Foyt Racing hopes 'ambitious' overhaul pays off

A.J. Foyt Racing sports two new drivers, a new head of engineering, a new engine partner and a new attitude in 2017. And hopefully, it won't be the same old results.

Following a dismal season that saw the ABC Supply team score no podiums, lead no laps and finish 17th and 20th, respectively, in the Verizon IndyCar Series, wholesale changes were made to the longest-tenured team in IndyCar.

Carlos Munoz and Conor Daly replaced Takuma Sato and Jack Hawksworth, while Will Phillips has come on board to oversee and overhaul the engineering department.

"Well, obviously, we were coming off a tough year, and that makes it easier to do an overhaul like we did," said Larry Foyt, president of Foyt Racing. "I was on an airplane going to the Sebring test [in January] and an IndyCar fan recognized me and said, 'Hey, you're doing a great job, keep it up!' And I said, 'No, no we're not. And he said, 'Hey, you got to remember you're racing against some 800-pound gorillas out there!' And it's true. We're still in the grand scheme of things a smaller team in this paddock compared to the Penskes and the Ganassis.

"That being said, we still feel like we can fight for wins and should be fighting for wins. Last year we're 1-2 in a practice session and we say okay, we have everything it takes but we're not putting the whole weekend together. And so, that's where you have to step back and say, well how do we keep growing as a team to put everything together?"

Foyt claims "going young" wasn't premeditated, but it just worked out that a pair of 25-year-olds were hired.

"We spoke to a lot of veterans as well going in and so it wasn't just that we were after young talent, but, we felt like they were the two best guys out there that we could bring aboard," Foyt continued. "Obviously, you can't argue with Carlos' record at Indianapolis and he's just a real, level-headed young guy.

"And Conor's done a great job. Obviously last year, had a lot of exciting runs and he showed that if you can get him up front he'll stay there. He's a great fit with the group and both are just young, eager guys and I think that's what you need. You've got some great veterans in this series, no doubt, but also the young guys that are hungry can make a difference in this series too."

Pairing a quiet Englishman like Phillips with a tempestuous Texan like A.J. seems like playing with fire – but so far, so peaceful.

"Will's been great to work with and we've been lucky; we had Don Halliday, who was awesome to work with, just a super guy, and a good calming influence for A.J., and Will's the same way," Foyt said of the team's recently retired technical director.

"And, you know, when A.J. talks to someone for the first time he either respects you or he doesn't from that point on. He knows if you know what you're talking about or you don't when it comes to racecars. And so I think just talking with Will for a brief time he already respects him a great deal."

If changing personnel wasn't a big enough challenge, Foyt Racing is also splitting the team – with one car based in Houston (Munoz) and one based on Main Street in Speedway (Daly). "We have struggled, no doubt, since we grew to two cars," continued Foyt, whose team expanded to two cars in 2015. "We haven't been able to put the right groups together to yield the benefit of the two cars and be where we want to be as a race team. So, again, part of that's where it financially doesn't make a lot of sense to run one shop out of Indy ... and there's a lot of questions about that, but we felt like getting the experienced people to just help get both teams to the same level is what we had to do, and that's why we've made that decision.

"But now with moving that shop to Indy, we've got some really good people up there, we've got some experience and we're gaining on it."

And moving from Honda to Chevrolet requires a totally new mindset.

"It feels like right now we're three years behind, our setup sheets are almost thrown out and we're almost starting from scratch," he said. "Everything we've taken on is ambitious, don't get me wrong, but that being said, Chevrolet has been super to work with already, and helpful, and we're learning quickly.

"But at the end of the day it's a racecar; it's got four tires on it, it's got a gas pedal and a brake. So, it's not rocket science in that aspect. You get guys like Will and then you have good drivers and then you have a good crew and mechanics, your car's mechanically sound, and I think we've put all that together.

"So that for me is once we get going, there should be weekends we should be able to win a race, no doubt."

Listen to Foyt's full interview and thoughts on other topics: