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Santino Ferrucci was the biggest mover at IndyCar's Long Beach Grand Prix on Sunday, April 13. He started dead last on the 27-driver grid, making up 16 positions in the race to finish in P11.
The AJ Foyt Racing driver started at the rear of the grid due to an error in Round 1 qualifying on Saturday. Coming out of Turn 8, a right-hander, he went too deep as his No. 14 Chevrolet clipped the wall and damaged both left-side tires. He had to park his car in the runoff after Turn 9 and jog back to the pits.
On Sunday, Ferrucci's No. 14 squad boldly decided to start the race on the primary tires, like only five other drivers. That strategy proved a masterclass, as all six drivers gained multiple positions, with four finishing in the Top 10.
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Santino Ferrucci emerged as the biggest mover, earning the Jostens Biggest Mover trophy. Speaking about his weekend with IndyCar, he said:
"Man, long race today. Honestly, wild weekend of emotions. Struggling in Free Practice 1 and 2, nailed the car in qualifying and I stuffed it in the wall, so I felt really bad. It's a game of inches out there and I knew we had a solid race car, and we gambled with the strategy."
"And man, Mike, Larry, Adam, CJ, all these guys pulled it off, stellar in the pits. Our pit crew was phenomenal. That's a big part of it when you're on alternate strategy. And I just drove, so yeah, it was a lot of fun," Santino Ferrucci added.
The P11 at Long Beach was Ferrucci's best result in the 2025 season. At the first two races of 2024 in St. Petersburg and the Thermal Club, he earned two P14 finishes. Andretti Global's Kyle Kirkwood won the Long Beach GP after starting on pole position and fending off Alex Palou.
Santino Ferrucci emphasizes that AJ Foyt Racing had enough pace for an easy Top 10 at Long Beach
Santino Ferrucci and his No. 14 AJ Foyt Racing squad had a flawless day at IndyCar's Long Beach Grand Prix. In a post-race interview with Fronstretch, he emphasized how his car had the pace to get into the Top 10 towards the end of the race.
The 26-year-old also underlined how his car was quick enough to make it to the Firestone Fast 6 in qualifying, if not for this crash in Round 1. When asked how it felt to overcome the odds to script such a comeback, he replied [0:51 onwards]:
"Well, part of it was we had a good car. We struggled in practice. (In) qualifying, I hit the wall, that's on me. Car was definitely awesome. We would have advanced, and we felt like we had the pace to make it into the Fast 6.
So it was a bummer coming from last. Today was a lot of pressure on me to get the job done, and you know, just had to have one of those days like we had."
It wasn't a picture-perfect day for AJFR, apart from Ferrucci's comeback. His teammate David Malukas had opposite fortunes, as he started in P10 and finished seven positions lower in P17.
