SILLY SEASON: Here’s Where IndyCar Team Driver Line-Ups Stand

1. Team Penske: Josef Newgarden, Will Power, Scott McLaughlin

Team Penske is the only team in the series that has kept its lineup the same from the previous year. In fact, Penske’s stable has been the same since 2022 with Josef Newgarden, Will Power, and Scott McLaughlin.

All three have been together with the team since 2020.

It is a time of prosperity for the team as a whole given their recent success in NASCAR with Ryan Blaney winning the Cup Series championship last season and Joey Logano the year before, not to mention Newgarden’s victory in the Indianapolis 500 in 2023.

“We’re really trying to leverage every person, every position that we have across motorsports to elevate the whole thing,” Newgarden said. “On our side, we won the Indianapolis 500, which had been a thorn for the last three, four years. There’s just a standard that we definitely live by, and you’ve got to love it.”

‘Winning two Cup championships back-to-back is very big. The 500 Championship last year, 500 this year in
IndyCar. The team certainly is firing on all cylinders. It’s pretty cool to be a part of it,” said Will Power.

2. Chip Ganassi Racing: Scott Dixon, Alex Palou, Marcus Armstrong, Linus Lundqvist, Kyffin Simpson

Chip Ganassi Racing has won three of the last four NTT IndyCar Series championships between Alex Palou and Scott Dixon. 

It has not come without some drama, especially given Palou’s legal troubles over the last two seasons regarding his relationship with McLaren. With that mostly settled, outside civil cases in UK courts over what McLaren says they are owed by Palou, CGR is as stable as they’ve ever been.

So stable, in fact, they are expanding the team to five full-time rides.

As mentioned Scott Dixon and Alex Palou form the base of the team, as Ganaasi brings in Marcus Armstrong to a full-time ride after running a road/street course program in 2023.

“I’ll be busier, which is good,” said Armstrong. “I thought it was probably a bit of a disadvantage not being able to get into a rhythm every single weekend (last year). Then again, it was great to be able to be at the track and watch the experts, the oval experts, and learn from them. But it’s nice to know that I’ll be able to get into more of a rhythm throughout the year.”

Linus Lundqvist and Kyffin Simpson are the two rookies coming into the fold with CGR. Lundqvist was the 2023 Indy NXT champion who entered 2023 without a full-time ride. He started a handful of races for Meyer Shank last season in relief for the injured Simon Pagenaud.

Simpson is elevated into the mixed from Indy NXT. He is also an accomplished IMSA SportsCar driver.

3. Arrow McLaren: Pato O’Ward, Alexander Rossi, David Malukas, Kyle Larson

Despite going through all of 2023 without a team victory, Pato O’Ward says Arrow McLaren had many small victories over the course of the year as they continue to build a championship-contending team.

O’Ward is back in the mix again with AMSP after finishing runner-up in the season championship without a win but scoring seven podium finishes.

Still rummaging through a winless streak dating back to the 2022 season with Andretti, Alexander Rossi is back with Arrow McLaren after a strong season scoring six top-five results.

New to the team this year is David Malukas who was knocking on the door of a breakout season with Dale Coyne last year.

“We are going for the top: podiums, wins. They are very competitive,” Malukas said of his new team. “As soon as we came in, met everybody. Everybody is treating me like family. Actually a lot of the people there too, I have known since go-karting. The transition has been great!”

Arrow McLaren will field a fourth car for the Indianapolis 500 for NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Larson who will attempt “The Double.” That effort is in a partnership with Hendrick Motorsports, which has been shepherded by the team’s chairman Jeff Gordon.

4. Andretti Global: Colton Herta, Marcus Ericcson, Kyle Kirkwood, Marco Andretti

Formerly Andretti Autosport, the rebrand to “Andretti Global” is also coming with a downsized line-up for the 2024 season for team owner Michael Andretti.

Going from four full-time cars to three with the departure of Romain Grosjean and Devlin DeFrancesco, Andretti is sticking with his tried and true lineup anchored by Colton Herta and Kyle Kirkwood.

However, he brings in some veteran leadership in 2022 Indy 500 champion Marcus Ericsson who makes the move over from Ganassi.

“It’s been easy to come into the team,” Ericsson said of the move. “It will be fun to have a bit of a more senior position, whatever you want to call it, at Andretti. And that’s one of the challenges that I’m excited about going into the season.”

Kirkwood was the lone team winner for Andretti last year getting to victory lane twice. He says the team’s decisions to downsize will pay dividends.

“I think it’s going to be a benefit,” he said. “To be honest, we haven’t changed the amount of people that are on the team, so us having a four-car personnel that was very sufficient and dropping it down to three cars and having the same people, if not more people, is great.”

Andretti looks to stay competitive despite many off-the-track issues such as arbitration when it comes to Grosjean’s exit from the team and its pursuit of a Formula One team.

