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‘They Write It as They Go’ — Santino Ferrucci Rebounds for Nashville Top 10

LEBANON, Tenn. — Among all the drivers in the NTT IndyCar Series field, perhaps nobody’s name is more associated with controversy as Santino Ferrucci.

That association was justified for the umpteenth time in 2024, when the driver of the No. 14 A. J. Foyt Racing Chevrolet became the subject of an unexpected call by race control during Sunday’s (Sept. 15) Big Machine Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway.

The Woodbury, Conn., native has developed a reputation and reinforced it this season as a major threat on ovals. Ferrucci demanded attention more than a handful of times when the series came to World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway and the Milwaukee Mile by pulling off a series of high-risk moves at both venues and walking away with two fourth-place finishes (both in the Milwaukee doubleheader) from those three races, with a 12th-place finish at Gateway being the outlier.

On Sunday, Ferrucci put up yet another strong performance on his first visit to Nashville’s 1.33-mile oval. A grid penalty sent the No. 14 back from a fifth-place qualifying run to a 14th-place start. However, the talking point of his race was an unusual — in IndyCar — penalty assessed on lap 107 for a pass Ferrucci made a handful of laps prior.

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Racing side-by-side with Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood, Ferrucci dipped below the yellow line to maintain his position below the No. 27 Honda. Ferrucci drifted back above the line, still side-by-side with Kirkwood, and completed the pass through turns 1 and 2.

Shortly thereafter, Ferrucci was ordered by race control to cede position not only to Kirkwood, but to Linus Lundqvist as well, who was running behind the two.

Speaking after the race, Ferrucci was candid about his confusion with race control’s handling of the incident, suggesting the rule was not communicated entirely.

“It’s kind of a grey area,” Ferrucci told Frontstretch. “I don’t think IndyCar did a great job of officiating that, to be honest, because he drove me down underneath there. So, technically yes, I need to give the spot back. But also, it’s a block, and they didn’t call him for blocking.”

Most unusual about the penalty was the order for Ferrucci to give up two spots after gaining just one position below the yellow line.

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IndyCar rule 7.3.5.5 states, “At oval events, drivers must not place any of the four wheels of the car below the solid boundary line at any time.”

Further, rule 9.2.2.4 says on on-track repositioning that, “INDYCAR may impose a repositioning penalty during on-track activities. The repositioning penalty will
result in an order change of the car’s on-track position. The recipient of the repositioning penalty may not pit until a green condition occurs, unless approved by INDYCAR.”

Ferrucci had little to say of the order to cede two positions.

“It’s called, ‘They write it as they go,'” he said.

All in all, the penalty was more symbolic than practical; Ferrucci still drove to a sixth-place result. It was his 11th top-10 effort of 2024, which ends in a manner akin to a comeback tour for the No. 14 team, which hadn’t scored 10 top 10s with the same driver in a single season since 1993. The feat was last accomplished by Robby Gordon.

“It is what it is,” Ferrucci said. “We ended up making the spots back, so no big deal.”

Ferrucci recently signed a multiyear contract extension with A. J. Foyt Racing, which sets him up to be teammates with David Malukas, who will take over the No. 41 car from 2025. Ferrucci didn’t seem stressed when asked about his expectations and goals for next year.

“Just keep working on it,” Ferrucci said. “Keep making things better, fix some of the mistakes from this year, win some races and fight for a championship.”

About the author

Alex is the IndyCar Content Director at Frontstretch, having initially joined as an entry-level contributor in 2021. He also serves as Managing Director of The Asia Cable, a publication focused on the international affairs and politics of the Asia-Pacific region which he co-founded in 2023. With previous experience in China, Japan and Poland, Alex is particularly passionate about the international realm of motorsport and the politics that make the wheels turn - literally - behind the scenes.

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