Notes & Quotes: Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto

DYLAN MURRAY joined AJ Foyt Racing in April of 2024. He came from a background in sports car racing and is currently a rear-end mechanic and inside rear tire changer on the No. 14 Chevrolet driven by Santino Ferrucci. Although Dylan was born and raised in Highland, Michigan, most of his relatives live in the greater Toronto area. Indeed, he plans to see his sister Amanda and her family, who live in Toronto, this weekend. We asked him a few questions...

Do you have any personal connections to Canada?

DM: "I consider the race in Toronto to be something like my home race because my entire family other than my parents live in the greater Toronto area and my parents both grew up in Canada."

Education:  

DM: "I have an associate degree in automotive high performance from the University of Northwestern Ohio as well as a bachelor's degree in automotive technical supervision from the same school."

Tell us about your family... 

DM: "My parents, Myles and Christine ,still live in Highland, Michigan and my sister Amanda lives in Toronto with her husband and two kids. My wife Samantha and I have two kids, Stella and Hudson."

Dylan's wife Samantha with their daughter Stella getting a bite to eat.

How did you become interested in motorsports? 

DM: "I grew up working with my dad on all of our motorized toys like go karts, snowmobiles, boats and the like and race cars were always very interesting to me.

When and where did you start your professional career in racing? When did you realize you could make a career out of it? 

DM: "I realized I could make a career out of racing when a recruiter visited my high school and told me about the university I would end up attending -- and that they had a student-run race team that I could be a part of. I spent a few years racing on dirt ovals with the school."

Have you ever raced cars yourself? 

DM: "I haven't ever had a car to race myself."

What is your most significant achievement to date? 

DM: "I've done work in just about every level of sports car racing from the entry level cars up to the top level endurance prototype class. However, I would say my most significant achievement was working the Indy 500 this year with Santino running up front like we were. It was a great feeling after all the work everyone put in all month."

How did you come to work for AJ Foyt Racing?   

DM: "I came to AJ Foyt Racing and INDYCAR because I'd previously worked with Nick Cooper and Daniel Jang [current Foyt employees]. They knew I was looking to make a change and they thought would be a good fit at Foyt."

Please describe your job on the team. 

DM: "I'm one of the rear-end mechanics on Santino's car and during pit stops I change the inside rear tire."

Murray at work on a pit stop changing the inside rear tire.

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

DM: "I love how competitive this series is; you never really know how each race is going to turn out."

What would you change, if you could?

DM: "'I'm pretty sure everybody has the same answer to this, but the schedule during the season is brutal! It's hard being away from home as much as we are."

Dylan with his daughter Stella and his son Hudson who was born prematurely.

What is your favorite track and why?  

DM: "It has to be the Speedway; last year rolling out onto the starting grid for the 500 was my first time ever as a competitor or spectator. It was one of the most exciting things I've done in racing so far."

What interests/hobbies do you have outside of racing? 

DM: "Nothing too special; I follow some other racing series and like to play video games."

What are the top 3 things on your bucket list?   

DM: "Off the top of my head, I would like to work the 24 Hours of Le Mans, I still want to win the (Indy) 500, and I want to figure out how to change the inside rear tire faster than Mark Stewart on the 4 car!"

DAVID MALUKAS, driver of the No. 4 Clarience Technologies Chevrolet, qualified third in Race 2 at Iowa Speedway and was headed for his first career victory until the yellow came out with 19 laps to go which upset the strategy. He came back to finish fourth for his best result since finishing second in the Indy 500. Malukas has qualified in the top-10 six times in the last seven races. He is currently 11th in the NTT INDYCAR Series standings.

You had a great start and finish at Iowa, and you have two top-six starts in three races at Toronto. These tracks are polar opposites. Why do you think that you are good at both?

