Yahoo Autos IndyCar silly season update, August 2
It’s been a whirlwind IndyCar silly season, and while we’re down for a few weeks with the Olympic break, it’s worth running through the latest state of affairs to catch up on which teams are solid for 2025, which programs are in transition, and where some of the never-ending rumors fall on the scale of true or false. (A hint: most are dead wrong.)
A.J. FOYT RACING
Team leader Larry Foyt told us in our last update that both seats are available and talks of continuing with Santino Ferrucci and Sting Ray Robb were taking place. That update also happened before Ferrucci moved the No. 14 Chevy into the top 10 in the championship, which is a big deal for the team in its first full season of the technical alliance it forged with Team Penske.
Keeping Ferrucci, who should be commanding more interest from other teams, is a no-brainer. He’s also been vocal in wanting to stay. Robb has been better in his second season, which isn’t a surprise, but he’s also ranked last in the standings among the 21 drivers who’ve contested every race. The team continues to need a significant infusion of cash, so if Robb is able to produce another sizable sponsorship package, and soon, I’d expect him to return.
With the Penske relationship in mind, the arrival of a similarly funded, but faster driver would give Robb competition to retain the No. 41 car. Using Ferrucci’s pace and results in the No. 14 as a guide, the for-hire No. 41 should attract funded drivers before some of the other seats that can be acquired.
With his sophomore improvements to consider, Robb has been faster and more consistent, but it’s been modest in turning last year’s 20ths at Dale Coyne into 17ths or so at Foyt. Better, but not enough to prevent the team from seeing if someone else with money is out there who could run closer to Ferrucci.
Look to the last four race weekends as an opportunity for Robb to show to deserves to keep the seat.
ANDRETTI GLOBAL
Andretti Global is set with its three drivers. Colton Herta, Kyle Kirkwood and Marcus Ericsson are signed through at least 2025. But there’s more to explore.
There’s been an ongoing rumor involving Andretti leaving Honda, its engine supplier since 2014, for Chevy, which powered the team to its last IndyCar championship in 2012. This would be done to align with General Motors’ engine supply in Andretti’s desired Formula 1 team and WTRAndretti’s move from fielding Acura’s factory IMSA GTP program to running GM’s factory Cadillac GTP effort in 2025.
I’ve been told the team’s IndyCar contract with Honda goes through 2025, which would be the first issue to consider in the supposed change. Chevy, which has a completely full supply roster for 2025 after signing PREMA — which is using the last two full-season leases it had to offer — is the second issue.
If Andretti were to buy its way out of its Honda contract, that would still leave Chevy with valid supply contracts with A.J. Foyt Racing, Arrow McLaren, Ed Carpenter Racing, Juncos Hollinger Racing, PREMA and Team Penske, and a need to offer three new full-season motor programs to Andretti that don’t exist.
Engine contracts could come into play. Michael Levitt/Motorsport Images
I know driver contracts are almost worthless in IndyCar, but that’s not the case with contracts between major automotive companies and racing teams. Chevy isn’t calling to break up with Foyt, Carpenter, or anyone else with an enforceable contract to onboard Andretti, and those are two-car teams. The only three-car teams to fit the Andretti need are Arrow McLaren and Team Penske, its two best squads, and I’m confident saying Zak Brown and Roger Penske aren’t about to be ghosted by the bowtie.
I asked Andretti COO Rob Edwards about the leaving-for-Chevy rumor, and here’s what he told RACER: “I think that’s a popular question because of all of the F1 conversations, but no, we have a Honda agreement. We’re very happy working with Honda. Been a great partnership. There are no plans whatsoever to make a change.”
Everything I’ve listed here involves no change for 2025. Whether a change might happen after Andretti’s Honda contract is completed leading into 2026 is an entirely different matter.
Another rumor I’ve been hearing over the last four to six weeks is related to Andretti’s Indy NXT program and the possibility of fielding an IndyCar entry for its NXT race winner Jamie Chadwick, who will get her first IndyCar run with Andretti in September.
