Woodbury’s Santino Ferrucci Finishes 7th in Indy 500
What an impressive Indianapolis 500 for Woodbury native Santino Ferrucci.
Just five days shy of his 21st birthday, Ferrucci, a rookie driver in the NTT IndyCar Series, finished seventh in his first-ever Indy 500.
“You come into this race just thinking you want to finish,” Ferrucci told the Indianapolis Star. “To finish seventh is amazing to me. … It makes me look forward to this next year.”
The Indianapolis Star said Ferrucci came of age when he challenged IndyCar veteran Tony Kannan, who won the Indy 500 in 2013, to a game of chicken when the two drivers came out of the pit coming off pit lane. Kannan eventually finished the race in eighth place:
They’re racing *everywhere* 😳 Watch @SantinoFerrucci go wheel-to-wheel with @TonyKanaan coming off pit lane 🏎💨#INDYCAR // #Indy500 pic.twitter.com/7Chhu3yaeU
— NTT IndyCar Series (@IndyCar) May 26, 2019
As reported by Racer.com, Ferrucci started the race 23rd, reached the top 10 early, and avoided a five-car pileup by driving through the grass in fourth gear to finish seventh in the 103rd Indy 500.
Hugs all around for a 7th place finish at the #INDY500 ‼️
Couldn’t have done it without my team. Thank you @DaleCoyneRacing @IndyCar | @IMS | #ThisIsMay pic.twitter.com/YZZMwbWoKG
— Santino Ferrucci (@SantinoFerrucci) May 26, 2019
Ferrucci also made a big fan out of recently-retired NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., who served as the pace car driver for today’s race.
.@SantinoFerrucci earned a new big fan in @DaleJr with his bold move through the grass!
The #Indy500 rookie of the year explained what was going through his head, saying “he was a lawnmower.” #MustBeMay pic.twitter.com/wtcBmlMUWz
— IndyCar on NBC (@IndyCaronNBC) May 26, 2019
The race capped off a big week at The Brickyard for Ferrucci. On Friday, Carb Day, Ferrucci drove the second-fastest lap of the day, 225.486 MPH. Ironically, Kanaan drove the fastest lap on Friday, and was just .031 MPH faster than Ferrucci. Ferrucci topped Takumo Sato, the 2017 Indy 500 winner, by .018 MPH.
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