Santino Ferrucci will return to full-time IndyCar racing subsequent season in A.J. Foyt’s flagship automobile after two seasons filling in instead driver for different groups.

AJ Foyt Racing mentioned Thursday that Ferrucci will drive the No. 14 Chevrolet, which is fielded out of Foyt’s headquarters in Waller, Texas. Ferrucci just lately relocated to Texas.

The workforce final week employed Indy Lights driver Benjamin Pedersen for its second automobile, which is fielded out of Indianapolis. Group president Larry Foyt didn’t assign Pederson a automobile quantity, because it stays unclear if Dalton Kellett will return to drive the No. 4 subsequent yr.

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Ferrucci entered eight IndyCar races over the previous two seasons, together with as soon as because the emergency alternative for Jack Harvey at Texas Motor Speedway when Harvey suffered a concussion in a crash throughout observe. He was additionally the Group Penske standby driver in July at Indianapolis in case Josef Newgarden was not cleared to compete.

“Being a part-time driver over the past two years has been exhausting for me personally,” the 24-year-old Ferrucci mentioned. “I am a race automobile driver and I wish to compete. Working with totally different groups has been thrilling, and I am proud that regardless of which automobile I’ve raced, I’ve at all times proven velocity and consistency.

“I could not be extra excited to affix AJ Foyt Racing within the 14 Chevy. I can not wait to make one of the best of it.”

Ferrucci final season drove for Rahal Letterman Lanigan, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing and Juncos Hollinger Racing, with a finest end of ninth place at Texas. The yr earlier than, he was sixth within the Indianapolis 500 whereas driving for Rahal.

He completed a career-best fourth on the Indy 500 in 2020 when he drove for Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan.

Larry Foyt mentioned he consulted along with his father, the four-time Indy 500 winner, about including Ferrucci and that A.J. Foyt mentioned he preferred Ferrucci’s angle.

“He is proven a knack for getting in the direction of the entrance of the sector, and I feel he’s a racer who strikes ahead on race day,” Larry Foyt mentioned. “A.J. sees the hearth in him and has loved their conferences collectively. I feel Santino’s expertise will assist his rookie teammate as nicely, so he is a good addition to our roster.”

Ferrucci is a Connecticut native who initially pursued a profession in European racing. He moved overseas when he was 14, competed in a number of junior classes and holds the document for the youngest British Formulation 3 Sequence winner at age 16. Ferrucci additionally raced in Formulation 2 and was a Haas F1 growth driver in 2017 and 2018.

“IndyCar turned my aim after leaving F1 in 2018,” Ferrucci mentioned. “I immediately fell in love with the vehicles, the type of racing and the folks. That is after I knew that IndyCar wanted to be my new house.”

Ferrucci was the rookie of the yr in 2019 in his first full season driving for Coyne. He has by no means completed outdoors the highest 10 in 4 Indy 500 begins.

As he was on the lookout for a full-time job, Ferrucci made 9 begins in NASCAR’s Xfinity Sequence for Sam Hunt Racing. He completed a career-best thirteenth at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in his second profession NASCAR race.

“I’ve pushed all the things from dust vehicles to inventory vehicles to go-karts to Indy vehicles to F1 vehicles, and driving Indy vehicles calls for a really distinctive driving type,” Ferrucci mentioned. “It is positively the kind of automobile the place uncomfortable is quick — and it’s totally exhausting to be comfy with being uncomfortable.”