Tatiana Calderon is halfway through her rookie season in IndyCar, racing the third AJ Foyt Racing entry alongside Dalton Kellett and Kyle Kirkwood.
The rest of her debut season could be in doubt, however, as ROKiT, the entry’s primary sponsor, is reportedly having trouble making payments to the team.
Rumors began to surface earlier in the week that there were issues with funding, and the team confirmed as much in a statement ahead of this weekend’s race at Mid-Ohio.
The situation is bad enough that participation in the rest of the season is not guaranteed unless the issue can be resolved.
“We are trying to work through a difficult situation as I know ROKiT wishes to continue the program but there are some issues which may prevent that,” said team president Larry Foyt in the statement.
“We will continue to either resolve it with ROKiT or try to find alternate funding which is difficult at best at this point in the season. The #14 entry will run the entire season as it is not solely dependent on the ROKiT funding.”
Calderon joined IndyCar this season after a wide-ranging career that saw her compete in the Formula 3 European championship and Formula 2 among others.
Even though she was only slated to run the season’s road courses, her presence in the American series has been heartily welcomed as an inspiration topic for young girls.
The season’s oval rounds are being driven by JR Hildebrand, and his upcoming participation at Gateway and Iowa rounds is also affected by this development.
The #14 entry, driven by Kirkwood, also carries full ROKiT branding, but is not in jeopardy of missing future races on account of the dispute.
How either car would be branded for the remainder of the season is unknown if the deal were to fall through completely.
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