Here's a Road Map To Help Navigate a Busy IndyCar Silly Season

It may be called Silly Season, but where many NTT IndyCar Series drivers will ultimately wind up next year is nothing to laugh about.

Frankly, IndyCar could see more drivers change teams from this season to next than we’ve seen in a decade or more. We’re not just talking one or two or three drivers. Rather, we could see as many as a dozen drivers change teams, retire (some not necessarily by choice), or some may be left without a new home after leaving their current teams.

When next season begins, to borrow an old baseball adage, you won’t be able to tell the players without a scorecard or program.

Let’s break down who will be doing what or going where—or not:

Drivers That Aren’t Going Anywhere

Alexander Rossi, Helio Castroneves (the defending Indianapolis 500 winner moves to a full-time ride from a part-time role with Meyer Shank Racing), Will Power, Scott McLaughlin, Josef Newgarden, Alex Palou, Scott Dixon, Felix Rosenqvist, Colton Herta, Pato O’Ward, Graham Rahal, Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter (will once again run only oval races, potentially for the last season of his career), Tony Kanaan (is expected to remain in a part-time role; he’s also the oldest driver in the series at 46 years old) and Jimmie Johnson (although he won’t make a decision whether he’ll run a full-time campaign until after next month’s big test at Indianapolis).

The Question Marks

• Takuma Sato: The two-time Indianapolis 500 winner is one of the biggest question marks. He may still re-sign with Rahal Letterman Lanigan, or move to another team (Dale Coyne Racing is rumored to be very interested), or at the age of 44—the second-oldest full-time driver in the series—Sato may just retire back to his native Japan. That being said, however, Sato is an exceptional ambassador for Honda and even though he’s had tough luck this season, he likely has at least one more good year in him. It’s just a question of where that year will be spent, but undoubtedly it will be with a Honda team.

• Simon Pagenaud: There have been numerous rumors that Pagenaud will be released by Team Penske after the current season, potentially moving on to be reunited with former teammate Helio Castroneves at Meyer Shank Racing. To that, I say, “Nay, nay.” I think Pagenaud has one more year at least with the Penske camp. After all, if the 2016 IndyCar champ does lose his ride, who is really out there that potentially would be an improvement over the friendly Frenchman? Not many.