Larry Foyt, the longtime steward of the iconic AJ Foyt Racing IndyCar team, has visibly aged over the past five years a mirror to the grueling battle the team has fought to stay afloat in the fiercely competitive world of IndyCar. The team painfully endured the loss of its major backer ABC Supply around 2020, which plunged it into a phase of financial instability that forced the recruitment of pay drivers and reliance on personal sponsorships rather than top-tier talent.
By 2022, AJ Foyt Racing was languishing at the bottom of the grid, struggling to even finish in the points. The situation was exacerbated by a fallout with former sponsor ROKiT, which pulled out amid payment disputes. This financial rollercoaster took a toll on Larry Foyt, who had to shift his focus largely from daily team management to keeping the finances in check, an exhausting but essential role to keep the team alive.
However, there is renewed hope on the horizon. A pivotal turning point came with the return of Diane Hendricks, co-founder of ABC Supply, whose businesses have injected stable and substantial funding into the team for the 2026 season. This renewed corporate backing is anchored around the Homes For Our Troops charity initiative, which will now cover the full racing calendar, reinforcing the team's community engagement and sponsor appeal.
Revitalized by fresh investment and strategic partnerships, AJ Foyt Racing expanded its driver lineup for 2026, signing promising young talent like Brazil's Caio Collet, a standout from Indy NXT, alongside seasoned racer Santino Ferrucci. Collet’s arrival signals a shift back towards competitiveness and stability, backed by solid sponsorship including Brazilian companies.
Performance-wise, the team has marked progress, transitioning from a perennial backmarker to a genuine threat on ovals and capturing landmark moments like a road course pole at Portland in 2024. This upward trajectory has reenergized not just Larry Foyt but the entire team, fans, and sponsors, sparking a fresh wave of optimism that this legendary outfit’s racing glory days are not behind them but just beginning anew.
Larry Foyt himself has acknowledged the hard road but remains hopeful and energized by the current momentum: “We’re in a great place of growth... it’s a tough championship, no doubt, but the group of people we have now can get it done.”
