As Motorsport.com reports, the 2026 IndyCar Series season tested AJ Foyt Racing with fluctuating form, yet oval brilliance and rookie development kept the legendary squad anchored through a turbulent year.
Santino Ferrucci led the charge in the #14 AJ Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet, grinding out four top 10s to finish 17th in the championship standings with 280 points. As always, the Connecticut native found his finest form during the month of May at Indianapolis, starting fifth and finishing eighth in the 110th Running of the Indianapolis 500. That result pushed his remarkable record to eight consecutive top 10 finishes to start a career in the famed race. Outside of Indianapolis, he collected top 10 finishes at Barber Motorsports Park (eighth), Road America (ninth), and the streets of Markham (10th). Yet, road and street courses proved to be a persistent battleground, with the #14 machine frequently buried in tight mid-field traffic during qualifying and forcing gritty Sunday recovery drives.
Across the garage, highly touted prospect Caio Collet stepped into North America's premier open-wheel championship to pilot the #4 Chevrolet entry for his debut campaign. Graduating from Indy NXT as the 2025 championship runner-up with three wins, Collet faced a brutal learning curve and finished 24th in the Drivers' Championship with 203 points, sitting just two spots outside the Leaders Circle.
The Brazilian turned heads immediately during an electrifying month of May at Indianapolis by making the Fast 12 in qualifying and setting the 10th-fastest time to claim honors as the fastest rookie in the field. Unfortunately, heartbreak followed when a post-qualifying technical inspection uncovered an infraction regarding suspension A-arm hardware guidelines, which team leadership blamed on an internal communication breakdown. Stripped of his times, Collet dropped to a 32nd-place starting position.
Undaunted, Collet delivered a stellar recovery drive during the marquee 500-mile event, slicing through traffic to lead nine laps and running firmly inside the top 15. He sat 11th with just nine laps remaining before a late-race crash cruelly ended his day. That tough luck bled into a grueling summer stretch and a mid-season slump, leaving him with only a single top-10 finish in Washington, D.C., for the entire campaign.
With that challenging year in the rearview and a continued technical alliance with Team Penske, AJ Foyt Racing is completely revamping its driver lineup for next season. Dennis Hauger, the 2026 IndyCar Rookie of the Year, arrives from Dale Coyne Racing alongside incoming rookie Josh Pierson. Ferrucci remains a possibility for a third seat in next year’s Indy 500, while Collet is searching elsewhere for his next opportunity.
