Santino Ferrucci delivered the best result of his INDYCAR SERIES career in Sunday’s Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear, finishing second in the No. 14 Sexton Properties/AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet and continuing the team’s recent resurgence.
“Huge shoutout to this whole team,” Ferrucci said.
This podium finish marks the second consecutive week an A.J. Foyt Enterprises entry has finished runner-up, following David Malukas’ second-place result in the No. 4 Clarience Technologies Chevrolet at the Indianapolis 500 on May 25. Ferrucci’s performance on the nine-turn, 1.645-mile Detroit street circuit also represents the team’s best road or street course result since Takuma Sato finished second in 2015 at Belle Isle.
Despite the strong result, Ferrucci admitted frustration that his task to reach the front was made more difficult due to qualifying 21st on Saturday.
“I struggled in qualifying,” Ferrucci said. “I made a lot of mistakes. I was really hard on myself yesterday. I thought it was all on me.”
During Sunday’s race, Ferrucci steadily worked his way through the field. A pivotal moment came on Lap 67 when Callum Ilott crashed in Turn 1, bringing out a caution just after Ferrucci had made his final pit stop on Lap 65. With many of the leaders still needing to stop, the caution allowed Ferrucci to cycle to the front when they pitted under yellow on Lap 69.
Ferrucci held the lead until Lap 78 when Kyle Kirkwood made the race-defining move to take over the top spot, going on to secure his fourth career victory and second of the 2025 season.
“The pit stops were phenomenal,” Ferrucci said. “The stand was amazing. Perfect strategy. I just got lucky with that yellow.”
This result capped off a historic two-week stretch for A.J. Foyt Enterprises, marking the first time since 2013 the team has finished on the podium in back-to-back races, when Takuma Sato won at Long Beach and followed with a runner-up finish in Brazil.
