Notes & Quotes: Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix

JOE PONTIN, JR. joined AJ Foyt Racing in 2019 and originally worked on the No.14-team based in Texas. He moved to Indianapolis earlier this year and is now the front-end mechanic on the No. 4 Clarience Technologies Chevrolet. He raced sportsman modifieds on dirt tracks in Arizona against his parents as a youth and continues to race when he has time. We asked him a few questions...

Where were you born and where did you grow up?    

I was born in Honolulu, Hawaii and lived there till I was 9 years old. We moved to a little town in Arizona called Chino Valley, where I spent the rest of my childhood into adulthood. 

Tell us about your family.

JP: "My parents, Shayanne and Joe Sr., have gifted me a life of being an only child. But never the less we always have our family companion, 'Torque' the pig."

'Torque' has his own Instagram and TikTok accounts. You can follow him @torquepig.

You have a pet pig?

JP:  "Torque is a male Juliana Mini-Pig. He's almost two years old and weighs 130 lbs - currently!"

How did you become interested in motorsports?  

JP: "I don’t think I had a choice, I was born into a family who was deeply in love with motorsports. Going back to my grandparents from both sides of my family there is drag racing, motorcycle racing, and ultimately dirt track racing."

Joe, Jr. (on left behind his dad) poses with his parents and their race cars. Both of Joe's parents raced and Joe has raced against his mother!

Where was the first race you attended?

JP: "The first race I could remember was watching my parents race at a local dirt track in Hawaii. I remember many nights being spent in the grandstands of Hawaii Raceway Park."

When and where did you start your professional career in racing?

JP: "I started where I am today, here at Foyt back in 2019. Originally, I worked out of the Texas shop and eventually migrated to Indianapolis." 

Any other series you've worked in?

JP: "I’ve only ever worked at AJ Foyt Racing in IndyCar."

Have you ever raced cars yourself? 

JP: "Yes, and I currently still do when I have the time to. I race a dirt oval IMCA Sport Modifieds in Houston on some of my free weekends throughout the IndyCar season."

Joe, Jr. was a frequent  visitor to victory lane. SHYMOJOE Motorsports is an amalgamation of his family names: Shy for Shayanne, Mo for Mojo (Joe Jr.'s nickname) and Joe for his dad Joe.

What is your most significant achievement to date?  

JP: "I’d say when I won my first stock car race at 13 years old racing against some of the best locals at the dirt track. It was my rookie year and within a handful of races in the season I was able to win my first feature. That was a special moment for me."

How did you come to work for AJ Foyt Racing?  

JP: "Well, I had recently moved to the Houston area in 2019 and was on a job hunt. I had graduated with a certificate from WyoTech in Blairsville, Pennsylvania in Automotive High Performance Technologies. I came across Foyt's outreach when I was scrolling on Indeed.com, I shot my resume over and within a day I had an interview setup. The rest…. history."

Please describe your job on the team. 

JP: "I am a front-end mechanic on the 4 car of Malukas and the inside front tire changer during pit stops." 

On pit stops, Pontin changes the left front tire on David Malukas's No. 4 Chevy.

What is the most challenging part of your job?

JP: "I think the most challenging part of my job is being away home. Family is very important and time away can make things difficult."

What do you love most about working in the INDYCAR Series? 

JP: "Just being able to have my career in something that I truly enjoy is something I love most about working in IndyCar."

Joe poses with fellow mechanic Iain Keith.

What would you change if you could?

JP: "As mentioned before, just more time at home during the season."

What is your favorite track and why? 

JP: "I would say my favorite track is Barber, I like the landscape of the track and the challenge it presents to drivers with the quick elevation changes."

What interests/hobbies do you have outside of racing?  

JP: "Outside of racing I enjoy doing some fishing, videos games and spending time with family."

DAVID MALUKAS enters the final race of the season in the No. 4 Clarience Technologies Chevrolet and is currently 11th in the standings. He continues to excel at qualifying with 10 top-10 starts, five being top-5s including two outside poles. His chances of a podium finish last weekend were thwarted by a lengthy pit stop. He is looking for a sticker-yielding performance (pole and/or victory) to finish out the season.

What are your goals for this final race of the year? Do they involve stickers? (wink, wink)

"Yes! That's it! That's a good way to put it. We've been so quick on ovals this year and even coming out of Milwaukee and other front running starts, we've just had so much speed. Our goals are definitely on the higher side. So for Nashville, we are trying to go for that sticker, I really want that pole sticker. I mean it means a lot. So, I want to get that sticker! That'd be awesome for the team. And we really deserve it. So that's our goal for qualifying. Try to get that sticker. Maybe victory lane or a podium in the race. We would love that too."

How will the concrete track service affect your engineers, approach to car setup, in your approach to driving style?