Specifically, and with the IndyCar team’s intentional shrinking from four entries to three for 2024 to improve its performance, I’ve heard discussions have been held about putting together a satellite program for Chadwick as early as 2025, but more likely for 2026, to be run by Bryan Herta Autosport. This would keep Andretti’s three-car operation intact under the main tent while holding onto a prized talent through a trusted partner with Herta under BHA’s tent.
To that, Edwards said, “Lots of things getting talked about right now. The focus is on the three cars. It’s definitely been a step in the right direction this year, hasn’t it?”
The last item of immediate interest is the rumored split meant to happen between Andretti Technologies and Meyer Shank Racing after the season concludes. Beyond giving its info to make fast MSR cars, Andretti also supplies MSR with personnel who form the engineering groups for its Nos. 60 and 66 cars.
“The relationship with Meyer Shank has been a good relationship,” Edwards said. “We enjoy working with Mike and Jim, and we’ll have to see what happens with that relationship and anything else in due course.”
ARROW McLAREN
Arrow McLaren is set with its three drivers. Pato O’Ward, the incoming Christian Lundgaard and Nolan Siegel are signed through 2025, at a minimum.
The only business to be resolved is with the outgoing Alexander Rossi and where he will drive in his 10th IndyCar season. I’m told he hasn’t, despite frequent rumors or assertions to the contrary, signed elsewhere.
CHIP GANASSI RACING
If you’re a fan of Chip Ganassi Racing, be prepared for a smaller team to return next year, one that looks a lot like it did in 2020, which was the last time it ran three cars. IndyCar’s upcoming charter system will have a negative significant impact on the defending champions due to the charter, and the charter alone.
At five full-time entries today, the charter’s structure — where a maximum of three cars per team will be issued charters to protect those three entries and guarantee their places on the starting grid at every race, except for the Indianapolis 500 — makes it unfavorable to field more than the three guarantees. And that means changes are on the way for the series’ largest team.
Penske Entertainment is expected to offer 25 total charters, and the charter structure also has a cap of 27 cars per race, outside of the 500. That means bumping from St. Petersburg through Nashville would become a new reality if 28 or more cars appear and any race outside of Indianapolis.
Those 25 charter cars will be locked into take part in each race, minus Indy, and with that 27-car grid cap, two of Ganassi’s current five would be exposed and left to try and qualify for the two open spots for non-charter entries.
Factor in the new PREMA Racing team and its two non-charter cars, and if Ganassi stayed at five, that would mean four drivers would be routinely fighting to take the two available grid spots, and two would be sent home.
Although Ganassi would likely win most of those qualifying battles at Barber and Mid-Ohio and Iowa and wherever else, seeing a DNQ listed next to one or two Ganassi drivers on occasion because of the charter situation is not welcome.
Of its five entries, Scott Dixon in the No. 9 Honda and Alex Palou in the No. 10 Honda are the obvious recipients of Ganassi’s first two charters. So where would the third be applied? The No. 8 Honda, currently driven by Linus Lundqvist, since the charter invitation list is based on the 2023 entrants’ championship standings, and the No. 8 was Ganassi’s third-best performer with Ericsson.
It means the Nos. 8, 9 and 10 are in, and using that top-3-from-2023-entrants-points criteria, the new No. 4 driven by Kyffin Simpson and the newish No. 11 driven by Marcus Armstrong are unprotected.
So does that mean Lundqvist will be driving the protected No. 8 next year? It does not.
Charters are only part of the uncertainty surrounding Linus Lundqvist’s future in Chip Ganassi Racing’s No. 8. Josh Tons / LAT Images
Nothing has been confirmed by the team, but Simpson, whose family provides critical financial support to the program, is expected to drive the third charter entry. Whether that entry keeps the same No. 8 or changes to the No. 4 is unknown, but as we wrote on the topic months ago, there’s no way a driver as important as Simpson will be kept in an unprotected, non-charter entry.
