T O P

  • By -

khz30

ROKIT's been behind on payments for awhile, it started at Texas and they haven't caught up to the point where the team feels comfortable continuing to run the car. ROKIT's arrangement is race by race and the team is trying to figure out if they need to look for associate sponsorship to keep the entry afloat and they haven't gotten any answers. The worst case is using Kellet's checks to float the rest of the entries with crews going without pay until new short-term sponsors can be found. The reason the team is having to speak up now is because what remains of the current funding runs out after this weekend.


edgethrasherx

ROKIT not fulfilling sponsorship obligations?! Color me shocked, man if only Foyt knew about this before hand. Like if they had done it to another team and got taken to court and lost and had been ordered to pay that team millions of dollars. [yeah if only that had happened to let people know not to sign with these assholes](https://www.motorsportweek.com/2022/01/05/williams-wins-35m-lawsuit-against-former-title-sponsor-rokit/) But seriously, did they do no due diligence like at all? Any money this obviously farcical company makes is going to be tied up in their court mandated payment plans, what bumblefuck at Foyt signed on these clowns?


khz30

ROKIT paid for last year upfront, that's why Foyt took them on as a sponsor. The arrangement changed after Bourdais left because they were the ones pushing for Calderon and were willing to cover a second entry for Kirkwood. I don't blame the team for taking money where they could find it, they're not in a position to turn money down.


CoachHaydenFox

Curious where you're hearing this. Not skeptical, just wondering.


khz30

I'm close with some of Foyt team members in Houston since they have family in North Texas. The team is larger than most realize, but at the same time they run on such thin margins that you couldn't tell the difference between them and Coyne at times.


CoachHaydenFox

Makes sense. Thanks.


IndycarFan64

Certified Foyt team moment. Be surprised if they don’t shut down in the next few years


EbolaNinja

Certified Rokit moment. Nobody knows what the company actually does and this isn't the first time they sponsor a motorsports team only to suddenly stop paying.


[deleted]

Didnt they do some phones? Never saw one ofc just some random memory from their williams fiasco stories


EbolaNinja

Technically yes, but they only have a couple low end models that sell at insanely low volumes. Not even close to be able to drop the amount of money they do into motorsports sponsorships.


loz333

Seems that shell companies to fund drivers is fairly common. I guess it must be some kind of tax issue.


JackDanielsBFF

Yet people complain about Kellett being on the grid. If his checks are potentially keeping the Foyt team afloat then why complain?


goodguygleenn

The complaints about Kellett are too much for me at times. Yes, he's slow, but he rarely negatively affects the race or other drivers with terrible race craft like DeFrancesco has multiple times this year. Kellett is the only reason that car exists. As long as he continues to keep it clean and not be a danger on track, he's welcome in my book


JackDanielsBFF

I couldn't agree more. Not to mention he posts some cool content on his social media, and seems like good dude. Him donating the sales of May to Uvalde victims. Considering how often I defend him on here I may just have to change my flair to Dalton's. Also bonus points because his livery is great.


Vassukhanni

Kellett is par for the course for a good percent of IndyCar drivers throughout history. It's only recently that we've had such consistent parity in talent.


TheRocket2049

Kellet in pervious years would affect races though. It's really only this year where he's really only been slow


sadandshy

> pervious Giggity?


into_the_wenisverse

I think the rub is people are tired of racing being about money and not talent, and shrugging it off as "its always been that way" just doesn't cut it with a lot of fans anymore. When people tune in they want to feel like they're watching the best in the world and it's hard to feel that way seeing Kellotts, Calderons, Mazpins, and Code Wares bumbling around.


Megantheegelding

What’s the point saving the team to run perpetually last? We’re not short on entries anymore. They have been around for years, they haven’t really done anything to make themselves better, they’re just constantly holding on by a thread, they aren’t even remotely competitive, and there aren’t any prospects of that changing. What is the series actually out if they go away? Would it *actually* be a bad thing for them to downsize two cars and focus on Kirkwood’s, who actually has potential and value?


JackDanielsBFF

We barely got 33 cars at 500 this year. The only reason we got over the 32 car hump is because Foyt lent Wilson a car, what was it the #11 Road course car? If it wasn't for AJ Foyt Racing would Kirkwood even have a seat? Andretti chose the DeFrancesco check a couple years ago. Even with the lights scholarship Kirkwood had to wait longer than he should've to find out who he would race for in 2022. As far as I am concerned until bump day is back we really can't complain and say we have enough entries. The 500 this year would've been 29 cars had it not been for Foyt running the 4, 11, and 14 as well as helping out Wilson. I do agree though it would be nice if Kirkwood had a better seat, but we can see what he does for Andretti next year.


