PORTLAND, Ore. – This wasn’t a fluke.

Saturday’s pole performance at Portland International Raceway for Santino Ferrucci and AJ Foyt Racing – the first of the 26-year-old American driver’s IndyCar career, and first for the squad in more than a decade – came up against last year’s polesitter (Graham Rahal); the series’ all-time pole-leader (Will Power); and IndyCar’s current points leader (Alex Palou), who just so happens to have won the race twice in three starts and who won from pole in 2021.

Much has been said – and will continue to be said – about Foyt’s brand-new technical alliance with Team Penske and how the partnership, born out of Roger Penske and A.J. Foyt’s lifelong friendship, has lifted A.J.’s eponymous race team. But on Saturday, in a head-to-head battle, it was the gritty challenger, who two seasons ago had its pair of full-time drivers finish at the bottom in points, who reigned supreme.

Even still, it’s an achievement that caught Ferrucci and team president Larry Foyt by surprise.

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“To be honest, when we made it into the Fast Six, I was like, ‘Who’s in it?’ And then said, ‘Will,’ and I was like, ‘Oh, damn.’ It’s so hard to compete against everybody here. Everybody’s so talented, but on any given day as a driver, if you get everything right, it’s a chance and an opportunity to excel,” Ferrucci said. “We had the car, and today was the day for me in qualifying to nail the lap – to get it right, especially when it counts.”

The turnaround began a year ago, when the concurrent additions of Ferrucci and engineering mastermind Michael Cannon delivered scant sparks of promise that hinted that a years-long stint at or near the bottom of the series could be coming to an end. Unable to join the team as its new technical director in earnest until near the end of the 2022-23 IndyCar offseason (due to clauses in his contract with his previous employer, Chip Ganassi Racing), Cannon put the bulk of his focus on supercharging Foyt’s Indianapolis 500 performance – just one year after being part of Ganassi’s first win in a decade. Rather than sprinkling a little knowledge across an entire 17-race season with little time – or testing – to form a gameplan for four types of tracks, it was Cannon’s idea to find footing first on the platform that powers – and helps pay – for other projects down the road.

That May, Ferrucci stunned the IndyCar world with a start on the inside of Row 2 and a third-place finish, leading laps late in the race to boot. Three months later, the information exchange with Penske – who also provide Ferrucci’s engineer for this season, James Schnabel – had been drawn up, the makings of a Cinderella season in 2024 starting to fall into place. With four races left in the season, Ferrucci holds 10th-place in the championship, just a single point ahead of Meyer Shank Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist and six clear of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Christian Lundgaard in what the Foyt driver has dubbed the “mid-pack championship.”

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Holding onto that spot inside the top-10 would give the Foyt program its first such finish from a full-season driver since 2002 (Airton Dare). Ferrucci’s pole Saturday was the team’s first in a decade (Takuma Sato, 2014 Belle Isle Race 2). It’s still seeking its first race-win since 2013, when Sato triumphed on the streets of Long Beach.

“This whole season is a big tribute to a lot of what Santino brings to the table,” Larry Foyt said. “Fighting for us to top 10 in the championship, that’s a big testament to a lot that he’s done.

“I think you can see just how happy everybody is because a couple years ago, it was a struggle. We’ve just kept building this team, kept adding better people. It’s all led to this.”

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Ironically, the next piece of that puzzle for the teams’ future is, presumably, Ferrucci himself. Nearly two weeks ago, AJ Foyt Racing announced it had scooped up MSR’s David Malukas on a multi-year deal, starting in 2025. Notably, the team has not yet confirmed which entry the 22-year-old will takeover next season, or which current driver on the team’s roster Malukas will replace. There are, of course, heavy assumptions Ferrucci is the odds-on favorite to hold onto his ride over teammate Sting Ray Robb – assuming the Foyt team doesn’t attempt a completely brand-new driver lineup. The biggest hurdle of a Ferrucci-Malukas lineup for 2025 is funding, with Foyt’s incumbent known to bring little, if any, backing. Malukas said a year ago ahead of his jump to Arrow McLaren that his family’s business would no longer be funding his career, though multiple sources told IndyStar that Malukas brought funding to help secure his partial-season ride with MSR to complete the season in the No. 66 Honda.

