With an early silly season underway, two seats are taken as AJ Foyt Racing confirmed that their lineup of Tony Kanaan and Matheus Leist will remain unaltered in 2019.
Having revamped their lineup for 2018 with veteran Kanaan and rookie Leist, keeping the program steady shows a commitment to grow from a team that has not visited victory lane since the 2013 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.
The new driver lineup has seen some growing pains, with both cars retiring from the DXC Technology 600 at Texas Motor Speedway despite promising pace in practice and qualifying. Kanaan picked up the team’s top finish of the season with P7 in Detroit, while Leist has yet to best his P12 showing in Alabama.
As Kanaan made the move to Foyt from a four-season stint at Chip Ganassi Racing alongside close friend Scott Dixon, 2018 has marked a transitionary season for the 2013 Indianapolis 500 winner. The 43-year old series champion will continue to mentor countryman Leist throughout the continued tenure, as both Kanaan and Foyt look to return to a competitive pace.
Entering Sunday’s Kohler Grand Prix at Road America, Kanaan and Leist sit 14th and 19th in the Verizon IndyCar Series championship standings.
