Ferrucci – who said he expected to be “racing his couch” – stood in for Jack Harvey in the #45 Rahal Letterman Lanigan-Honda, who was ruled out of the first oval race of the season following a big crash in practice on Saturday. Ferrucci finished ninth and on the lead lap, despite making four pitstops to most of his rivals’ three.
Speaking to NBC after the race, Ferrucci explained: “I just came to the track [on Saturday] to hang out, see some friends, then I was out to dinner when Rico [Nault], our team manager, called and said, ‘Hey man, do you have stuff here?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah bro, I live just 35 minutes from the track in Dallas’.