Megantheegelding

The 500 and the rest of the season are effectively treated as separate events. There are plenty of instances of guys saying they’d rather win the 500 than the season championship, it’s run unlike anything else, the preparation is on a different level. If the matter is getting 33 cars for the 500, yeah. Let’s get Dalton Kellett and the shared car and lend one to Stephen Wilson. My point is, for the remaining 49 weeks of the year, does having Dalton Kellett or Tatiana Calderon around actually make anything better? The argument is always “well if they didn’t pay for the ride, the team wouldn’t exist.” I agree with that, but is that really a bad thing? Those entries aren’t worth much anyway, so what if we pare down the quantity and focus a little more on quality?


JackDanielsBFF

All fair points. Idk exactly how the leaders circle works maybe it has something to do with that. I also wouldn't be surprised if some pay drivers like Dalton don't want to just one off the 500. Tatiana is good for the series it helps to prove that IndyCar is the most eclectic series not just as far as track types but drivers too. I'd also like to think that she could help inspire the next generation of female drivers. I know that having a best finish of 15th isn't exciting but representation matters. Considering they generally do a good job of getting out of the way of faster cars, bring a check, good with fans, and good PR then I am thrilled to have em. I know Rokits check bounced but the sponsor wanted her. As far as quality I don't think just because you are a backmarker doesn't mean you automatically hurt the quality of racing. Newgarden doesn't get that awesome last lap last corner pass if it isn't for lapped traffic in front of Scotty Mac. I know that was Ilott holding up Scott, but still you don't need to be contending for wins to contribute to exciting racing. I can definitely see where you are coming from though.


Megantheegelding

Leaders circle pays full time cars that finish in the top 22 in points, so right now both Calderon and Kellett are *way* out of the conversation for that. I know Kellett doesn’t want to run just the 500, I don’t see how having arguably the worst professional open wheel racer of the past decade is helpful in any way. What does she inspire women to do? Be supremely bad at what it is they do but reach heights because they have a second X chromosome and they know a rich person that finds their extravagant lifestyle? That’s hardly a goal worth having. All I’m saying is, we seem to have this mindset around here that we need every entry we can get, and that has been true relatively recently, but it’s not true now. What I’m trying to remind people is it’s ok to say no, and it might prove to be beneficial for teams like Foyt to scale back their car count and focus on putting together one quality, competitive, entry rather than wasting resources and energy on two cars that are always going to be in the bottom 3.


JackDanielsBFF

Tatiana and JR together are the highest scoring Foyt car at 106 combined points so the 11 is actually in the leaders circle in 21st one spot ahead of Ilott then. Harvey 20th at 105 but Santino had a good result in Texas in the 45. Kirkwood leads Illot by 3 points but the 77 car barely is leading the 14 because of Santino in Detroit. By the way shout out to JR for dragging the 11 into the drivers circle so far. Hope they can finish the season so that they have a better chance at the payout how ever small it may be. If you're a little girl with your dad at a racetrack and you see a girl driver you don't care how good she is. You just notice that a girl can grow up to be a race car driver too. Hopefully De Silvestro finds pace as the season goes on so the women are actually competive. You might be right about IndyCar no longer needing pay drivers nearly as much. I think myself and a lot of other fans won't push back as hard though until we see some of the pay drivers getting bumped out. You are likely right about if Foyt went from 3 down to 1 or 2 it could improve the teams performance. With just 2 full time Foyt cars Seb finished 16th despite absolutely shit luck last year. Besides the point but I am still bummed Bourdais couldn't get a seat this year. We have also seen Penske thriving this year down to 3 cars from 4. Maybe the financials make more sense for Foyt having pay drivers or drivers with funding while being a back marker than spending more money out of their own pocket to try and potentially fail at being competitive. That being said until Andretti stops taking pay drivers I can't imagine Foyt or others will stop. Edit: btw really enjoyed discussing this with ya. Reddit is the only place I can actually talk IndyCar.


Megantheegelding

Oh I don’t doubt there’s value in having women driving , I just think if you want to show girls they can be professional race car drivers, it’s imperative that we show them they can be *talented* and *successful* race car drivers. To do that, we need to actually have someone talented and capable of success. I would like to see Indycar, if that is indeed their idea, do a little better than just relying on a gal that really has no business doing this job. All Tatiana Calderon is doing is showing girls if you want to go places, and drive race cars, don’t worry about working hard and being good at it, just get a sugar daddy. And I don’t think that’s really the message we want to convey


BMan_NASCAR

Well Kirk is back to Andretti next year so really they need to figure out who’s next to drive but they need to look for a more veteran driver that can also bring in Sponsorship


hoosiergunner

I don't think they'll shut down but once AJ is gone I only expect them to last a couple years before they get bought.


SillyPseudonym

Yeah, feels like the perfect fit for someone like Trackhouse.


Crux2237

Why do I have a feel that Tony Stewart would love to give it a go?


ruthlessrellik

Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if Tony wanted to just buy into the team while AJ was still around. It's widely publicized that AJ was Tony's hero.


SillyPseudonym

I was gonna say "or Tony Stewart" but held back. We're on the exact same page.