Would that make Lundqvist one-and-done at Ganassi? And what about Armstrong?
The odds are not looking good for the 2022 Indy NXT champion from Sweden or the Formula 2 standout from New Zealand to continue with the team, all due to the charter. It’s possible the team could hold onto a fourth, unprotected entry, but I’ve yet to hear from any of today’s drivers who welcome the prospect of having to bump their way into every race. Armstrong is said to bring about half of a season-long budget, which would be of interest to a few teams. Lundqvist does not have funding to offer.
Armstrong, who holds 14th in the drivers’ championship, has done well for the team with three top 5s. Lundqvist’s rookie season has been decent most of the time, and exceptional in short bursts, but the increasing flashes of brilliance Ganassi saw last year when he was at Meyer Shank Racing have been sporadic. Ganassi’s expectations for hired drivers — even rookies — are always high.
Even without the charter system causing a shakeup, I’ve been concerned for Lundqvist’s place within the team, so I won’t be alarmed if he’s cast among the free agents once the downsizing begins. The last five races will be critical for Lundqvist to re-energize his name and stock value in the paddock. Armstrong, I suspect, would have an easier time continuing in the series, and I hope both drivers are here next year.
Just as Ganassi is looking for new opportunities in IMSA to keep its ace sports car team together in 2025 and beyond after its Cadillac GTP program moves to WTRAndretti, we should apply the same talent-preservation mindset to its culling of IndyCar entries.
Separate from rumors of Ganassi looking at a return to Indy NXT to place some of its IndyCar personnel, the rumored technical alliance with Meyer Shank Racing fits nicely with the impending need to repurpose some of its staff. We’ll delve into the MSR side below, but this is definitely another case of “don’t be surprised” if an alliance is confirmed.
DALE COYNE RACING
Dale Coyne Racing does not have drivers signed for its Nos. 18 and 51 Hondas and is expected to be an active player in the silly season as the best-known team with two wide-open seats available for hire.
ED CARPENTER RACING
Let’s continue the rumor game with the one involving Ed Carpenter Racing. Is the team for sale?
“No, we are not,” said ECR team president Tim Broyles.
The team has two seats to sort out with free agent Rinus VeeKay and impressive rookie Christian Rasmussen. As always, it’s a case of funding, and the team is rarely the first to announce its lineup, so unlike some of its rivals, I don’t foresee ECR rushing into the process because it’s not their style.
Could VeeKay be on the short list at Meyer Shank? That would make sense; MSR was highly interested in him at this time last year. I’d also look to PREMA and Rahal Letterman Lanigan as suitors for the speedy Dutchman. The same market doesn’t exist as of now for Rasmussen, but if the team loses VeeKay, it has a strong replacement with the Dane and others who would want to get into one of their cars.
An outlier to consider with ECR is its signing of Indy NXT driver Josh Pierson to a development contract a few years ago. There was no specific timeline stated for when Pierson, who brings a budget, would move to IndyCar with ECR, and as he currently holds 12th in the NXT standings and seeks his first top-5 finish, another season of NXT education for the 18-year-old would appear to be the wisest decision to make.
JUNCOS HOLLINGER RACING
There’s been a rumor in motion for a few months about Ricardo Juncos trying to sell a stake in the team he co-owns with Brad Hollinger.
“I heard the same thing, but it’s just rumors, people trying to do some damage,” Juncos said. “There is some interest, of course; there is a lot of people interested in IndyCar and trying to do something, but that does not mean we are the one looking to do it. Nothing is from me as well, and I don’t think Brad is, because we are on the same page. So we looking for sponsors, that’s for sure, but not to sell anything.”
The team’s sponsorship plight, which dates back to 2023, is the biggest influence on where the team could be headed. Agustin Canapino was looking like he’d be done after his rookie season due to the lack of funding to continue in the No. 78 Chevy. Hollinger was gracious enough to support a continuation with the Argentinian — who Juncos dreamed of bringing to IndyCar — but the situation with securing real sponsors to pay for the No. 78 has not improved.