Marco Andretti will also be back with the team for a one-off attempt to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 as he did a year ago in the No. 98 car. Andretti has a busy 2024 ahead as he will also compete in about 20 stock car races in the ARCA Menards Series and Craftsman Truck Series.

5. Ed Carpenter Racing: Rinus Veekay, Christian Rasmussen, Ed Carpenter

Ed Carpenter Racing was less than competitive a season ago scoring only two top-ten finishes among the four drivers that raced for the team throughout the year.

With the separation from Conor Daly after the Indy 500 and a temporary deal with Ryan Hunter-Reay in the rearview mirror, the team is sticking with some experience yet adding some young flavor to their roster.

Rinus Veekay returns to the mix having spent each of his first four seasons with ECR. But, team owner Ed Carpenter, who himself is again running an oval-only schedule, is bringing in young rookie Christian Rasmussen who is the reigning Indy NXT champion.

“Getting the opportunity with Ed Carpenter Racing is huge for me,” said Rasmussen. “I’m just looking forward to a season where there’s going to be a steep learning curve, a lot of new stuff for me, pit stops, different cars, different people to drive against. There’s a lot of new stuff coming my way, but I’m going to the task very humble and just going to try and do the best that I can.”

For Carpenter, this upcoming season is about staying on top of their goals while using the fresh perspective given to them by Ryah Hunter-Reay from the back half of the previous season. 

ECR has not won a race since the GMR grand Prix of 2021.

6. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing: Graham Rahal, Christian Lundgaard, Pietro Fittipaldi

Graham Rahal renewed his contract for a few more years with RLL during this off-season keeping his experience in place with the up-and-coming Christian Lundgaard who is now in his second full-time season in IndyCar.

Last season was one of steep ups and downs for the team who had a dismal start to the year unable to find any pace, especially in the Indianapolis 500 as all three full-time cars failed to make the Top 30 spots. Rahal was bumped from the field in his RLL car but ended up subbing in for the injured Stefan Wilson for Dreyer & Reinbold.

The team got it together for the most part after the 500 with Lundgaard getting a win at Toronto and Rahal snagging a couple of pole spots and a podium.

Hoping to bolster an upswing for the team will be Pietro Fittipaldi, who takes over the ride vacated by Jack Harvey from last season. He is the grandson of two-time Indy 500 winner Emerson Fittipaldi.

“It’s a big privilege to be part of this team, and as well to have a family that understands so much about racing,” said Fittipaldi. “I’ve always been in touch with a lot of the team owners, friendly, and I’ve been speaking to Bobby for many years, and the opportunity was there, and it worked for both of us.”

Fittipaldi has made starts in Indy in 2018 and 2021, but this will be his first full-time season in the series. In recent years he has served as a reserve driver for the Hass F1 team.

7. AJ Foyt Racing: Santino Ferrucci, Sting Ray Robb

AJ Foyt Racing is still one of those teams trying to elevate themselves back to being competitive. They showed flashes of that competitiveness as a two-car team in 2023 with Santino Ferrucci finishing third in the Indianapolis 500. Benjamin Pedersen was also quick at times making the Fast 9 in Indy 500 qualifying.

But, the duo failed to finish inside the top ten in every other event during the season.

Still, Ferrucci’s efforts kept Foyt in the Leader’s Circle and with that earned him a return to the Foyt stable for 2024. He says it is his “intention” to run the full season but that it ultimately comes down to sponsorship.

Pedersen is not returning to the lineup for Foyt for reasons that have yet to become public. Taking his seat will be Sting Ray Robb, who is back in the series full-time after spending his rookie year with Dale Coyne.

AJ Foyt Racing has not won a race since Takuma Sato won at Long Beach in 2013.

The team believes what will help them along is a new technical partnership with Team Penske facilitated by Chevrolet. 

“Being able to have A.J. on the stand and working with a team like Penske in the background is definitely unique,” Ferrucci said. “Obviously our 500 program now working with a powerhouse like Penske — we were already really good. But I think with all of us working together, we can put five cars out there that are hopefully untouchable.”

8. Meyer Shank Racing: Felix Rosenqvist, Tom Blomqvist, Helio Castroneves

It’s a time of change for Meyer Shank Racing who are moving into an era where they are firmly established in the NTT IndyCar Series. 

Helping usher them into the next phase of growth in the series is Helio Castroneves, who is stepping aside for good from full-time racing and is taking on a leadership role within the team as a part owner.

He will still plan to race in the Indianapolis 500 as he tries to make room for a fifth “Baby Borg” in his trophy case.

With that, the team is relying on sports car ace Tom Blomqvist and veteran Felix Rosenqvist to carry the torch as Castroneves and Simon Pagenaud step aside.

