New update on Team Penske and AJ Foyt Racing's alliance after David Malukas' exit emerges

AJ Foyt Racing president Larry Foyt has shared an update on the team's technical alliance with Team Penske for the 2026 IndyCar season. On Veterans Day, Tuesday, November 11, AJFR announced a season-long sponsorship with Hendricks Commercial Properties for the No. 14 Chevrolet driven by Santino Ferrucci.

Hendricks had sponsored Ferrucci at the last three Indy 500s to raise awareness for their philanthropic program, Homes for Our Troops. In a virtual press conference after the announcement, Larry Foyt also fielded a question about the team's technical alliance with Team Penske and whether it would continue going into 2026.

The two teams entered the alliance in mid-2023. AJ Foyt Racing benefited greatly from the technical assistance while serving as a ground for training junior talent, including drivers and mechanics, i.e., running a development program on Team Penske's behalf.

When Penske signed David Malukas and placed him at AJ Foyt Racing for the 2025 season, the partnership also seemingly extended to the sponsorship side. The Roger Penske-led team's sponsors also featured on Malukas' car on select occasions, like at the Portland GP.

However, questions arose about the alliance between the two teams after Penske promoted Malukas to replace Will Power in the No. 12 Chevy. Speaking about the alliance, Larry Foyt said (via ASAP Sports):

"Yeah, I think the Penske things are good. I think I see that continuing. So far, no, everything looks really good for next year to pick up right where we left off.

AJ Foyt Racing has replaced David Malukas with 2025 Indy NXT runner-up Caio Collet, who has already completed two tests with the team.

Santino Ferrucci reveals how the Team Penske alliance proved bittersweet in 2025

Santino Ferrucci at the 2025 IndyCar Series Snap-On Milwaukee Mile 250 - Source: Getty

Santino Ferrucci had a breakout season in 2024, the first full season where AJ Foyt Racing benefited from its alliance with Team Penske. He secured 11 Top 10 finishes in 17 races, including two Top 5s at the Milwaukee doubleheader, and finished in a career-best ninth place in the standings.

However, Ferrucci couldn't improve or even match the level of success in 2025. Though the 27-year-old secured two podiums, the rest of the season wasn't as impressive, with only four more Top 10 finishes. In Tuesday's press conference, he explained the reason behind the drop in performance.

"Part of the learning curve this coming season, we had a slight difference in dampers and book build from Penske," Santino Ferrucci said. "The alliance, it's really, really good for us. All of my references and everything we built with Adam and James the previous year had shifted quite a bit. We kind of struggled to figure out how to adjust to that shift accordingly. It took us longer than we anticipated."

Ferrucci also explained how some of the learnings he got while driving were a "bit skewed." He eventually finished the season 16th in the standings, while teammate David Malukas finished 11th.

Meanwhile, Team Penske had a misfortune-laden season, but somewhat made a turnaround towards the end, with Will Power and Josef Newgarden winning one race each.

Edited by Yash Kotak