And with the No. 78 enduring a rough June and July where a series of bad results has the car sitting outside the cutoff line to earn a $1 million Leaders Circle contract for 2025, there’s an even greater reason to worry about Canapino’s future in IndyCar. Conor Daly stepped in to test in Canapino’s place at World Wide Technology Raceway on Thursday, and the team declined to comment on the reason why.
The team has an option on Romain Grosjean with the No. 77, and he is Hollinger’s driver in the same way Canapino is Juncos’s driver. The No. 77’s sidepods have been just as bare as the No. 78’s, but as the team’s bank, it would be a surprise to see Hollinger’s driver yanked in favor of someone next season. And, money aside, the Swiss-born Frenchman and the team’s exceedingly good engineering group have found a solid groove to maintain.
Grosjean’s run with four top-10 finishes in the last six races is the team’s best string of results since it arrived in IndyCar, so assuming Hollinger is good to keep Grosjean going in the No. 77, there’s more to offer from its team leader in Year 2.
It’s a complicated picture at Juncos Hollinger Racing. Brett Farmer/Motorsport Images
The No. 78 is the obvious entry to ponder in the near-term. Not missing out on that $1 million Leaders Circle is critical. After that, a windfall of external money would also do wonders for the situation, but since that didn’t happen last season, or this year, taking a paying driver could be inevitable as the team looks to the future.
Former Andretti Global driver Devlin DeFrancesco, whose businessman father Andy DeFrancesco used his companies and business-to-business deals to fund his son’s time with Andretti on the Road to Indy and IndyCar, has been working behind the scenes for the better part of a year to establish a team of his own to run Devlin.
With the engine supply issues in mind where Chevy and Honda aren’t interested in supporting single-car efforts and also have nothing left to offer, the conversation turned a while ago to searching for co-entry options among the existing teams. And while Juncos Hollinger Racing isn’t the only team to hold talks with DeFrancesco, JHR is the primary team I continue to hear mentioned as where a DeFrancesco-led investment would fall.
The possibility of Grosjean and DeFrancesco, former teammates at Andretti, being reunited at JHR, with a new wave of sponsorship through a possible co-entry arrangement with the No. 78, is definitely on my radar. They’ve been talking, but whether that talk turns into signatures on a contract and wiring of funds is to be determined. Again, if ever there was a time for millions of dollars to magically appear in the team’s bank account, it’s now.
If it doesn’t, JHR should not have a hard time inking one of the numerous IndyCar, Indy NXT, or Formula 2 drivers with solid budgets who are searching for a way into the series.
MEYER SHANK RACING
Is Meyer Shank Racing heading for an expansion to three cars? That’s another lingering rumor.
“Anybody who’s saying that is wrong. We’re not running a third car,” Mike Shank told RACER. “The 66 seat’s wide open. We’re very happy with David [Malukas] and would like him to stay, but he’s got to decide what he wants to do.”
Shank and Jim Meyer have Felix Rosenqvist returning to the No. 60 Honda, and nobody attached to what should be the most sought-after seat on the market with the No. 66, which Malukas is only signed to drive through September.
Since Malukas returned from his hand injury and has blown everybody away, his stock has shot through the roof. He’s known to have received at least one competing offer to drive somewhere else, and it’s said to be for a healthy sum. Is that PREMA or RLL? Both would make sense.
It means any thoughts of an automatic continuation with FRO-MAL at MSR in 2025 have been forgotten since others also want the young American. But the landscape is expected to change at MSR with the anticipated switch in technical service providers, and that should alter how Malukas approaches free agency.
About a year ago, MSR was rumored to be looking at two directions to take with its ongoing technical partnership with Andretti Technologies, which supplies race engineers, dampers, setup data, simulation data and onboard data to the team.
