Fearless Ferrucci proving doubters wrong

By Jul 17, 2019, 11:00 AM EDT
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NEWTON, Iowa – Santino Ferrucci gained a new fan in this year’s 103rd Indianapolis 500. It was NBC Sports Dale Earnhardt, Jr., one of the most popular figures in racing from his days as a NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series.

Ferrucci, just 20 at the time of this year’s Indy 500 on NBC, had a fantastic race. He started 23rd and finished seventh. But it was one moment in the race that stood out to Earnhardt, who raved about Ferrucci during NBC’s telecast of the Indianapolis 500.

That came on Lap 177 when a multi-car crash was triggered by Sebastien Bourdais and Graham Rahal in Turn 3 that sent cars scrambling to avoid the mayhem.

Ferrucci drove through the grass to avoid the crash and was able to dodge the shrapnel to continue in the race.

Earnhardt was highly impressed with Ferrucci’s skill to make it through the crash and became a fan of the kid from Woodbury, Connecticut.

Mention that to Ferrucci, and the kid’s face brightens with a smile.

“Dale is not really from IndyCar, he’s a racer, though,” Ferrucci told NBC Sports.com. “He got to look at the way he does it and I got to look at NASCAR and it’s like when I got to know Tony Stewart, he’s got it and he’s got the heart for it.

“Having those words come from Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is meaningful. It really is.”

Ferrucci hopes to one day be on the “Dale Jr. Download” on NBCSN.

“I haven’t reached out to him personally, but I’ve reached out to via email to see if he wants to do something on the podcast,” Ferrucci admitted. “I think that would be pretty cool.

“He runs a pretty sweet show.”

So far in his rookie season in the NTT IndyCar Series, Ferrucci is having a pretty sweet season with Dale Coyne Racing. He is 12thin the standings with four top-10 finishes and one fourth-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway on June 8.

Ferrucci finished 11thin Sunday’s Honda Indy Toronto and is ready for the challenge of his first short oval race of his career at Iowa Speedway Saturday night.

Watch the Iowa 300 on NBCSN Saturday, July 20 at 7 p.m. Eastern Time.

Ferrucci’s competitors in the NTT IndyCar Series are impressed with the young driver’s skill and talent. Even his rookie challengers are surprised that he is having one of the best seasons of any rookie in the series and is higher in the standings than rookie race winner Colton Herta.

Unfortunately for Ferrucci, he has an international group of detractors who won’t let him forget an unfortunate incident where is was ruled he purposely crashed his F2 teammate at Trident Racing Arjun Maini after the checkered flag of a race at Silverstone in July 2018.

According to reports of the incident, Ferrucci also refused to appear before the race stewards, despite being called upon to do so immediately following the incident. He was also reprimanded by series officials for holding his cell phone in the race car.

According to the official Formula 2 website, “the young American racer was found to be in contempt of violating the FIA’s sporting regulations, further earning him a €60,000 ($70,500) fine for the deliberate on-track action involving Maini. He was also taxed an additional €6,000 ($7,047.34) as he “violated both the technical and sporting regulations for incorrect driver safety equipment and the prohibition of wireless transmission devices within the car.”

The incident ultimately cost Ferrucci his ride. He already had a deal with IndyCar team owner Dale Coyne to help fill in for the injured Pietro Fittipaldi in 2018 to compete in four races. His best finish was 11thin the season-ending race at Sonoma after starting 20th.

So far in 2019, Ferrucci has shown exemplary conduct both on and off the track. He has finished every race held so far this season and has not been involved in a single on-track incident.

Because of that, Ferrucci has a message for his vocal detractors who won’t let the NTT IndyCar Series rookie forget about the incident with Maini in F2.

“A lot of those people that write negative things about me on the internet have never met me,” Ferrucci told NBC Sports.com. “I’m so open to having people come down that don’t know me that have only read certain articles, I would love to meet those people and see if I could change their minds in person.

“It was an unfair judgement, but at the end of the day, you can’t make everybody happy.

“Like Jeff Gordon used to say, ‘If you have 100 people and 40 of them hate you, they are still talking about you.’

“You use that as fuel to the fire.”

In a deeply talented rookie class, there are races where Ferrucci has shined the brightest. His performance in the 103rdIndianapolis 500 earned him the Indy 500 Rookie of the Year Award against the likes of Colton Herta, Felix Rosenqvist and Marcus Ericsson.

“Mario Andretti put it best – you can only win that award once,” Ferrucci said. “We did a stellar job all month long. We were consistent and never put a foot wrong. We did the right thing all the way through with a stellar package. All I had to do was listen to the advice from the engineers and Sebastien Bourdais (his IndyCar teammate). I passed a lot of other drivers. Me and Ryan Hunter-Reay fought our way all the way up. We started 23rdor whatever and we ended the race six and seven. We passed all those cars to get up there.

“It was a fun challenge and I look forward to doing it again next year.”

One of his fellow rookies is a driver who knows Ferrucci quite well. That is Sweden’s Rosenqvist, who admits he is impressed with Ferrucci’s rookie season.

“Colton and I have been the fastest rookies, but Santino Ferrucci has been a big surprise and has had the more mature rookie season of all of us,” Rosenqvist said of the 21-year-old driver from Connecticut, who is 11thin the standings. “My goal this year is to get a win before the season is over. Colton has won a race and Marcus Ericsson has finished second.”

