When Scott Harner was named Vice President of Operations at A.J. Foyt Racing, he brought a culture of winning to the program after more than 25 years with Chip Ganassi Racing. During his time at Ganassi, Harner worked with some of the greatest drivers ever to compete in an Indy car, including Scott Dixon, Dario Franchitti, Juan Pablo Montoya, Alex Zanardi, Tony Kanaan and Dan Wheldon.
One name stands at the pinnacle of excellence in the Indianapolis 500: A.J. Foyt, the first four-time winner of the world’s greatest race. Several seasons ago, Foyt turned his day-to-day operations over to his son, Larry. This past season, Larry decided to bring Harner to the team.
Foyt and Harner are in this for the long term with the goal of returning Foyt’s NTT IndyCar Series team to championship form. A.J. Foyt Racing already is one of the series’ most popular teams among fans. Many of those fans want to see Foyt’s team return to glory, especially at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where the team’s most recent Indianapolis 500 victory was in 1999 with Kenny Brack driving the famous No. 14 car. Foyt’s team won its most recent race in 2013 (at Long Beach with Takuma Sato).
Harner does not like the way the season has started for the team. Veteran driver Tony Kanaan is 19th in the standings and second-year driver Matheus Leist is 23rd. Both drivers can make a dramatic jump in the standings with the two upcoming IMS races: the INDYCAR Grand Prix on May 11 and the 103rd Indianapolis 500 on May 26.
With double points available in the Indy 500 and all the points available in May, Harner realizes there is time to change each driver’s fortunes in the standings.
“There are some things that need to improve dramatically, but traditionally this team runs pretty well here at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Tony Kanaan runs pretty well here,” Harner told NTT Mobile. “We aren’t performing the way we should be, but there is still time for both Tony and Matheus to get more confidence.”
Kanaan and Leist qualified 10th and 11th, respectively, for last year’s 500. Leist finished on the lead lap in 13th place; Kanaan led 19 laps before crashing late in the race in Turn 2.
Harner and Foyt were hopeful to spend plenty of time at IMS in last week’s open test, but track time was severely limited because of rain.
“We had a few mechanical issues that held us back on the 14 car (Kanaan’s) and the weather didn’t cooperate,” Harner said. “Matheus got some laps in and it is always good to get some laps here during the test.”
Harner brings a level of confidence and patience to his new role at A.J. Foyt Racing. By taking the longer view of the team’s future, he is determined to lead a turnaround for one of IndyCar’s most popular teams.