IndyCar Silly Season Fails to Break Up the Big 2

Alex Palou’s second straight IndyCar Series championship adds another line to a remarkable sequence.

In the past 12 years, the only IndyCar teams with seasonal championships are Chip Ganassi Racing (with seven) and Team Penske (with five). Even beyond those numbers, there’s more: In the past 17 seasons, 16 titles have been won by either CGR or Penske. The lone exception occurred in 2012, when Ryan Hunter-Reay won for the Andretti team.

Can any team break through this seemingly solid Ganassi-Penske wall in 2025?

The logical answer, looking at the numbers across much of the past two decades, is no. There is no reason to expect the sport’s top two teams to lose strength from now until the March beginning of the 2025 schedule.

But other teams showed flashes of excellence in 2024, creating a bit of optimism that the race for next year’s championship could be somewhat more crowded.

Colton Herta won twice for Andretti Global this season, his victory in the season finale boosting him to second in seasonal points behind Palou. And Pato O’Ward finished fifth in points for Arrow McLaren after winning three times and posting a stellar season despite the crushing disappointment of finishing a close second to Josef Newgarden in the Indianapolis 500.

Herta returns to the Andretti team for 2025, and O’Ward will be back with McLaren.

McLaren’s run through 2025 will be watched closely as the team’s full-time drivers—Christian Lundgaard (arriving from Rahal Letterman Lanigan), Nolan Siegel and O’Ward—will be joined by NASCAR invader Kyle Larson for the Indy 500. Larson had a strong run in the 500 this year and will be attempting the Indy-Charlotte double for the second time after rain in Indy spoiled his first effort.

Kyle Kirkwood and Marcus Ericsson are expected to return to Andretti Global with Herta.

The Team Penske lineup remains solid for next season with Scott McLaughlin, Newgarden and Power—all winners in 2024—back in the fold.

Palou returns to Ganassi seeking his fourth championship in five seasons, and veteran Scott Dixon is expected back for another year with CGR.

Elsewhere:

• Santino Ferrucci and David Malukas will drive for A.J. Foyt Racing next season

• Meyer Shank Racing has sealed its lineup with Marcus Armstrong and Felix Rosenqvist.

• Prema Racing will make its series debut with Callum Ilott and a second driver to be named.

With months before IndyCar powers engines again, lineups for more than a few teams remain undecided.

• Graham Rahal will return to the Rahal Letterman Lanigan family team, but other RLL drivers haven’t been named.

• Dale Coyne Racing used nine drivers across the 2024 season but hopes to have more “regulars” in 2025.

• Ed Carpenter Racing has been in talks with Rinus VeeKay and Christian Rasmussen.

• Conor Daly has been in discussions with Juncos Hollinger Racing after boosting that team’s standing with solid late-season runs.

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