Coming off two seasons of on-track progress, AJ Foyt Racing appears ready to take another step. Team president Larry Foyt envisions it being a big step.

“The goal this year is to get back to Victory Lane,” he said last week. “I think we’re ready.

“Obviously, we’d love to win the big one (the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge) in May. We’ve shown the pace. There’s no doubt we can get there.”

And then Foyt demonstrated the confidence he has in this two-car team.

“If we don’t win a race next year,” he said, “I’ll be really disappointed.”

Larry Foyt Takuma Sato

A.J. Foyt’s team has endured 12 winless seasons – a span of 197 races – since Takuma Sato took the checkered flag in the Long Beach street race in April 2013 (photo, above). Since then, 20 drivers have driven for the organization, including two former series champions (Sebastien Bourdais and Tony Kanaan), but all have come up short of the race weekend prize.

Certainly, there have been many strong runs in that span.

In this year’s “500,” AJ Foyt Racing was the only team with two cars finishing in the top five (David Malukas was second, Santino Ferrucci was fifth). Ferrucci also finished second in Detroit. In addition to those two drivers, five other drivers – Kanaan, Bourdais, Sato, Conor Daly and Matheus Leist – have delivered top-five finishes since Sato’s win.

The Foyt team also has won three poles in recent years, including Ferrucci’s first NTT P1 Award in the series in 2024 at Portland International Raceway. Malukas started on the front row of this year’s final two races. In 2024, Ferrucci finished ninth in the standings,

Yet, a race win has proven elusive.

Ferrucci has finished third, eighth and fifth in his three Indy starts in the No. 14 Chevrolet, and he will return for another shot at “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” in 2026 with primary sponsorship from Homes For Our Troops, an announcement made on Veterans Day. Series newcomer Caio Collet, who won three races last year in INDY NXT by Firestone’s runner-up finish, will drive the No. 4 Combitrans Amazonia-sponsored entry, replacing Malukas, who has moved to Team Penske.

Ferrucci finished 16th in points this year due to missing the Toronto race with a wrist injury suffered in an accident that July weekend. If not for that, the Connecticut native likely would have been right with Malukas (11th) in the season’s final tally.

Given the technical alliance with Team Penske that is entering its third season, Ferrucci shares the optimism of his boss.

“The stars are really aligning for us,” he said. “I’m looking forward to building on our performances as we have done the last few years, hopefully bringing us home a Borg-Warner (Trophy).”

AJ Foyt Racing earned its most recent “500” victory in 1999 with Kenny Brack at the wheel. Next year’s 110th Running on Sunday, May 24 will be Ferrucci’s eighth attempt, and he has never finished lower than 10th, the only driver in history with such a record in the annual event.

Collet impressed the team in a pair of recent tests, and he figures to battle INDY NXT by Firestone champion Dennis Hauger of Dale Coyne Racing for the Rookie of the Year awards. That’s another reason for Larry Foyt’s optimism.

“I like (Collet’s) driving style,” Ferrucci said. “He's very open-minded like myself when it comes to the race car, which I found quite unique and really easy. So (I’ve had) just a couple of debriefing things with him, but him being receptive to some of my feedback immediately was kind of cool. I think we'll be able to do and accomplish great things.”

Larry Foyt said it is beneficial to have both cars confirmed with so much time to prepare for the 17-race season that begins with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on Sunday, March 1.

“Everybody (is) ready to go,” he said. “I feel like we're in a good spot early in the offseason here. We know what we're doing; we know what the goal is.

“So far, everything looks really good for next year to pick up right where we left off.”