MILWAUKEE (Sept. 1, 2024) -- A one-man thrill show!
That was Santino Ferrucci at the Milwaukee Mile this weekend as he scored his second straight top-five finish in the No. 14 Phoenix Investors Chevrolet and his tenth top-10 of the season. Moreover, he was the only driver to finish in the top-five in both races!
Sunday's race was a wild affair before the green flag ever flew! Reigning champion and 2024 title contender Alex Palou failed to start due to a mechanical problem, the actual start was aborted because the back of the field was out of line which resulted in an accordion effect crash taking out P1 Award winner Josef Newgarden and third starting Marcus Armstrong--both of whom got struck from behind by rookie Linus Lundqvist.
Ferrucci, who qualified 12th but lined up ninth by the time the green flag did wave, wasted no time climbing to sixth in just seven laps with his patented inside and outside moves on the Milwaukee Mile. He remained there until the first round of pit stops, which began on lap 52. Ferrucci pitted from the lead on lap 56, dropped to seventh briefly and was up to fifth in a couple of laps before the caution came out for David Malukas slowing on track.
On the restart Ferrucci used the No. 4 as a "pick" to slip past yesterday's winner, Pato O'Ward, for fourth which is where the No. 14 ran until the next round of stops 100 laps into the race. The next caution on lap 113 was for Ferrucci's teammate Sting Ray Robb who had been struggling with a loose-handling car. Robb spun in Turn 2 but didn't hit anything and was able to restart.
Ferrucci pitted during that caution and came out in seventh but was back in the top-five after two daring passes on Colton Herta and Will Power one lap into the green. A lap later the yellow flew again, this time for a tussle between Graham Rahal and rookie Christian Rasmussen with Rahal ending up in the wall and out of the race.
Meanwhile Power, who is fighting Palou for the title, and was running in the top five all day--leading at times--spun on the restart coming out of Turn 4 and made slight contact with the wall but kept the car rolling. His crew decided to replace the nose which cost Power a couple laps and moved Palou back into the lead in the championship hunt.
Ferrucci went on to battle with Herta who eventually ascended to the lead but then Scott McLaughlin took over on lap 218 and was never headed. He scored his second victory on an oval and seventh career victory.
Robb's troubles in the No. 41 Goodheart Chevrolet only compounded after his early spin; on lap 227, he got high in Turn 2 and this time hit the wall ending his race. Robb emerged unscathed and placed 18th.
"A tough weekend overall," said Robb, who will turn 23 on Tuesday. "When we spun in the middle of the race, that caught us out on an early set of tires there, and so we actually had to go long on our last couple sets, which just made us survive. I felt like the track progression just kept getting worse and worse and worse. We were just surviving, and I got like, maybe a tire width too high, and the car just didn't turn and went straight into the wall. So quick end to our day. We go into Nashville with hopefully a better race weekend ahead of us."
The leaders (first through seventh) pitted again under the 10-lap caution period with most taking on slightly used tires as the tire degradation was high at the Milwaukee Mile. Ferrucci was fifth when the green waved on lap 239 and seven laps later he drove past Alex Rossi for fourth.
Scott Dixon came on strong in the closing laps to snare second with Herta dropping to third. Marcus Ericsson finished fifth.
Santino hugs his wife Renay after finishing fourth today. He gave her some heart-stopping moments during the race.
Ferrucci, who currently holds the record this season for the most on-track passes in a single race at 63, said, "Pretty stout weekend overall. You know, obviously rough to miss the podium twice, but we've been working really hard at it, and it's just so hard to be competitive and be in the top five in this series. Everything needs to be so perfect. But you know, it's awesome for points. I've got my own personal goals of being on a trophy hunt by the end of the year and we've got one more race to make it happen.
"The crew's done a great job all weekend," he continued, noting that, "It's really, really tough, especially in these quite tight turnarounds. Great job on (pit) stops all day. We only had one bobble all weekend. But considering we did probably 10 or so pit stops under pressure, they did a great job. And Engineering did a great job, all around hard to beat."
Race strategist Larry Foyt with race engineer James Schnabel watching Ferrucci on the big screen during a caution period.
For Larry Foyt, the team's turnaround this season has brought smiles to his face as well as that of his famous dad who may attend the season finale in Nashville.
"It's a really rewarding weekend here at Milwaukee, especially for the 14 team and Santino," Foyt said. "I can't think of any drivers that were more exciting to watch than Santino this weekend, and the crew did a great job in the pits. For us to get two top-fives here just really shows how far our team's come. Everyone, including the 41 team, has really put a big effort in, and I think it's really showing with the way we've been performing lately. I do feel bad for the 41 guys. Sting Ray's accident, he was doing a good job, but he'll return stronger at Nashville. Our whole group is behind him and we're just looking forward to finishing the season in a really strong way."
The season finale takes place at Nashville Superspeedway in two weeks. The Big Machine Music City Grand Prix will be broadcast on NBC on Sunday, Sept. 15 starting at 3 p.m. ET.
Sting Ray poses with his crew after receiving a birthday cake to celebrate number 23 which he turns on Tuesday. He plans to celebrate it back in Idaho.
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