4 days ago
- Automotive
- Indianapolis Star
'Hard for us to get out there.' Santino Ferrucci won't run IndyCar race at Toronto after crash
TORONTO — Following a major crash in Sunday morning's warmup session that came just over three hours from IndyCar's scheduled green flag for its race on the streets of Toronto, AJ Foyt Racing has elected not run its No. 14 Chevy entry of Santino Ferrucci, the team announced.
Team president Larry Foyt told IndyStar that there may have been a small hope to prepare the backup No. 14 chassis into a raceable condition, but it would've been a stretch, given the time constraints, and combined with Ferrucci nursing a banged right hand he was seen icing around the team transporters, Foyt ultimately decided it to be unwise to roll the dice.
Foyt noted that Ferrucci had been cleared to drive, with X-rays on his hand negative, but the primary car was too damaged to be repaired, necessitating moving to a backup car and a lengthier preparation process after Ferrucci slid thorugh the exit of Turn 7, first slamming the whole left side of the car into the wall, before skidding and turning to make right-side impact near Turn 8 before the car came to a stop.
In an interview with Fox Sports, Ferrucci deemed the crash "driver error," an instance of forgetting to turn the hybrid system off and therefore carrying too much speed into the corner to be able to stop before slamming into the concrete wall.
"Sure, could we get a car out there? Possibly, but I don't want to push (Ferrucci) either," Foyt told IndyStar. "I'd rather just focus on (next Sunday's race at Laguna Seca). It would be hard for us to get out there anyways. That car was really heavily damaged. We have the backup car here, obviously, but it's just a quick turn between warmup and the race.
"(The impact) definitely got into the crash structure and the tub, which is a lengthy thing, so you'd be going to a backup car, and we'd still have to diagnose the engine, so there was still a lot of things that would have to happen if we were going to try and push out in an hour or so. It's a tough decision, because we all come here to race, but I think just for the team and our situation right now, we've already got a quick turnaround to go to Laguna, and we think we can do well there, so we'll let Santino rest up and let the guys take their time getting the backup car prepared and move on."
Entering this race weekend, Ferrucci sat tied for 10th in the championship with teammate David Malukas, aiming to follow up his ninth-place points performance a year ago with another top 10 at the end of the 17-race season. After a run of four consecutive top 5s in May and June, including a pair of podium finishes in the Indy 500 and Road America, Ferrucci and the No. 14 crew had ridden a bit of a roller coaster of late with a best finish of eighth at the Iowa doubleheader sandwiched by results of 16th (Mid-Ohio) and 15th (Iowa Race No. 2).
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At the moment, Christian Rasmussen, who sits 15th in the championship, enters Sunday's race 30 points back of Ferrucci, meaning the veteran driver will almost certainly drop at least a couple spots in the standings before he rolls up to Laguna Seca for practice Friday.
"This is a pretty big blow, but we think these last four races are still really strong for us and for (Ferrucci), and we're not going to give up on trying to get back into the top 10," Foyt said. "It's racing, and things happen. It's part of it.
"I don't know why Toronto doesn't like the No. 14 car. That's two years in a row that we've had a big one here. It's unfortunate, and I know (Ferrucci) and the team feels bad, but we'll be back next week."
Count Foyt among the camp that would love to see IndyCar schedule its pre-race warmups for a couple hours after qualifying late on Saturday afternoon, rather than Sunday morning just a couple hours before the race, in hopes of avoiding a situation such as Sunday's, where a serious crash ultimately will keep a team from racing altogether.
"For sure for the smaller teams, if you had a little extra time, no doubt (that would be helpful)," Foyt said. "These warmups are always nerve-racking, especially at a street course where you have concrete everywhere and you could have an accident like this. It's a tough turnaround for a small team, no doubt."
