TULSA, Okla. — NTT IndyCar Series young gun Santino Ferrucci will tackle one of the most unique challenges of his career when he straps into a midget for the upcoming Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals at Tulsa Expo Raceway.
Ferrucci, 21, will make his Chili Bowl debut behind the wheel of the No. 18s Boss-Fontana for Jody Rosenboom Racing, with major support from David Byrd of Jonathan Byrd’s Racing.
The Woodbury, Conn., native is a past test driver for Haas F1 Team and, at one time, appeared to be on a path to race in Formula One before circumstances led him to return to the United States and drive for Dale Coyne Racing in the Indy car ranks.
However, out of all the open-wheel and single-seater racing he’s done in the past, Ferrucci told Sprint Car & Midget that nothing he’s driven will relate to the dirt midget experience he’s about to embark on.
“I’m excited for it, but it’s also crazy because (dirt racing) has absolutely nothing to do with anything I’ve ever done in my life from a racing standpoint,” Ferrucci said. “But from a fundamental standpoint, with car control and weight … your eyes are looking, it’s something that’s very good for training.
“Actually, after one of the Indy car races last year that David was at, I think we were at the airport and he had asked me at one point if I ever wanted to go run in a sprint car or a midget,” recalled Ferrucci. “I thought that it sounded like fun, but I kind of thought he was joking, even though I did know he was trying to put together some programs and everything and he had done a lot in the past. But he called me up in December and said, ‘All right, we’re good to go. Which dates?’
“It was a pretty cool process and he’s done an awesome job putting everything together.”
Ferrucci’s foray into dirt racing began Dec. 16, when he spent a test day with Byrd and Gene Gile Racing at Arizona’s Canyon Speedway Park turning laps in a non-winged sprint car.
While it’s not quite the same as the midget he’ll be racing at the Chili Bowl, Ferrucci said it was still a valuable tool for him.
“The test day actually went really well. I was really happy,” said Ferrucci. “I mean we got 80 laps in that day, and I feel like at the end I started to get the hang of it. It’s just a different animal, though. There’s absolutely nothing like it.
“I can explain it best like this: I’ve never gone flat into a corner to go backward,” he noted with a laugh. “Driving the 410 sprint, I had to take it with the throttle and then once I had it backward, I had to give it more throttle. And to me that made absolutely no sense. It was just completely wrong on all standpoints as far as anything car related. So I was just working on adapting and teaching myself new ways to drive.”
Ferrucci pointed out one thing he felt transcends both Indy car racing and his time on the dirt.
“A good thing that I did learn going into dirt racing was that it’s always good to look where you want to go,” he explained. “And that’s super important, especially in the Indy car with oval racing; you’re always looking so far ahead because you’re going so fast. And I found it’s the same kind of mentality with the dirt car.
“That was probably the best thing I had adjusted to by the end of the day, was just looking ahead and hitting my marks and going where I wanted to.”
Ferrucci’s goal going into his first Chili Bowl is extremely simple.
“I just really don’t want to roll it,” he affirmed with a laugh. “I want to have fun and enjoy the atmosphere that the Chili Bowl has. It’s one of those races that’s really prestigious, especially for dirt racing and dirt oval competitors. It’s really out of my realm and I’m stepping into their world and what they love to do, but I’m just glad to be a part of it and glad I can join in on the fun.”
For Ferrucci, who earned Indy 500 Rookie of the Year honors in 2019 along with three top-five and seven top-10 finishes in the IndyCar Series, his maiden voyage at the Chili Bowl is part of a greater goal.
He wants to be a modern-era version of A.J. Foyt, Mario Andretti or Tony Stewart, a driver who is diverse enough to be able to jump in any type of car and find speed out of it at the end of the day.
“Man, back in the day you had drivers that raced across all platforms. You had drivers that did the Indy 500 and did NASCAR,” Ferrucci pointed out. “I mean, look at Tony (Stewart). When he used to race NASCAR, it seemed like every night he’d be at a dirt track having fun, and then back into his stock car during the day. That’s the kind of driver I think it would be cool to be like.
“We’re losing that kind of old-school mentality, where as drivers, we can drive anything,” he added. “I was more than happy to get behind the wheel of something completely new. I wanted that experience and to see how it went. Hopefully, this can go well and maybe then I can do it again sometime.”
SPEED SPORT’s Chili Bowl coverage is presented by MyRacePass, the official timing and scoring app of the 2020 Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals. Fans can download the MyRacePass app on their phones to follow all the action during the Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals. For more information on MyRacePass, visit www.myracepass.com and use the hashtag #GetTheApp on Twitter!
