INDIANAPOLIS — Twenty-year-old Santino Ferrucci was named Rookie of the Year for the Indianapolis 500 after finishing seventh in Sunday’s race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The announcement was made during Monday’s Victory Celebration at the J.W. Marriott.
Driving for Dale Coyne Racing, Ferrucci started 23rdand moved forward to finish seventh, which was the best of the six rookies in the field of 33.
Ferrucci, who celebrates his 21st birthday on May 31, led his first NTT IndyCar Series lap and made the largest number of passes of any driver on track with 30 while on his way to registering his best NTT IndyCar Series career finish.
Ferrucci earned $50,000 for being named rookie of the year.
“To be honest, it’s finally sinking in,” expressed Ferrucci. “You can only win Indy 500 Rookie of the Year once. That hadn’t occurred to me until now. It’s quite an honor. I can’t thank the team enough for giving me such a fantastic car the whole month. I was comfortable in the car all month and I think as a rookie that’s really important. Thank you to Honda, Firestone, and Cly-Del Manufacturing who has been behind me through everything that’s happened in the last few years.”