DM: "I think it comes down to having good cars. It's something that we've had success in-- running on street courses and ovals. Those kind of tracks have been more of my strong suit. Even going back through the ladder series, going up to IndyCar, we seem to have had success at these tracks. So I don't know why but it's something that I've just managed to jump and connect with at both. And obviously the results show on track."

You earned a second top-five finish last weekend. How important was that race to boost morale for you and the team?

DM: "It was, of course, very important. We learned a lot from race one, and we took our learnings into race two and managed to secure that result. We were on for a really good race, but of course, IndyCar and yellows. It's just how the story played out, and we still ended up fighting back to a p4 finish, which was a really good race for us. So we've been on a really good qualifying streak, so to start seeing some more consistent result in the races, feels good."

What is the most challenging part of the Toronto track?

DM: "Obviously the bumps and close quarters with all the walls, the whole track is very tough. I guess you could say the first sector, so after the alternate start line, right where pit lane is, that whole sector is very high speed, and having some close quarters with the walls, that is probably the toughest part of the circuit. But in general, the whole Toronto track requires a lot of technique and skill to make sure that you're fast, but also pushing the limits on those walls."

What is the key to going fast there?

DM: "It's all about risk management. How far can you push the car to get as close to the walls as possible without actually hitting them. That is how you're going to be fast there. That's how you get the maximum speed. And there's a fine balance that all the drivers need to work on to try to be quick there."

What is your favorite restaurant in Toronto?

DM: "My favorite restaurant? I don't know exactly what the name was called, but it is a sushi restaurant, and it's a tradition that I go there every year. I have it saved on my phone on Google Maps, but I don't remember the exact name. It's a sushi place that's very, very good."

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, driver of the No. 14 Sexton Properties Chevrolet, was on a strategy that would have garnered him his fifth top-5 finish of the season in Race 2 at Iowa Speedway last weekend had the yellow not come out with 19 laps to go. Track position really hurt his chances and he ended up 15th. However, after his runner-up finish on the streets of Detroit, he is excited to be back on the streets this weekend. He is currently 10th in the NTT INDYCAR Series syandings.

You had a wild ride at Toronto last year. What triggered that? And does it cause you any trepidation going back this year.

SF: "The wild ride was due to IndyCar not calling a yellow fast enough. But no, it doesn't cause me any concern this year. I think it was a freak, freak accident. So I'm excited to get back and have a good result."

This will be your fourth start at the track that hasn't been very kind to you. What did you learn from the street courses this season that will help you at Toronto?

SF: "You know, I think Toronto has been more unlucky than unkind. And you know, I've been just consistent at the other tracks, and I think if I can have some of that same consistency this weekend, it'll go well for us."

What is the most challenging part of the Toronto track?

SF: "I see the most challenging part of the track is probably the area by pit lane. Just very bumpy, very technical, just a massive string of four corners put together where you really need a solid car balance."

What's the key to going fast there?

SF: "I think the key to going quick at Toronto is just to make sure that we have the front grip that we've been lacking in some of these potential other street courses, and we used to have a really good feeling for the car, and that's kind of the biggest thing."

What is your favorite restaurant in Toronto?

SF: "Favorite restaurants? Probably Barberian's, a classic Steakhouse, obviously. A.J. used to love it there. I go every year. I've already got my reservation to go back again on Saturday."

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 finishingseventh...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 Alzheimer's Association International Convention (AAIC) will be held July 27-31 at the Toronto Metro Convention Center.   The Alzheimer's Association unites the world’s leading researchers to drive scientific progress forward. The AAIC draws more than 12,000 attendees in person and virtually with over 160 exhibitors and Exhibit Hall events. AJ Foyt Racing partnered with the Alzheimer’s Association in April to spread awareness of the Association and the services it provides, and to educate the public about the disease.

FOX will broadcast the race Sunday starting at 12 noon ET. Practice and qualifying will be aired on FS1 on Saturday at 10:30 am and 2:30 pm respectively. The Friday practice will be aired on FS2 at 3 pm ET.