AJ Foyt Racing has announced that Benjamin Pedersen’s car number will be changed ahead of this upcoming season, despite having already been announced the week before.
Pedersen’s number was originally listed as #88, but the 23-year-old will now drive car #55 in the 2023 IndyCar season.
A statement by the team read “After the reveal of the #88 livery last week, it was brought to our attention that the combination of our two individually entered numbers carries certain ideologic and symbolic references.
“AJ Foyt Racing does not condone nor support any such ideologies or symbols, and to avoid any reprehensible associations, we have changed the entry number from 88 to 55.”
Though not explicitly stated by the team in the release, the number of the rookie’s car was changed to avoid pairing the original #88 with Santino Ferrucci’s #14 entry.
Those two numbers, when displayed together, can be used by some radical groups. The team understandably wanted to distance itself from any untoward associations, even if it was a complete coincidence.
The rest of the car’s appearance remains unchanged, and the only updates will be to the number.
The team has already updated its renders on its website, and will run the #55 car at the IndyCar open test session from The Thermal Club next week.
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