Following 2024, MSR was said to be considering a shift at the end of its contract with Andretti where it would hire and develop its own in-house engineering group, thereby breaking the long-held reliance on using external engineering support. The other supposed direction was to continue working within a technical alliance, and to see what options existed to go forward. MSR used Arrow McLaren (under its former Schmidt Peterson Motorsports banner) before shifting to Andretti, so the idea of making inquiries to other teams in the paddock regarding technical partnerships was by no means new.
Andretti’s rise in competitiveness this season has been reflected in the complementary rise by MSR, which would have made signing an extension a worthwhile proposition, but then the charter system made its presence felt at the one Honda-powered team that’s better than Andretti.
Facing a need to cut one or more cars from its lineup, and with that impetus to keep as many of its team members on the payroll as possible after the downsizing, a newfound willingness by Ganassi to take on a technical alliance was found. Would it have been possible for an alliance to happen if Ganassi was staying at five cars? Doubtful.
So that’s where Malukas, in a MSR+Andretti relationship today, would be wise to consider how a MSR+Ganassi car, with engineering debriefs alongside Dixon and Palou — and access to all of their data — would be something to embrace.
And like the note about Foyt’s second car being viewed as a pathway to drive the closest thing to a full Penske car, MSR’s second, with engineering and the rest that would come from the team that’s won three of the last four championships, would be a game-changer in the paddock. Whatever amount of interest Meyer and Shank had beforehand with the No. 66 should skyrocket.
Among the other rumors, one has been peddled about MSR taking one of Ganassi’s drivers — Armstrong has been the key name mentioned — as a condition of the alliance and I’ve been told that’s also false. But, considering his potential and ability to bring some of a budget, I’d expect Armstrong to be in the mix for the seat. He’s a good driver, well-liked, and could be a good fit next to Rosenqvist, who Ganassi never wanted to lose.
Lundqvist also comes to mind as a budding talent to add to the No. 66’s short list, but I do wonder if his choice to leave MSR after a few standout performances in 2023 to go to Ganassi would temper MSR’s enthusiasm for a reunion. If it isn’t Malukas in the car, Theo Pourchaire would be one to track because he’s piqued the interest of both teams.
Throw in a VeeKay, lots of Indy NXT drivers, plus F1 and F2 drivers who’ve reached out to the teams with unsettled seats, and MSR will go from hoping to hold onto Malukas to choosing from an embarrassment of driver riches.
Malukas quickly found a comfortable home at Meyer Shank Racing, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he will be there for the long term. Perry Nelson/Motorsport Images
One last thought: Andretti is responsible for a solid amount of MSR’s overall improvement on the racetrack, but the untold part of the story is found with the men and women who already work for MSR. And within that group, the influence MSR’s IMSA crew — the ones Meyer and Shank kept while looking for and eventually finding a new GTP program in 2025 — has had on the IndyCar team cannot be overestimated.
With that added layer of hardcore endurance racing knowledge on loan for the season, MSR’s cars have been more reliable and more consistent. And with a two-car factory Acura GTP effort to run next year, that layer of IMSA talent will be heading back to sports cars. This is yet another area where a Ganassi alliance could be beneficial, thanks to the quality personnel it will want to hold onto and place wherever they can be used.
PREMA RACING
There isn’t much to report that’s new with IndyCar’s incoming 11th full-time team. We revealed the Indiana-based Italian outfit has purchased five new Dallaras and is building out a grand shop to house its program, and it has great options to choose from on the driver front (take all of the names you can think of, and they’ve contacted or been contacted by PREMA). But big decisions on who will pilot the cars await resolution.
The most interesting angle related to PREMA is with the charter system, the 27-car grid limit, and how the (still unconfirmed) changes at Ganassi should favor the team. PREMA has been active all year in its hunt for a team to sell its charters, and that effort has not slowed down as I know of at least one recent inquiry was made about buying a team to gain ownership of its charters.
