Race Report: XPEL Grand Prix at Road America
- AJ Foyt Racing
- Jun 22
- 5 min read

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (June 22, 2025) -- With an angel riding on his shoulders, Santino Ferrucci scored his career-best finish on a permanent road course today with his emotional third place finish at the premier road course in the country -- Road America.
"In Honor of Marlyne Sexton" emblazoned the sidepods of the all black No. 14 Sexton Properties Chevrolet in tribute to the longtime friend of A.J. Foyt and sponsor of AJ Foyt Racing who passed away June 11th.

“All I could think about to myself is that we are doing this for Marlyne," said the 27-year-old Connecticut native and Dallas, Texas resident. "They were counting down the laps, and I told Mike (strategist Armbrester) I’ve got to focus because this is getting stressful and just let me drive. The crew did an amazing job - awesome job on stops. And, I stalled it too! Even with the stall, to come back and finish how we did was pretty amazing. This one goes to Marlyne. She was running with us today. I’m very proud. This one tastes a little bit sweeter.”
Ferrucci didn't make it easy on himself when he qualified 18th yesterday for the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America. At the start he dropped back to 19th but he managed to avoid the mistakes and miscalculations of everyone else in this race on the pristine four-mile road course. With different fuel strategies in play, managing fuel and tires became paramount and Ferrucci was masterful at both with the help of his engineers on the pit stand which included technical director Armbrester, race engineer Adam Kolesar, performance engineer C.J. Nielsen, and data acquisition engineer Evan Jewson.

Santino chats with (L to R) C.J. Nielsen, Larry Foyt and Adam Kolesar after the race.
Ferrucci would bounce back and forth between the top-five and spots as low as 24th, depending on the timing of the pit stops, in what seemed like a fast-paced game of musical chairs. But when the music stopped, he was in the top three, scoring his second podium in the last three races and fourth straight top-five finish.
In the post-race press conference, Ferrucci said, "I didn't know her (Marlyne's) late husband, but he was a very big A.J. fan and helped A.J. back in the day. Marlyne has been on the car since I've been driving for A.J. Foyt and for Larry, and obviously I would not have had a full season ride without Larry and her support. What we've accomplished last year is where we've brought this team all the way from barely making leadership circle to nearly winning the 500, top-10 in the points, and now fighting for top-5s consistently. It's her support that's been behind us. So I'm very honored to be running that car with her riding along this weekend. To have her daughters here this weekend, Tracy and Nicole, was pretty amazing on the grid. It was hard not to be emotional about it."

Larry Foyt and Santino Ferrucci pose with Marlyne's daughters Nicole Sexton (left) and Tracy Copeland before the race.
David Malukas, who qualified the No. 4 Clarience Technologies Chevrolet in seventh, made his race more challenging when he ran deep into Turn 3 and hit Christian Lundgaard; the contact resulted in Malukas spinning off track. The AMR Safety Team got him restarted without losing a lap. Restarting at the back of the field, Malukas and his engineers led by James Schnabel, got back into the hunt with a solid strategy, fast pit stops, smooth driving and a never-give-up attitude. He finished seventh and is currently 12th in the NTT INDYCAR Series standings.

“I had an incident at the start of the race that put us in the back, but, man, I couldn't believe it. That was probably one of the most chaotic races I've ever been a part of, and it was a lot of fun," Malukas said laughing. "I had no idea what was going on. I was really hot, and around lap 35 I was hallucinating from the heat and seeing bears in the carousel. I'm just joking, maybe not, but yeah, it was a lot of heat, a lot of fun, a lot of passing, and we finished right where we started. So good recovery, really good job from the team and the entire crew at the No. 4 Clarience Technologies Chevy.”
Ferrucci's four top-5s vaulted him to ninth in the standings. He was asked about it in the post-race interview with FOX Sports pit reporter Georgia Henneberry and responded, “We’re performing. We’re back to where we were at the end of last year. I feel it. I’ve got to get my qualifying performance up. ’Til then, I like padding my passing stats.”
The most emotional response came from Larry Foyt, team president of AJ Foyt Racing.
"Wow, what a special day and a very emotional day paying tribute to Marlyne Sexton," said Foyt. "Her daughters Tracy (Copeland) and Nicole (Sexton) surprised us by showing up today for the race and that just really added to the gravity of it. It was more than just an Indy car race for us today.
"It was definitely an up-and-down day with the 4 car spinning on the first lap and having to go to the back of the field. Then we had the stall in the pits on the 14 car and it looked like at the halfway point that it just wasn’t going to be our day. But what I love about this team right now is nobody gives up and we just keep fighting!
"As for the 14 car, I can’t say enough about the engineers just nailing the strategy and Santino doing an amazing job to hit the fuel number," Foyt continued. "The car literally was on fumes as it crossed the line, but it just shows how on top of it the guys were and they just nailed it and came home with a podium. That was amazing."

Santino posed with his No. 14 team after the race.
"It just really topped off the day to see Tracy and Nicole smiling as we were getting ready to go to the podium," Foyt continued. "That made it one of the most special races I’ve ever been a part of. I know Marlyne would’ve been really happy, and I’m going to miss being able to make that phone call to her."

A.J. Foyt was not at Road America but watched the race from his ranch in Texas. "Both drivers did a great job -- and I'm happy that they both finished in the top 10," Foyt said. "To be truthful, I was very happy for Santino and the 14 team because that car was a tribute to Marlyne and we go way back. I think the team did her proud today."
Scoring his sixth victory of the season, Alex Palou led just six laps, but three of them were the final ones of the 55 lap race. Felix Rosenqvist finished second. Following Ferrucci across the line were Kyle Kirkwood and Marcus Armstrong.
The next event is the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio which will be broadcast by FOX on Sunday, July 6 starting at 1 p.m. ET.

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