LEBANON, Tenn. — Among all the drivers in the NTT IndyCar Series field, perhaps nobody’s name is more associated with controversy as Santino Ferrucci.
That association was justified for the umpteenth time in 2024, when the driver of the No. 14 A. J. Foyt Racing Chevrolet became the subject of an unexpected call by race control during Sunday’s (Sept. 15) Big Machine Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway.
The Woodbury, Conn., native has developed a reputation and reinforced it this season as a major threat on ovals. Ferrucci demanded attention more than a handful of times when the series came to World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway and the Milwaukee Mile by pulling off a series of high-risk moves at both venues and walking away with two fourth-place finishes (both in the Milwaukee doubleheader) from those three races, with a 12th-place finish at Gateway being the outlier.
On Sunday, Ferrucci put up yet another strong performance on his first visit to Nashville’s 1.33-mile oval. A grid penalty sent the No. 14 back from a fifth-place qualifying run to a 14th-place start. However, the talking point of his race was an unusual — in IndyCar — penalty assessed on lap 107 for a pass Ferrucci made a handful of laps prior.
Racing side-by-side with Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood, Ferrucci dipped below the yellow line to maintain his position below the No. 27 Honda. Ferrucci drifted back above the line, still side-by-side with Kirkwood, and completed the pass through turns 1 and 2.
Shortly thereafter, Ferrucci was ordered by race control to cede position not only to Kirkwood, but to Linus Lundqvist as well, who was running behind the two.
Speaking after the race, Ferrucci was candid about his confusion with race control’s handling of the incident, suggesting the rule was not communicated entirely.
“It’s kind of a grey area,” Ferrucci told Frontstretch. “I don’t think IndyCar did a great job of officiating that, to be honest, because he drove me down underneath there. So, technically yes, I need to give the spot back. But also, it’s a block, and they didn’t call him for blocking.”
Most unusual about the penalty was the order for Ferrucci to give up two spots after gaining just one position below the yellow line.
IndyCar rule 7.3.5.5 states, “At oval events, drivers must not place any of the four wheels of the car below the solid boundary line at any time.”
Further, rule…
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