And while owning charters and having grid protection for its two cars would be a priority if the full-season grid is larger than 27 cars, the anticipated entry reduction at Ganassi has the potential to put the pin back in the qualifying hand grenade.
Where two non-charter Ganassis and two non-charter PREMAs were expected to fight over the two grid spots made available, the likely loss of one or two unprotected Ganassi cars would bring the entry list from 29 down to 28 or 27. Assuming that happens, a three-car Ganassi squad takes PREMA out of the danger zone, maintains the 27-car full-season grid IndyCar’s had since 2023, and bumping at Long Beach and Milwaukee and all the other regular races wouldn’t be required.
Granted, if a team wanted to enter an extra car at wherever and the entry list grew to 28, PREMA would be at risk of having one DNQ, provided it doesn’t find a team that’s willing to sell charters or the entire team as a whole before the new season kicks off.
So, has the whole charter/bumping crisis been averted? Not until Ganassi declares its plans, but the prospects are encouraging. If and how that might change PREMA’s aggressive pursuit of charters is unknown.
RAHAL LETTERMAN LANIGAN RACING
Of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s current trio, only Graham Rahal is signed to return in 2025. Christian Lundgaard is off to Arrow McLaren in six weeks and the team’s newest driver, Pietro Fittipaldi, has struggled to thrive and sits 19th in the championships, two points and one position ahead of unheralded Ganassi rookie Kyffin Simpson.
RLL has one guaranteed vacancy to fill with Lundgaard’s No. 45 Honda, and barring a sudden change of form, a change in the No. 30 Honda driven by Fittipaldi wouldn’t come as a surprise. RLL tested Formula 2 front-runner Zane Maloney on Thursday and is believed to have made a solid offer to Malukas. Alexander Rossi would be a perfect fit for the team, and Juri Vips, who is under contract at RLL, has Bobby Rahal as one of his biggest fans.
Whether it’s sorting through a bunch of great candidates to backfill Lundgaard’s seat, or a wider hunt to secure new pilots for the Nos. 45 and 30 — with the No. 30 being one that comes with a need for a driver to bring a budget — RLL is fielding plenty of calls and is a significant player in the market. It’s too soon to say who will join Graham Rahal alongside the No. 15 Honda, but RLL is taking an aggressive approach to the process, which is encouraging.
TEAM PENSKE
Team Penske is set with its three drivers. Will Power, Scott McLaughlin and Josef Newgarden are signed through 2025, at a minimum.
Talk last year of farming Penske-affiliated Myles Rowe out to A.J. Foyt Racing as part of their technical alliance — if things went well for Rowe in Indy NXT this year — is a topic left to explore. Rowe’s NXT debut has been solid, but he needs another season of development before a Penske-Foyt entry for the Indy 500 (or more) is warranted.
IN CLOSING…
Jack Harvey. Theo Pourchaire. Logan Sargeant. Jacob Abel. Katherine Legge. Louis Foster. Toby Sowery. Nico Varrone. Hunter McElrea. Zane Maloney. James Roe. Among those who’ve done partial seasons, one-offs, or are trying to find their way into IndyCar, the list is long.
And once some of the full-time question marks like Rossi, VeeKay, Robb, Lundqvist, Fittipaldi, Rasmussen, Canapino and so on are factored in, there’s truly no shortage of talent, in some cases, funding, in other cases, and in the rarest combination, a few who have talent and funding to offer.
A.J. Foyt, Chip Ganassi, Dale Coyne, Ed Carpenter, Juncos Hollinger, Meyer Shank, PREMA, and RLL — that’s eight of the 11 full-season teams in 2025 — either have drivers to re-sign, new drivers to find, or drivers to shed. I can’t recall the last time there was so much uncertainty and unfinished business. At this late stage of the season, only a handful of decisions are normally left to be made.
Only Andretti, McLaren and Penske are solid and confirmed with their next rosters. That’s just nine known drivers out of the 27 expected to be on the grid at St. Petersburg in May. The silly season is a long way from being over.
