A.J. Foyt Racing has the longest history of any team in the IndyCar paddock. Founded in 1965 by a then 30-year-old A.J. Foyt, the team won the USAC National Championship, the precursor to the current IndyCar Series, with Foyt at the wheel in 1967, 1975, and 1979. The American also won the Indianapolis 500 in 1967 and 1977.
After the series evolved into CART in the late 1970s, the team withdrew as a full-time competitor and ran selected races until 1988. One race, however, was always at the top of the team's list: the Indy 500. In 1988, the team returned as a full-time competitor, but real success eluded them. During practice for the Indy 500 in 1993, Foyt announced his retirement as a driver and focused solely on his role as team owner. In the competitive field of the PPG Indy Car World Series, the team celebrated few successes.
The Move to the Indy Racing League
When Tony George split off to form the Indy Racing League, Foyt was one of the few teams to leave CART for the new series. This proved to be a good decision for the team, as they won the championship in the first IRL season in 1996 with Scott Sharp. A second championship followed in 1998 with Kenny Brack, who also won the prestigious Indy 500 with the team in 1999. When the big Champ Car teams joined the IRL during the 2002-2004 period, Foyt struggled and became a backmarker team.
A Resurgence and Setback
Darren Manning changed things in 2007 and 2008 with three top-five finishes, including a second place at Watkins Glen in 2008. In subsequent years, with various drivers, the team couldn’t achieve much success. In 2012, the team hoped to be competitive again with Mike Conway in the new Dallara DW12, but Conway's best result was a third place in Toronto. In 2013 Takuma Sato secured at Long Beach his first win in only his third race for the team. This was the first win for A.J. Foyt Enterprises since 2002.
Since this victory, the team's performance has been inconsistent. In 2015, Sato came close to another win, finishing second on the streets of Belle Isle in Detroit. It would take more than four years after this podium for the legendary A.J. Foyt's team to reach the podium again; Tony Kanaan ended the long drought with a third-place finish at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway in 2019.
A New Technical Partnership with Team Penske
In 2023, A.J. Foyt Racing entered into a technical partnership with Team Penske, allowing the team to use Penske's dampers, among other components. This has made the team significantly more competitive and helped them overcome a difficult period.
In 2024, the team was able to reap the first results of its collaboration with Penske: Santino Ferrucci finished in the top ten in eleven of the seventeen races, secured one pole position, and ended the season ninth in the championship! Meanwhile, teammate Sting Ray Robb made little impact and was replaced by David Malukas for 2025.
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