By Josh Farmer, IndyCar Reporter
Age: 25
Years in IndyCar: 3
Wins: 1
Podiums: 7
Poles: 1
Career Laps led: 87
2016 Team: Andretti Autosport
2017 Team: AJ Foyt Racing
Carlos Munoz will be starting the next chapter of his Verizon IndyCar Series career as he moves on to AJ Foyt Racing for the 2017 season.
He ended his tenure at Andretti Autosport on a passable note by finishing ahead of his teammates and 10th in the championship standings.
The 25-year-old Columbian finished second at Indianapolis 500 for the second time, but in doing so suffered a bitter defeat. He was forced to pit for fuel with less than five laps to go while leading the race. Meanwhile, teammate Alexander Rossi was good to the last drop and pulled off an upset win.
He shined on the remaining ovals as he claimed a seventh place at Pocono and a seventh at Texas after winning his first career pole at the 1.45 mile oval in June. Another high point was a charge through the field from 15th to third at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
An area where he struggled was qualifying – his qualifying average was 11.9 and started outside the top ten a staggering 10 times. His low starting spots made racing to the front a challenge.
Moving on to AJ Foyt Racing, there is a good reason to believe that Munoz can carry the team to the front.
Several flashes of greatness show that Munoz has the talent to do well, he just needs to improve on consistency. If he can step up his qualifying game, he would be a threat to win on a regular basis.
Both driver and team are facing an adjustment to the Chevrolet aero kit, after running the Honda for the last two years. The team made a big hire in former IndyCar technical director Will Phillips to oversee the team’s engineering program.
Taper that off with up and coming teammate Conor Daly, 2017 could be the year that AJ Foyt Racing really turns things around.
