Photo Credit: Carrie Ellis
It was announced on Nov. 15 that AJ Foyt Racing had signed both of their drivers for the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series Season. It was also announced that one team will be based out of Houston, Texas and the other team will be based out of Indianapolis, Indiana.
Carlos Munoz will pilot the No. 14 ABC Supply entry with the team based out of Texas. Munoz is leaving Andretti Autosport where he raced from 2012-2016.
“It’s going to be actually my first change,” Munoz stated. “I have been with Andretti for the last five years, so it’s a big step of my career I think forward. Going to be totally different approach from my part, you know, driving with this team. I’m glad to join this team. It’s been for a long time in IndyCar, and also A.J. is Indy 500 champion. I really honored to be a part of his team. I think it’s a new challenge to my career.
“It’s also nice to be teammates with Conor Daly. It’s good to have two young, really fast drivers in the team. We want to drive really good, we want to win races. We’re going to work really well together.”
Munoz says he is honored to be able to get behind the wheel of the legendary No. 14 car which was driven by Champion driver now owner AJ Foyt himself. He also says he feels they are united as a team and Foyt wants to both of his drivers to succeed. Therefore, as a team they will motivate each other to try and keep both cars at the front each week.
“I think the whole team is friendly to me even though we’re going to be a little bit different.” Munoz added. “One car is going to be in Indy, one car is going to be in Houston. I think A.J., when I went to Houston to join the team and everything, say, there’s not one driver or second driver mentality driver here, all drivers are the same.
“I think I’m really happy. I’ve been saying in a lot of interviews already. Now I can say it’s confirmed. For me it’s another part of my career, new times. I’m really happy to making a step up as a driver. What is most challenging, the team, they want to progress, they want to do the things right. They’ve been trying to change a lot of stuff in the team. Totally two new drivers, you know, new people.
“We have George. I worked with him in Andretti. I think he does a really good job, can operate the team really well. When I went to Houston to visit the team, they were organizing everything for the season. I’m proud to be a part of A.J. Foyt. Like I say, he will be my boss. It will be tough to understand him in the first place because he has the Texan accent. But like Conor say, he has a story to tell you each time you go and talk to him, like unbelievable stories when he used to race Indy 500 with the bricks, how he make his car faster. He’s unbelievable, no? I think he knows a lot about Indy. Hopefully we going to have great work together, all of us. The main goal is to go race by race and try to be a better team.”
The Bogotá, Columbia native, who currently resides in Miami, Florida, says he has no plans to relocate to Texas. He thinks when you’re not on the track, home is better mentally.
“I think nowadays with technology; you can do everything,” Munoz continued. “You can do everything with the phone, with the Skype, with FaceTime. Miami, you have flights the whole time to Houston all the days. I will be staying here. Houston is (indiscernible) my favorite, but I will stay here. Looking forward to start traveling, especially to be back in IndyCar. It’s been so long, the off-season. But first thing after racing, I will stay home for sure.”
Conor Daly will also be joining Munoz as a teammate, driving the No. 4 ABC Supply entry for his second full season in IndyCar, with the team based out of Indiana. He leaves Dale Coyne Racing where he raced his rookie season.
“Yeah, I mean, it’s really cool when Larry told me that we were going to be based in Indianapolis,” Daly quoted. “Obviously that helps me quite a lot because that’s my hometown. Pretty excited about that. Then I actually didn’t know we’d be the No. 4 until probably like just a few days ago. That was even cooler just because of the history that we have there with my stepdad Doug, when he was running with Panther Racing, involved there. I grew up watching those guys, Scott Goodyear, Sam Hornish, Tomas Scheckter, as well, then Dan Wheldon.
“It was just a cool number that meant a lot to my family. It was cool to carry on. I have plenty of Pennzoil hats with No. 4 on them from when I was a kid. It’s just going to be cool. It’s just a great relationship, a great opportunity, and then I just can’t wait to get started.”
Daly is no stranger to A.J Foyt Racing as they were the team to give him his first IndyCar test as well as his first race in the 2013 Indianapolis 500. Daly says it is awesome and exciting to be back with the team.
“I’ve been friends with those guys ever since 2013 when we had the first chance at the Indy 500,” Daly stated. “That meant a lot to me obviously. So to come back now and be actually competing for them full-time is super cool. So, you know, we’re going to have a shop in Indianapolis. Going to take some time to set up and get things going. I’m excited just to get back to work. It’s my sophomore season. I know there’s so much that I learned last year that I just want to apply in this upcoming season.
“I think with Carlos, as well, the guy is incredible at Indy. I want to learn from him at Indy and all the other tracks. He’s coming from another team, so there’s always going to be more information to learn. Hopefully we can put it all together and make it work really well.”
Last year was pretty successful for Daly as despite no race wins, he had a few top-10 as well as a couple top-fives. He says in his second season of IndyCar racing he just wants to keep improving and to be consistent.
“There’s things that I already want to do differently, going to tracks, whether it’s from a driving standpoint or a car setup standpoint,” Daly continued. “I’m just excited just to get back at it. Last year, the tracks that I had been to before, like Detroit and Toronto, you know, we had two of our best — well, Toronto qualifying, and Detroit would have been good qualifying had we not got a penalty. We obviously had a great race weekend in Detroit.
“I want to use that experience at every track that we go to. So just trying to build on it, build on it, and continue to get better. More podiums is obviously the goal.”