Whether it be Malukas family money, Roger Penske himself – in order to help Team Penske get a serious look at one of IndyCar’s up-and-coming talents – or some sort of complicated partnership that will likely replace Robb’s backing for 2025, Larry Foyt has dropped hints that his vision for the team’s progression is to only be more competitive starting with St. Pete next March. Foyt told IndyStar last weekend he wants both the team’s cars in the top-10 a year from now, with one fighting for a top-5 spot.

“When is warmup?” Ferrucci joked Saturday afternoon, when asked if he’d be able to convince Foyt to come to terms before the day’s end. For what it’s worth, the pair did have nearly three hours of downtime. “I don’t think it’s any secret that I very much have found a home with Larry and AJ Foyt Racing. That’s in the cards here,” Ferrucci continued. “Obviously, there’s a lot that needs to happen, and there’s still a pretty big offseason, but getting pole today doesn’t hurt.

“It’s been a very interesting two years. I think me and Larry have worked really well together, and things like today help. The results we’ve had during the 500 help. Being 10th in the championship helps. I never found (the Malukas signing) demoralizing, just because of how much we’ve been able to accomplish the last two years. I don’t see it as a negative. I see it as a massive positive. It’s exciting for the future, and I can’t wait to see what unfolds.”

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Watch out for Ferrucci-Power-Palou battle Lap 1 Sunday

Ferrucci spoke of a steely demeanor he discovered over the closing laps of qualifying Saturday, starting with the realization as he began his final lap that he jumped to the top of the charts.

Neither Palou nor Power managed to match him, but in less than 24 hours, the pressure only ratchets up for IndyCar’s newest polesitter. Starting alongside him on the front row will be Power, Ferrucci’s on-track mentor and off-track friend who finds himself in dire need of a victory to claw his way back into serious title contention. Entering Sunday’s race, Power sits 4th in points, 66 back of Palou with Colton Herta (59 points back of Palou) and six-time champ Scott Dixon (65 back) ahead of him, too.

Palou starts Sunday, lurking on the inside of Row 2, with Herta (qualified 10th/starting 8th) and Dixon (11th/9th) a few rows back.

For Ferrucci, who’s searching for his first IndyCar win as he makes his 74th start, a win Sunday means everything. Already with one career podium and a smattering of top-5s and top-10s, Foyt’s young talent isn’t looking to points-race or cruise his way to a solid top 3 or top 5 to pad his hopes of a historically-high championship finish. For Power, it makes Ferrucci an intriguing challenger, entering Turn 1 moments after the green flag waves – notoriously one of the most dangerous on the calendar and where days end for multiple drivers on Lap 1 almost annually.

“The championship doesn’t really matter as much to me as getting a win,” Ferrucci said. “That’s kind of my goal. If we can help out some of our Penske alliance friends in any way with how we do things, then yeah, we’re obviously going to. It’s what teammates do.

“But by no means am I going to start and pull over to let him take the lead into Turn 1.”

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Said Power, who admitted he’ll have to contend Sunday with unique challengers both in front (Ferrucci) and behind (Palou) him: “Definitely a tough place to be at the start of the race. Really, you want to be the leader, and that’s why I was mad after I didn’t get pole.

“I think the only guy who feels safe is (Ferrucci). Even starting on the outside of Row 1 can be tough at times, because the inside row can get going, and you can’t block out 3rd-place. We’ll see. Anything can happen. Can’t really plan on it. Just the key is to get through that first turn in a reasonable position.”

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Harkening back to Formula 1’s three-time defending champ and his famously aggressive driving style, Power said he’s unafraid to “drive like Verstappen” come Sunday, if that’s what it takes.

“I race as clean and fairly as possible. You never want to win a championship in a way where you’ve taken someone out – of course not,” Power said. “But I can race (Palou) a little harder because it’s not just me that he’s racing.

“If we both (crash) out, it would be bad because there’s a lot of people coming as well around me in points. So my goal is to stay ahead of him. I have to finish ahead of him. It’s as simple as that. It’s the only way I’m going to have a shot at the championship.”

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IndyCar: Santino Ferrucci, AJ Foyt Racing triumph with historic pole