COLLIN HENDERSHOT joined AJ Foyt Racing last fall as a performance engineer on the No. 41 Chevrolet driven by Sting Ray Robb. Growing up in Medina, Ohio, Hendershot's interest in a motorsports career was sparked while studying physics in college. Now 27, he lives in Indianapolis with his wife Lizzie and their two rescue dogs, Ace and May. We asked him a few questions...
How did you become interested in motorsports?
CH: "I grew up in a family where when things needed to be fixed we would often do it ourselves. I
distinctly remember watching my dad do maintenance on our cars and learned these skills from him. I enjoyed working with my hands and solving problems, and owning a couple of older cars provided many opportunities for this. While I was exposed to motorsport racing from family members that watched and participated in various types of racing, my own interest in racing came in college. In college I found that motorsport was a field that would uniquely combine my passion for science, math, cars, and my competitive spirit."
What was the first race you attended?
CH: "The first race I attended was with my then girlfriend, now wife, who invited me to join her family tradition of attending the Indy 500, in 2017."
Collin with his wife Lizzie who took him to his first Indy 500 in 2017.
Have you ever raced cars yourself or had a desire to do so?
CH: "I have never raced cars but I started iRacing about five years ago and really enjoy it. I mainly try to keep it limited to an entertaining hobby, but I have found it to be a useful tool for work. Many of the tracks from the IndyCar schedule are on iRacing and having the ability to drive these tracks has helped me discuss setup changes with the drivers I have worked with."
When did you start your career as an engineer in racing?
CH: "My first job in racing was as a data engineer with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing for the 2019 IndyCar season."
Which teams/series have you worked in and please specify the roles you held there.
CH: "I worked for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing as a data engineer on Graham Rahal's car from 2019 through 2022. For the last 3 of those years I was also the airjack guy on the pit crew. For the 2023 season I was promoted to performance engineer and worked on Christian Lundgaard's car. In 2024 I joined AJ Foyt Racing to be a performance engineer on the 41 car."
What is your most significant achievement to date?
CH: "Securing pole and winning the 2023 Toronto race with Christian Lundgaard. It was my first and only win so far. A close second is finishing 3rd with Graham Rahal at the 2020 Indy 500 and having our teammate Takuma Sato win. That was my most significant achievement while I was part of a pit crew and having two team cars on the Indy 500 podium was awesome."
As a performance engineer, what are your responsibilities during a race weekend, both in the engineering meetings and during the race?
CH: "Leading up to the race weekend I do simulations to help prepare for various setup changes we may make to the car during the weekend. I plan the qualifying strategy, make all the fuel calculations during the race, select the gear ratios for the car, and work with Chevy to make sure we are getting the most out of the engine. I analyze data and support the race engineer in making the car faster throughout the weekend. I also work with the driver to analyze video and data to pick out areas where they can improve and perform at their highest level."
What are the biggest challenges of working in the INDYCAR Series?
CH: "The biggest challenge in IndyCar is the lack of time actually running the cars on track and fast paced schedule. In any give race weekend or test day we only get a few hours on track so we must make the most of it. To succeed it requires days of prep before the event and days of data analysis after."
What do you think are the most important characteristics a motorsports engineer needs to succeed in IndyCar?
CH: "The most important characteristics are time management, problem solving, and being able to work with many different types of people. We spend almost as much time with our teammates as we do with our families so it is important to get along with everyone."
What do you enjoy most about working in the INDYCAR Series?
CH: "One of the things I like most about working in IndyCar is having a job where I see immediate results of my work. There aren't many jobs where you make a small change and then can immediately see an impact. When we suggest and make changes to the car we see those direct results, positive or negative, in the next session we run. We use all that feedback to create a plan on what to keep or change going forward. I have also enjoyed seeing how all these small changes a team can make through things like car modification, race strategy, pit stop practice all add up over a season and turn into larger overall shifts for a team. Another aspect of IndyCar I have enjoyed is the chance to travel. I didn't travel much growing up so I have appreciated getting to go to new places and try new things."
Which track is your favorite and why?
CH: "Indy is special and gives you a one of a kind feeling when walking down pit lane but my favorite is Road America. It is an awesome facility and really showcases both the car and the driver's abilities, while often providing some of the best racing on the schedule. I also enjoy Mid-Ohio because many of my family and friends come to the race to support me since it is closest to my hometown."
Collin with Ace during one of their hikes.
How do you spend your spare time?
CH: "Outside of racing I like to spend time with my dogs, mountain bike, hike, play iRacing, and golf. We have two rescue dogs. We got "Ace" (Australian Cattle Dog Mix) from the Terre Haute Humane Society in 2020 and we got May (Husky Mix) from Speedway Animal Rescue in 2023. May was found wandering the Indianapolis Motor Speedway during practice for the 2023 Indy 500. We had been looking for a second dog at the time and when we heard her story and saw her picture, we just knew she would be the right fit."