Ferrucci turned 21 on May 31 and realizes he still has much to learn. The next step in his learning experience will come Saturday night in the first short oval race of his career at Iowa Speedway in the Iowa 300.

“It’s not about setting your expectations too high,” Ferrucci said. “This year, every track is new to me. I know Portland and Mid-Ohio and that’s it. Going into the short ovals, I got to test at Iowa and that place is insane. I’m taking it a race at a time and not trying to take too much out of it and not trying to expect too much out of it and finishing all the laps that I can.”

Could the rookie driver with the colorful personality join Herta as rookie race winners in 2019?

“Our best opportunity will come in Portland because I know the track and we were fast there last year,” Ferrucci said. “But we have long races, and anything can happen.

“I would love to get on the top step of the podium, but I’m more concerned with the rookie race than a one-off win.

“I think that is more important at this stage of my career.”

Ford unveils a new Mustang for 2024 Le Mans in motorsports ‘lifestyle brand’ retooling

Associated PressJun 9, 2023, 7:00 PM EDT
Ford Mustang Le Mans
Ford Performance
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LE MANS, France — Ford has planned a return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans with its iconic Mustang muscle car next year under a massive rebranding of Ford Performance aimed at bringing the automotive manufacturer “into the racing business.”

The Friday unveil of the new Mustang Dark Horse-based race car follows Ford’s announcement in February (and a ballyhooed test at Sebring in March) that it will return to Formula One in 2026 in partnership with reigning world champion Red Bull.

The Mustang will enter the GT3 category next year with at least two cars in both IMSA and the World Endurance Championship, and is hopeful to earn an invitation to next year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. The IMSA entries will be a factory Ford Performance program run by Multimatic, and a customer program in WEC with Proton Competition.

Ford CEO Jim Farley, also an amateur sports car racer, told The Associated Press the Mustang will be available to compete in various GT3 series across the globe to customer teams. But more important, Farley said, is the overall rebranding of Ford Performance – done by renowned motorsports designer Troy Lee – that is aimed at making Ford a lifestyle brand with a sporting mindset.

“It’s kind of like the company finding its own, and rediscovering its icons, and doubling down on them,” Farley told the AP. “And then this motorsports activity is getting serious about connecting enthusiast customers with those rediscovered icons. It’s a big switch for the company – this is really about building strong, iconic vehicles with enthusiasts at the center of our marketing.”

Ford last competed in sports car racing in 2019 as part of a three-year program with Chip Ganassi Racing. The team scored the class win at Le Mans in 2016 in a targeted performance aimed to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Ford snapping Ferrari’s six-year winning streak.

Ford on Friday displayed a Mustang with a Lee-designed livery that showcased the cleaner, simplified look that will soon be featured on all its racing vehicles. The traditional blue oval with Ford Performance in white lettering underneath will now be branded simply FP.

The new mark will be used across car liveries, merchandise and apparel, display assets, parts and accessories and in advertising.

Farley cited Porsche as an automaker that has successfully figured out how to sell cars to consumers and race cars in various series around the world while creating a culture of brand enthusiasts. He believes Ford’s new direction will help the company sell street cars, race cars, boost interest in driving schools, and create a merchandise line that convinces consumers that a stalwart of American automakers is a hip, cool brand.

“We’re going to build a global motorsports business off road and on road,” Farley told the AP, adding that the design of the Mustang is “unapologetically American.”

He lauded the work of Lee, who is considered the top helmet designer among race car drivers.

“We’re in the first inning of a nine inning game, and going to Le Mans is really important,” Farley said. “But for customer cars, getting the graphics right, designing race cars that win at all different levels, and then designing a racing brand for Ford Performance that gets rebranded and elevated is super important.”

He said he’s kept a close eye on how Porsche and Aston Martin have built their motorsports businesses and said Ford will be better.

“We’re going in the exact same direction. We just want to be better than them, that’s all,” Farley said. “Second is the first loser.”

Farley, an avid amateur racer himself, did not travel to Le Mans for the announcement. The race that begins Saturday features an entry from NASCAR, and Ford is the reigning Cup Series champion with Joey Logano and Team Penske.

The NASCAR “Garage 56” entry is a collaboration between Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet and Goodyear, and is being widely celebrated throughout the industry. Farley did feel left out of the party in France – a sentiment NASCAR tried to avoid by inviting many of its partners to attend the race so that it wouldn’t seem like a Chevrolet-only celebration.

“They’re going right and I’m going left – that NASCAR thing is a one-year deal, right? It’s Garage 56 and they can have their NASCAR party, but that’s a one-year party,” Farley said. “We won Le Mans outright four times, we won in the GT class, and we’re coming back with Mustang and it’s not a one-year deal.

“So they can get all excited about Garage 56. I almost see that as a marketing exercise for NASCAR, but for me, that’s a science project,” Farley continued. “I don’t live in a world of science projects. I live in the world of building a vital company that everyone is excited about. To do that, we’re not going to do a Garage 56 – I’ve got to beat Porsche and Aston Martin and Ferrari year after year after year.”

Ford’s announcement comes on the heels of General Motors changing its GT3 strategy next season and ending its factory Corvette program. GM, which unlike Ford competes in the IMSA Grand Touring Prototype division (with its Cadillac brand), will shift fully to a customer model for Corvettes in 2024 (with some factory support in the IMSA GTD Pro category).