Photo: Penske Entertainment / James Black
AJ Foyt Racing, a mainstay in Indy car racing since 1967, has announced it will return to Indy Nxt next year with two cars.
The team started off in the United States Auto Club’s Championship Car series, joined rival series CART in 1979 and then what is modern-day IndyCar in 1996. In that time it has won 44 races, 35 of which featured team founder AJ Foyt at the wheel.
IndyCar’s primary feeder series was created as the USAC Mini-Indy Series in 1977, and was suceeded by CART’s American Racing Series. AJ Foyt Racing entered that in 1989, running future IndyCar founder Tony George to 12th in the standings.
The team returned to the support paddock 13 years later, joining what is now known as Indy Nxt for three seasons. It ran Foyt’s grandson AJ Foyt IV to the 2002 title, the 18-year-old rookie claiming four wins and four poles from seven races.
Ed Carpenter, now an IndyCar team boss himself, was its driver for 2003 and he came third in the standings. He took three poles but only converted one into victory, which was in the inaugural Freedom 100 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval.
In 2004 the team only contested the Freedom 100, running Jeff Simmons to second place.
Next year it will enter the championship “backed by a strategic alliance with HMD Motorsports”. That team has run two of the last four champions, and will be supporting two IndyCar outfits’ expansions into Indy Nxt since it will also be collaborating with Cusick Morgan Motorsports as it downscales its own programme.
“This has been a long time coming,” said AJ Foyt Racing president Larry Foyt.
“We’ve played a significant role in developing drivers who have gone on to compete at the top level of IndyCar. We felt it was time to get involved in the Indy Nxt programme again. Forming a technical and strategic alliance with HMD provides the experience and technical support to make our Indy Nxt programme as strong and effective as possible.”
HMD’s team president Mike Maurini added: “This is the next step in making the pathway to IndyCar more accessible to talented drivers throughout the Indy Nxt paddock. Together, our teams will combine experience and resources to help develop the next generation of competitive drivers.”
AJ Foyt Racing currently competes as a full-time two-car operation in IndyCar, with Santino Ferrucci signed to one of its seats on a multi-year deal.
David Malukas, who was 2021 Indy Nxt runner-up with the HMD team his father Henry owns, joined Foyt’s line-up this year on a multi-year deal too. But after one season, which included being Indianapolis 500 runner-up, he departed a month ago and was signed by Team Penske.