Santino Ferrucci makes leap from IndyCar to NASCAR

Santino Ferrucci's move to NASCAR is now official, although where he has landed is a bit of a surprise. The former NTT IndyCar Series driver will race a part-time schedule for Sam Hunt Racing - a team that has fielded a car in just 10 races over the last two seasons.

When rumors started flying that the Connecticut native was about to trade a single-seater for a stock car, it appeared that Our Motorsports would be adding a second car for him. Ferrucci has instead signed with Sam Hunt Racing.

The plan for the 22-year-old is to run more than half of the Xfinity Series schedule; however, one of those races will not be the season opener - the NASCAR Racing Experience 300 at Daytona. His debut will come at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Feb. 27, the third event on the series calendar.

Ferrucci started 35 times for Dale Coyne Racing (with Vasser-Sullivan in 2020) with limited success. He failed to win a race and had a 13.5 average finish. He was hoping to stay in IndyCar for a few more years before transitioning to NASCAR. Sponsorship issues quashed those plans, and his timeline changed.

Here's what Ferrucci had to say after completing his move to Sam Hunt Racing:

“I’m incredibly proud to join Sam Hunt Racing and (Toyota Racing Development). I think together we will have a ton of success. Working with Sam these past few weeks has been fantastic and his drive to put out a great racecar and team is second to none.”

Is Ferrucci ready for NASCAR?

Ferrucci has already tested in a NASCAR Super Late Models stock car, so he does not jump in completely cold. But the learning curve could be a straight line because NASCAR could continue racing without practice or qualifying in the series.

Sam Hunt is a former K&N Pro Series East driver who started 34 times, most recently in 2019. He launched his team that same year with Colin Garrett behind the wheel at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Last season, Garrett, Mason Diaz, and Brandon Gdovic split nine races.

About the author

Ted Fleming is an accredited journalist who began covering motorsports in 2003 for the inaugural Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Since then, he has reported on and photographed numerous IndyCar and NASCAR events for several national outlets. Ted’s work had appeared on racing sites such as Speedway Tribune, Last World on Motorsports, and Fansided, and he joined Sportskeeda in April 2021 after a lengthy break to become a caretaker for his wife.

Follow me on Twitter @sctrib

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Edited by Zaid Khan