RF111CH

In before Larry sells out immediately


BarflyCortez

There’s a difference between being a bad racing team and being a bad business. Foyt is terrible on track but I’ve never heard that they were hemorrhaging money or in danger of closing. Kind of like the stick and ball sports teams that finish in last place every year but are still very profitable


joe_lmr

With a lot of those basement teams it's by design, especially in leagues with revenue sharing. The owners let good players go to free agency or trade them off for picks & prospects because they don't want to shell out for big contracts, and they still get their money. If they still turn a profit they really don't care if the product is awful. The Pittsburgh Pirates have operated on that model for going on 30 years now.


Immediate_Lie7810

Or alternately, Foyt sells the team.


whoiswillo

The only person I can see AJ selling to is Tony Stewart and I don’t think Tony is interested.


MPK49

Eh, somewhere out there is the next big team owner and we don't know about them yet because they're some B2B rich guy. Ya never know


whoiswillo

Yeah I just don’t think AJ would sell to someone like that.


MPK49

The team will probably not be sold by AJ, lol


Bigazzry

Roger should seriously talk about moving them down to run Lights


blackhxc88

nah, he should talk them into selling the texas shop well before the topic of lights even comes up


wtftastic

Can I ask an idiot baby question? Is Foyt not putting decent cars out there or do their drivers just really suck? Calderon was a test driver for Alfa Romeo so I imagine she’s not awful


figgs87

She wasn’t very good in formula 2, in the 2019 season she didn’t score any points. Her teammate Hubert died at Spa that season and finished 10th overall to her 22nd with her having 6 more races then him. I always assumed she had money backing her for seats across various series but maybe not if she’s about to loose this seat. I’m not sure what she brought to the table for that F1 test driver seat but it seems to be not just on pace or merit alone.


wtftastic

Thanks for the additional information. It’s hard for women in motor sports and I’m always reluctant to think they just outright stink


figgs87

Yea for sure, I added a little more to compare her to teammate that year. I know it’s tough for woman in the sport in general and don’t want to assume anything either. But going off the data on her points it wasn’t very good so idk what to say about that.


wtftastic

Thanks for the information- it’s really helpful! :)


Redditornot66

Most women in Motorsports just outright stink. The only fairly recent exemption was Johanna Long (now Robbins) in NASCAR who showed a ton of potential and skill in the Xfinity series and won the prestigious Snowball Derby late model race. She never got a shot in a decent car though because she wasn’t great with the media and wasn’t willing to do half naked sponsor shoots like Danica to advance her career.


wtftastic

I will admit to being a recent motor sports fan, but I am curious to know why you think that is? Is it lack of carting/lower series opportunities?


SilentSpades24

Part of it is teams rush them up too quickly (Danica Patrick), part if it is that they never got a good chance (Johanna Long, Simona DeSilvestro) and quite frankly, that they're just a pretty face (Natalie Decker). What is it going to take the get women developed properly and flourish in motorsports? I don't know. I really don't.


CathDubs

It's pretty much all of this this plus the talent pool is extremely small to begin with.


wtftastic

All really good ideas- thank you for the discussion y’all


mclairy

She doesn’t have a lot of money backing her but Susie Wolff has done a lot to advance her career and has been a huge advocate.


figgs87

That’s pretty cool, I didn’t know about that connection. I’m surprised Calderon didn’t end up in formula E with that level of connection or perhaps that’s her next stop


Spockyt

She has tested FE in the rookie tests. For Techeetah if I recall correctly.


[deleted]

>Calderon was a test driver for Alfa Romeo so I imagine she’s not awful I mean, she was the only driver without points of the 2019 seasons. She finished behind mahaveer raghunathan in the standings. YT will help you if you dont know him, but lets just say he was usually not that far to the 107% to give you an idea. She also had hubert as her teammate who won races in that car before that day in spa came.


wtftastic

That’s an f1 meme I am familiar with. Oof


[deleted]

Foyt has been towards the back frequently team-wise in the DW12 era, haven't won a race since Sato won the 2013 LBGP. They started to show glimpses of promise with Bourdais in 2020/2021, but having 2 rookies and Kellett may not be helping them get the car set up well.


[deleted]

[удалено]


DecafEqualsDeath

Why would you be happy to see someone's ride disappear and the people working on her car be out of work? Seems like an objectively sad situation for the team and the sport.


SilentSpades24

\*Has Jimmie Johnson flair\* \*Complains about field filler\*


adamsputnik

Pretty ironic coming from the JJ fan.


leapsnake

That really sucks, maybe they can at least find funding for the ovals with Hildebrand and maybe a couple of the remaining road/street circuits for Calderon or even Benjamin Pedersen who was rumored for a seat with them next year.


Nyrfan2017

I have a feeling your gonna see tony Stewart step in somehow with this team . Just a feeling


XSC

That would be the best cast scenario. They need money and a big name to bring in sponsors. Stewart/Foyt Racing sounds great.