Santino Ferrucci finished third in Sunday’s race from Road America, earning his second IndyCar podium in the past three races.
That result was far from guaranteed, however, as he was witness to all sorts of chaos in the opening few laps.
Ferrucci started in 18th, saw David Malukas then Callum Ilott go off course in front of him, and in total there were four cautions in the first half of the race.
He then stalled in the pits, then was forced to fuel save for the entire final stint to get his #14 AJ Foyt Racing Chevy across the line.
Through it all, he maintained his composure and ended up as one of the biggest movers of the race.
“Obviously starting 18th, not ideal,” said Ferrucci. “We had a really fast race car all weekend long. We knew we’d come through the field, so at the start of the race I was, unlike myself, trying to be super patient and not make mistakes.
“[I tried] not get into too many people because it was mayhem back there.
“The way the strategy unfolded, I stalled in the pits on one of the stops. Thankful for the hybrid so I could fire back up and only lose four or five spots.
“Then we had a massive fuel target for the last two stints, so kudos to Chevrolet for giving me the tools to do that and honestly to my engineering team for giving me a car that can fuel save.
“I’m not going to lie, I was really stressed out. I saw Felix [Rosenqvist] come out of the pits in front of me, and they were like, ‘Yeah, there’s your fuel target, lifting at like the 800-foot mark going into Turn 5.’
“This is going to be a long 15-something laps. Then I could see on the dash the 27 car coming and know that he’s quick.
“Yeah, no, I just tried to put my head down and do what I do best and hold him off.”
Ferrucci now sits ninth in the points, even after he lost the points he earned from his first 2025 podium due to a penalty.
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