Charlie Kimball and AJ Foyt Racing push the reset button
The Gist: AJ Foyt Racing is making a fresh start in 2020, signing up Charlie Kimball and his long-time backer Novo Nordisk as their new full-time driver. Optimism reigns, but so does realism.
It was the common theme while listening to Charlie Kimball and Larry Foyt during yesterday’s press conference. The Californian driver is delighted to be back in a full-time NTT IndyCar Series seat again after a season in which he spent too many hours on the sidelines, while the president of AJ Foyt Racing mostly wants to forget the trials and tribulations of the past two seasons. Hitting the reset button, starting afresh: both Kimball and Foyt need it like a cold beer after a hard day’s work.
Kimball has been brought on board to pilot the #4 entry of AJ Foyt Racing this season, filling the seat that was vacated by Matheus Leist. Kimball’s long-time commercial partner Novo Nordisk picks up a large part of the tab, becoming primary sponsor at St. Petersburg, Long Beach, the Indy Grand Prix, Texas, Gateway and Laguna Seca. Interestingly enough, that leaves out the Indianapolis 500, with Foyt Racing apparently holding out for another primary sponsor for The Big Race and persistent reports stating that ABC Supply might make a one-time return.
Asked about his new pick, Larry Foyt speaks highly of Kimball’s experience, especially when it comes to developing a car. It is a telling remark, hinting at the fact that development capabilities on the driver side is something that Foyt Racing has missed out on somewhat over the past two years. “Charlie is a very technical driver,” says Foyt, “and has shown that he can win.” That recalls the fact that both driver and team won their last race in 2013, something that is unlikely to change in 2020 despite the new found optimism following this week’s announcement.
Cautious optimism
Speaking of which: the ways the two men express their expectations for 2020 vary somewhat, but also in a manner that is to be expected. Kimball, ever the ambitious racing driver wanting to lead every lap, calculates himself forward by applying reason: “If you qualify in the top twelve and can then race in the top ten, that puts you in a position to finish in the top five.” From there, it is a small step towards fighting for podiums and wins, he argues. But the main target is consistency, adds Kimball. “It is nice to have flash results, but it is even more important to run consistently in top ten.”
Foyt, on the other hand, is slightly more cautious and won’t speak of podiums and wins. “I want all the effort we’re putting in to start showing some results,” he says. “Last year our effort wasn’t equalling anything on the track we were putting in. So we said: let’s hit the reset button with Charlie coming in.” He points out that if the team finds only a few tenths compared to last year, the close nature of competition in the NTT IndyCar Series will ensure improvement. “IndyCar is so close. Sometimes you’re not that far away. I don’t think we will come out and set the world on fire. We have set a point zero and will start building from there. But I also don’t think we will struggle like we did last year.”
In other words, the team has set itself a target of getting their lead car in the second group of qualifying at every round, with Foyt saying that should be the target for road and street courses and Kimball expressing a similar hope for the ovals — as he would, having become something of an Indy 500 specialist. In the end, that approach should lead the team to put up a credible fight for a top ten classification in the final championship standings. Says Foyt: “I don’t think that’s unreasonable. It will be tough, but it will be a good challenge. Everything starts with the basics. The expectation isn’t really high, and that’s okay. That is a good place for us to be in.”
Second car plans: TBA
Together with Kimball, the arrival of Novo Nordisk is also good news for AJ Foyt Racing. As for other financial matters, the team says it “expects to make further announcements regarding new primary sponsors for the team in the near future.” That sounds like a one-to-one replacement for a partner of a similar magnitude to ABC Supply is not going to materialize before the NTT IndyCar Series season kicks off in St. Petersburg on March 13 — if at all. It seems more likely that the team has to put together a patchwork of smaller sponsors that together hopefully make up for some of the funding lost with the departure of ABC Supply as primary sponsor.
Some of that funding will likely come in conjunction with driver signings for the team’s second car, the #14 entry driven by Tony Kanaan in recent years. Foyt confirmed that Kanaan will be involved in the programme one way or another in 2020, but stopped short of saying the Brazilian will be his second full-time driver. More likely is that, as has been suggested in other media reports, the Foyt team will share its second car between a number of drivers, with Kanaan one of them. Both Sebastian Bourdais and Indy Lights driver Dalton Kellett are said to be in the frame for a role. One driver who is not? Fernando Alonso. Or as Foyt put it: “I have never met Fernando.”
With the confirmation of Kimball, the 2020 field in the NTT IndyCar Series now adds up to twenty full-time entries. As said, questions remain over the plans for the second Foyt car, while Carlin’s plans are anyone’s guess, despite repeated assurances that they will be back with two cars in 2020. Dale Coyne Racing is also expected to confirm Santino Ferrucci shortly in its second full-time entry, which would bring the full-time car tally up to 21.
Under the most ambitious scenario (which includes a turn of fortunes for the small Juncos Racing operation), we could see no less than 27 cars take the green flag in St Petersburg and a car count of around 25 at most other venues. For those of us who remember the days when car counts struggled to hit even the high teens, that is very good news indeed.
As published on Champweb: https://champweb.net/foyt-to-hit-reset-button/
All text: © Jeroen Demmendaal