"May" had been wandering in Gasoline Alley at Indy but the rescue pup has found a home with the Hendershots.
What are your top 3 Bucket List items?
CH: "Attend a driving school such as Skip Barber, win the Indy 500, participate in a mountain bike race."
What is the best advice you've received?
CH: "Just go for it. It's simple, but as someone that often overthinks things it was always important to take the chance. I got my start in racing because someone gave me a list of people and teams to send my resume to. I wasn't sure I would get a shot in racing and it took confidence to send my resume and cover letter to different teams across the series but if I hadn't, I wouldn't be where I am today. There was a chance not even one of those teams would have responded to me but knowing this was something that I wanted I had to go for it and not sell myself and my abilities short."
SANTINO FERRUCCI arrives in Milwaukee with a bit more confidence after earning his first pole position in Portland last weekend--besting all-time pole winner Will Power. Ferrucci finished eighth in the race to notch his eighth top-10 finish of the season which beats his personal record of seven top-10s in 2019 with Dale Coyne Racing. This weekend Ferrucci's No. 14 Chevrolet will sport the Phoenix Investors livery for a final time this year.
What did winning the pole last week do for you and the team?
SF: "Winning the poll was a massive morale boost, not just for myself, but for the entire team. Just showed how hard we've been working, how competitive we are and now the next step is to start collecting some trophies from the races."
What will be your approach this weekend?
SF: "The approach for this weekend, since I've never raced here before, will be to have a consistent car. I think we learned a lot from the test, and obviously we want to win on one of these ovals, and I think we'll have a great shot here at Milwaukee."
Ferrucci Fast Facts: Age 26 (as of May 31, 2024)...Born in Woodbury, CT...Lives in Dallas, Texas...Married Renay Moore in January, 2024...Began racing karts at age 5, moved to cars in 2013...Competed in Formula 2000, British Formula 3, GP3 finishing third at Spa Francorchamps as a rookie, was development driver for Haas F1 team for three years (2016-2018), moved to Formula 2 in 2018...made his INDYCAR debut in Detroit in 2018...moved to NTT INDYCAR Series fulltime in 2019 finishing 13th in standings for Dale Coyne and won Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year after finishing seventh...13th in standings again with fourth place finish in the 500...drove part-time in 2021-22 but maintained top-10 streak in Indy 500 with finishes of sixth (RLL Racing) and 10th (Dreyer Reinbold Racing)...Scored career-best finish to date with his 3rd place finish in the 2023 Indianapolis 500 to continue his string of consecutive top-10 finishes in the 500...Competed part-time in NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2021-22.
STING RAY ROBB will celebrate his 23rd birthday on Tuesday, Sept. 3rd. Robb was on his way to another top-15 finish but a small miscue on the last pitstop dropped him to 18th. Robb tested at Milwaukee and then threw out the first pitch in the Milwaukee Brewer's home game against the Toronto Blue Jays June 11th. Robb also waved the checkered flag for the famed "sausage race" --a Brewers' tradition--later that evening. There will be no baseball this weekend as the drivers will be quite busy with two 250-mile races in less than 24 hours at the mile oval.
What will your approach be this weekend?
SRR: "Milwaukee is a very unique track. It’s flat and short and very low grip. So my approach this weekend is just going to be push the limits as much as possible early and get used to driving different lines with the car. It’s going to be hard to race there with the lanes being kind of single file. I think we’ll have a fairly good race car based on our oval experience so far this year. That doesn’t mean anything in INDYCAR racing because the field is tight. Really looking forward to finishing out strong and hopefully getting a couple more top tens. Our test there went okay, and with the application of what we learned, we should be good."
Sting Ray Fast Facts: Age 22...Grew up in Payette, ID....Lives in Indianapolis...Engaged to Molly Mitchell...Began racing karts at age 5 winning several national titles over the next 10 years. His transition to cars began at the Skip Barber Karts to Cars Shootout where he won the Bryan Herta Scholarship which put him on the Road to Indy and into the NTT INDYCAR Series at age 21. In his rookie season, he scored a career best finish of 12th in the season finale in Monterey, Calif. A devout Christian, Robb will be active as a spokesman for his sponsor Pray.com this season. Off track, Robb enjoys mountain biking, skiing, hiking, hunting, fishing, rock-climbing, golf, tennis, pickleball and basketball.
The Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile 250s doubleheader will be streamed on Peacock Saturday evening with Race 1's pre-race coverage starting at 5:40 p.m. ET. Race 2 will be broadcast on the USA Network and streamed on Peacock Sunday afternoon starting at 2:30 p.m. ET.