order.
It wasn't until the third of those cautions came that Ferrucci finally came to pit road, swapping his primary tires for alternates. He remained on alternates from there to the finish, nearly mirroring race winner Alex Palou with stops on lap 24 and lap 39, but staying on the aggression with soft tires.
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That strategy ultimately beared fruit. Ferrucci matched through the field and snuck past drivers on other strategies, climbing up into the top-five for the closing stint. When Scott Dixon and Alexander Rossi had to pit for fuel in the closing laps, Ferrucci rose up to third.
Fuel saving strategy
Santino Ferrucci, A. J. Foyt Enterprises
Santino Ferrucci, A. J. Foyt Enterprises
From there he just had to survive on fuel - a feat that proved stressful to the last second.
'They were counting down the laps, and I told Mike, 'Listen, I've gotta focus, because this is getting stressful,' Ferrucci admitted. 'He let me drive. Honestly the crew did an amazing job on stops. I stalled it, too. Even with the stall, coming back and finishing the way we did was pretty amazing.'
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In the end, Ferrucci had enough just fuel to make it. He parked his car in turn 1, walked over to the grandstands and motioned for the fans in attendance to toss him a drink. A water bottle toss missed the mark, but Ferrucci made the most of a Miller Lite that followed.
Afterward, he only had one person to dedicate the win to.
'This one goes to Marlene,' Ferrucci said. 'She was riding with us today. I'm very proud. This one tastes a little bit sweeter.'
Sunday's result continued a string of solid runs for Ferrucci and A.J. Foyt Racing. After averaging a finish of 15.4 through the year's opening five races, Ferrucci has four-straight top-fives including a pair of podiums dating back to May's Indianapolis 500.
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It's a stretch that has Ferrucci's team feeling back in form.
'We're performing,' Ferrucci said. 'We're back to where we were at the end of last year. I feel it. I've gotta get my qualifying performance up, but until then I like padding my points for passing.'
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