“Tom and Felix, they’re already set, which is what Simon and I were able to build up from ’22 and ’23,” Caastroneves said. “Great to learn this new aspect of going from inside and understanding what we need to be doing to become faster and faster.”

Blomqvist started two races in 2023 in relief for the injured Pagenaud and Rosenqvist made the move to MSR after spending two seasons with Arrow McLaren. He had two podium finishes with AMSP last season.

9. Juncos Hollinger Racing: Agustin Canapino, Romain Grosjean

Juncos Hollinger Racing is still the youngest full-time team in the IndyCar paddock and as such is still getting its feet beneath them, but the team made excellent strides in 2023.

Bringing in Argentinian driver Agustin Canapino, an accomplished champion in racing in his home country, 2023 was a learning year for him in a brand new country and brand new series. 

He is now thrust into the senior leadership role on the team with the exit of Callum Ilott from last year.

“I am really excited, especially by the way we finished the season, because we were battling for a podium on the last race,” said Canapino. “We did really good moments during the year. We achieved decent results for our first season in IndyCar. We entered the Leader’s Circle with the two cars.”

Losing Ilott, who is now back in Europe driving sportscars for Porsche, means Juncos had to make a move in its other seat and have brought in some sandpaper in Romain Grosjean.

After a less-than-friendly exit from Andretti, Grosjean is hoping to start fresh with Juncos as he has shown promise since making the move from Formula One to IndyCar four years ago.

“I’m excited to see what we can do together,” Grosjean said. “I’m realistic of where we are and what we need to do. But it’s IndyCar, and everything can happen on track. We’ll make sure that we seize every opportunity that we can.”

Grosjean will also be pulling some double-duty this year having signed a new deal with Lamborgini as a GTP and LMDH sports car driver in the World Endurance Championship.

10. Abel Motorsports: RC Enerson

Abel is still working towards getting a deal done for an entry into the Indianapolis 500. The deal is contingent on driver RC Enerson being able to find a primary sponsor for the team.

“The goal is to be back again. We had so much fun last year, and I think we had a really good performance for a new team,” said Enerson. “Hopefully this year the goal is to be more prepared, and now that we’ve done it, it’s just doing it again.”

Looking at the future, Enerson said the team’s plans to go beyond the Indy 500 depend on several things given the team’s limited funding, but also focusing on the full plate with its Indy NXT program.

11. Dale Coyne Racing: Jack Harvey, Nolan Siegel, Colin Braun

Less than a week before the start of the IndyCar season in St. Petersburg, Dale Coyne Racing has finally announced who will be driving their entries for the 2024 season.

The team says Jack Harvey, Nolan Siegel, and Colin Braun will make up the Coyne stable for the upcoming season.

Harvey comes to the team after being let go by Rahal-Letterman-Lanigan at the end of last season. He will “share” a ride in the No. 18 car with Nolan Siegel.

Harvey gets 14 races and Siegel gets three. Siegel will also pilot the car for the Indianapolis 500.

Joining them in the stable is Colin Braun, who will drive the No. 51 car partnered with Rick Ware Racing. This will be Braun’s first taste of racing without fenders.

He comes to IndyCar after racing for the last decade in the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Series. Before that he raced in a handful of events in NASCAR.

Also in the mix is Katherine Legge, who will drive the No. 51-car for Coyne as she will attempt to qualify for the Indy 500 again this year.

12. Dreyer & Reinbold Racing: Ryan Hunter-Reay, Conor Daly

Dreyer & Reinbold Racing will once again only have a on-off appearance in the Indianapolis 500.

DRR will also once again be bringing back Ryan Hunter-Reay in the #23-car, which he piloted in the race a year ago to an 11th-place finish.

“It has been an absolute pleasure to work with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing since joining them in 2023,” Hunter-Reay said. “I’m thrilled to be back and ready to build on where we left off last year. We had a very strong showing at the 500 last year and if it were not for a failed front wing adjuster early in the race, I truly feel we would have been fighting in the Top-5 to the finish.”

RHR ran the “500” with DRR, but ended up finishing the season at Ed Carpenter Racing after ECR parted ways with Conor Daly.

Oddly enough, Daly will be joining RHR in the DRR stable in 2024 as he will look to qualify for the Indy 500 for the 11th different team in his career.

“When Dennis (Reinbold) first called me, he told me he believed I could win the Indy 500 and all he wanted going into 2024 was the best chance to win as a team. As a driver, what more could you want,” Daly said. “I’m extremely thankful for the belief that Dennis has in me and the chance to drive one of his cars at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway,”

Both entries will have support from Cusick Motorsports as well, who helped get Stefan Wilson’s entry off the ground at the last minute in 2023. Wilson ended up missing the race due to an injury suffered in a practice crash. Graham Rahal subbed in for him.