"Any sort of approach, when it comes to Car and Driver, everything changes per track and having that concrete surface is going to make some differences. The team has data from years past and information from last year, so I'm confident that no matter what set up we have in the car, it's going to be very quick for us."

What are the pros and cons of having to use two sets of alternate tires in the race?

"In addition to the primaries, it adds a play of strategy. You know, there's, I guess, a little bit of a difference when it comes to using those alternate tires. If they don't last as long and have a little bit more grip, then it's maybe a decision of, when do we want to use that set. If we want to be a little bit quicker, a bit easier to overtake, but it's also going to not last as long. It's going to be interesting how it plays out. So we need to look back at the data, see how that affected the racing and so forth."

Looking back on the 2025 IndyCar season, what has been your favorite moment so far? "Honestly, I think it's going to have to be the month of May, the Indy 500. There are so many things to take out of that time and look back on. In the end, we finished second in the race, after what was an incredible journey throughout that month to build an incredible car. To see the turnaround that we've had from the start of the season when we were struggling to even break the top 10s, and throughout a month of working with the team and figuring out what we wanted with the car, we ended up making a car that was fast enough to qualify seventh, even fast enough to qualify in that fast six. We just were a little bit conservative on the changes for that fast 12 qualifying, but it still worked out in the race. We worked our way forward immediately, and we were fighting for that top spot all the way till the end. So Indy 500 2025 is definitely an unforgettable moment."

MALUKAS FAST FACTS:  Age 23...Born in Chicago...Lives in Indianapolis...Single...First generation Lithuanian American...Father gave him his first go kart launching his multi-time championship karting career including the 2015 IAME International Final World Championship (Junior division) in LeMans, France...Scored poles and victories in the USF2000 and Pro Mazda series before becoming Vice-Champion in the 2021 INDY NXT by Firestone series ...Joined Dale Coyne Racing with HMD to advance to the 2022 NTT INDYCAR Series scoring a 2nd place finish at World Wide Technology Raceway (WWTR)...Came back with Coyne in 2023 and scored another podium at WWTR finishing 3rd...In 2024, a wrist injury in a dirt-biking accident in the off-season led to a partial 10-race season with Meyer-Shank Racing where he posted two Top-10s and qualified in the Firestone Fast 6 five times. Finished 2nd in 2025 Indy 500 after starting seventh. Qualified second in the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix for best start to date in 2025.

SANTINO FERRUCCI will drive the No. 14 Phoenix Investors Chevrolet this weekend. Last year he qualified fifth but had to start 14th due to a 9-spot grid penalty for an unapproved engine change. He finished sixth which vaulted him to ninth in the points. After a string of tough races resulting in DNFs, he finds himself 15th in the points but "expects they will do well" this weekend.

Do you have a specific goal for the final race of the year?

"Not really. I think a clean race to finish off the season would be good."

How will the concrete track affect your approach to both the car setup and your driving?

"I think as far as the car setup, it can be very similar to last year's car because I was pretty happy with that. Then my driving?  It shouldn't change much. I don't think you change between the concrete and asphalt ovals, you kind of keep the same approach."

Will there be two lanes for passing?

"It's tough, definitely tough to have a second lane because of the marbles. The concrete is so abrasive that the marbles (shreds of rubber) build up pretty quick. The concrete is very rough on the tires."

How did you gain positions by passing?

"I passed people down the frontstretch because you can get good runs off of [Turn] Four into One. Not so much on the backstretch because it's shorter since it's a D-shaped oval."

How do you plan to improve your qualifying performance next year?

"I'm going to train a little bit differently in the off season, I'll do a bit more go karting and work with the engineers to better understand the setup differences that we need to make."

Looking back over the 2025, race season, what's your favorite moment to date?

"I think my favorite moment was probably the Road America race. I think with the livery honoring Marlyne Sexton and having Nicole and Tracy (her daughters) there, it was very emotional.  Then coming from the back to drive through the field to finish third and the beer catch-- it was just a great weekend."

FERRUCCI FAST FACTS: Age 27...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 at Indy with his 3rd place finish in the 2023 Indianapolis 500; with his fifth place finish at Indy this year, he continued his string of consecutive top-10 finishes in the 500 which now stands at seven...Competed part-time in NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2021-22. Earned 2025 NTT P1 Award at Portland, Ore....posted 11 Top-10 finishes for career-best to finish 9th in the NTT INDYCAR Series driver standings, his highest ranking to date. The Foyt team finished in the top-10 in the points standings for the first time since 2002. Ferrucci scored his career best finish of second in the 2025 Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix.

The Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix will be broadcast by FOX this Sunday starting at 2 p.m. ET. Practice and qualifying takes place on Saturday and will be broadcast by FS1 and FS2 respectively.