Santino Ferrucci 'fired up' for Detroit after eighth Indy 500 top 10

Fresh off his eighth consecutive top 10 finish in the Indianapolis 500, Santino Ferrucci, like the rest of the IndyCar paddock, wouldn't mind a break after a grueling Month of May. 

Instead, he and the rest of the NTT IndyCar Series circuit will travel to Detroit this weekend for Sunday's Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix (12:30 p.m. ET, FOX). 

But the grandeur and rush of Indy does, despite the grind of the last month, put a fire into the belly of Ferrucci. 

"I think I'm much more fired up after Indy," Ferrucci said Wednesday. "I'm just super excited to get back out there. [Indianapolis] place is emotionally draining and very hard, but it does instill a certain type of drive into you. Being here and being close and being in the top 10 eight years in a row, you almost want to punch something. 

"That drive that it instills, that's kind of the tricky bit because how do you direct that passion into a productive gain for the team and for yourself. That would be what we're looking for in Detroit."

Can Santino Ferrucci win in Detroit?

A veteran of 100 IndyCar races, the 28-year-old Ferrucci is still searching for his first win in the series. Sunday's race in Detroit is a prime candidate, given that he finished ninth in the Motor City in 2024 and led eight laps en route to a runner-up finish a season ago. 

Given that Ferrucci is 15th in the series standings through seven races, a victory, or even just the fourth podium of his IndyCar career, would go a long way.  

"I think that we'll hit our stride this year," Ferrucci said. "I think Adam [Kolesar], my race engineer, has done a fantastic job. His first race as my full-time race engineer was Gateway last year. This was his first 500 as a race engineer. I think he did an amazing job. I definitely know from experience, when you have an engineer that's the first race, first 500, versus going into their next, it is drastically different, the amount that they learn and they gain. The momentum is huge.

"I'm looking forward to definitely the second half of this year, all these tracks that Adam and I have gone to. We can continue building off of our car."

With 11 races remaining in the 2026 season, Sunday's race would be a much-needed turning point for Ferrucci and his No. 14 group. 

Quotes provided by IndyCar Media.