IndyCar has seen a flurry of moves since the August 31 season finale at Nashville Speedway, and there’s more movement on the way.
Will Power set things in motion by leaving Team Penske, and next it was Colton Herta, who departed Andretti Global’s IndyCar team to become Cadillac Formula 1’s test driver and was later confirmed for an F2 program. Power closed the busy post-Nashville loop by being confirmed as Herta’s Andretti replacement.
IndyCar cleared the runway last weekend to confirm Mexico City won’t be happening next year, which set up Tuesday’s surfacing of the 2026 calendar, and Team Penske waited two additional days before confirming David Malukas as Power’s replacement.
And now we’re on the clock for the remaining seats to be filled, so let’s look through the paddock and document what’s left and brewing before the 2026 grid is locked into place.
AJ FOYT RACING: Unresolved.
No. 4 Chevy, TBD; No. 14 Chevy, Santino Ferrucci
Notes: With Malukas confirmed at Penske, Foyt’s second entry is the most coveted seat on the market, and despite hearing positive things about Rinus VeeKay (main image) being on his way to the Penske-affiliated program, I’ve had confirmation it isn’t happening.
That means the team continues to search for its next driver to pair with Ferrucci, and among the options, former Dale Coyne Racing driver Jacob Abel is said to be a candidate. Fellow free agent Conor Daly is also known to be in the conversation.
A budget is needed to put the No. 4 Chevy on the grid, so for now — or at least until the team finds its own sponsorship to hire a driver — the driver who replaces Malukas and the Penske budget that put him in the car will need to make a significant contribution to the operating costs.
ANDRETTI GLOBAL: Roster complete.
No. 26 Honda, Will Power; No. 27 Honda, Kyle Kirkwood; No. 28 Honda, Marcus Ericsson
Notes: All three drivers are signed for 2026, but with race engineer Nathan O’Rourke shifting to a shop-based role, the team needs to name a new engineer to lead Power’s No 26 entry. A lucrative contract extension for Kirkwood is something for Andretti Global to put atop its priority list because if they don’t, he’ll have his pick of teams to choose from for 2027.
ARROW MCLAREN: Roster complete.
No. 5 Chevy, Pato O’Ward; No. 6 Chevy, Nolan Siegel; No. 7 Chevy, Christian Lundgaard
Notes: Important year ahead for Siegel, whose No. 6 car will command a lot of interest as he heads into the final season of his contract with the team. I can’t think of any other entry with a bigger ‘prove it or lose it’ situation being faced by its driver.
Unrelated, it would be a surprise if an extension for Lundgaard isn’t forthcoming. Unrelated once more, Lundgaard didn’t have much of a chance to rest after Nashville as he and the team were called upon by Team Chevy to conduct a high-altitude test last week in Tooele, Utah, at the road course formerly known at Miller Motorsports Park. IndyCar doesn’t have any high-altitude events on its upcoming schedule, but with Mexico City and Denver on the horizon, getting ahead of the tuning curve in Utah was a smart move by the Bowtie.
CHIP GANASSI RACING: Roster complete.
No. 8 Honda, Kyffin Simpson; No. 9 Honda, Scott Dixon; No. 10 Honda, Alex Palou
Notes: It has nothing to do with the traditional seat-related silly season, but I’m told the conclusion of the years-long McLaren vs Palou lawsuit is due to start on September 29. We don’t know how it will end and how much money will or won’t be sent McLaren’s way, but having this dark cloud dissipate will be welcome.
DALE COYNE RACING: Unresolved.
No. 18 Honda, TBD; No. 51 Honda, TBD
Notes: Coyne recently told us he intends to have both drivers named before Halloween, and if the team’s recent efforts hold firm, there could be at least one announcement before October arrives. It will be a surprise if Romain Grosjean or Dennis Hauger aren’t in one of the cars. But since it’s Coyne, be prepared for a surprise.
ED CARPENTER RACING: Roster complete.
No. 20 Chevy, Alexander Rossi; No. 21 Chevy, Christian Rasmussen
JUNCOS HOLLINGER RACING: Unresolved.
No. 76 Chevy, TBD; No. 77 Chevy, Sting Ray Robb
Notes: We know Rinus VeeKay isn’t returning to Coyne, and isn’t driving for Foyt. That leaves two options for him, and I haven’t heard VeeKay’s name mentioned in relation to the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing program in a while. Assuming there’s nothing in play with RLL, Juncos Hollinger Racing could have a new team leader.
JHR is also known to have an interest in Linus Lundqvist, and also in Daly’s oval results. As well, the team is known to have a strong interest in moving away from having drivers pay to compete in either of its cars, which is the model it went to in 2025. Paying two elite drivers who are capable of vying for wins and moving JHR into the top 10 is the goal.
Sting Ray Robb’s manager Pieter Rossi says his driver has a contract to stay and compete for the team in 2026.
MEYER SHANK RACING: Roster complete.
No. 60 Honda, Felix Rosenqvist; No. 66 Honda, Marcus Armstrong
PREMA RACING: Roster complete.
No. 83 Chevy, Robert Shwartzman; No. 90 Chevy, Callum Ilott
Notes: On the driver front, PREMA has two drivers signed to multi-year deals. Will they have cars to drive? That’s the matter to resolve. It’s also a matter of timing. Both are understood to be well paid, and the teams with open seats either need money from drivers or are unlikely to take on high-salary drivers. Definite Catch-22.
If it isn’t continuing with PREMA, and unless they’re released right away, it’s hard to see where Ilott or Shwartzman would land in IndyCar as the doors start to close on the few opportunities that remain.
RAHAL LETTERMAN LANIGAN RACING: Unresolved.
No. 15 Honda, Graham Rahal; No. 30 Honda, Devlin DeFrancesco; No. 45 Honda, Louis Foster
Notes: This is an interesting one to consider. It’s believed DeFrancesco had performance clauses in his multi-year contract with RLL that would guarantee his return in 2026 if reached. Having finished next-to-last in the championship, it would be reasonable to suggest the automatic triggering to stay in the No. 30 car did not happen.
RLL also went into the 2025 season with all three cars holding lucrative Leaders Circle contracts, and that can no longer be said as the No. 30 entry failed to make the cut on its way to placing 26th out of 27 entries.
In truth, the No. 30 barely made it into the Leaders Circle last year with Pietro Fittipaldi at the controls, which was worrying, and the car went backwards – only beating rookie Jacob Abel, who failed to participate in the Indy 500 – on Devlin’s return to the series.
It’s an unfortunate situation for DeFrancesco, who tries like hell, really wants to be a competitive IndyCar driver, and has some shining moments on ovals. It’s also unfortunate for the team, which is known to like Devlin, but can’t afford to spend yet another season with the third car being a waste of its time and effort.
Since RLL added a third full-time car in 2022 for Jack Harvey, the entry has never finished higher than 20th in the Entrants’ standings, which says it’s time to park the car and place its entire focus on Rahal and Foster, or to acquire the budget to move away from taking funded drivers. And if that doesn’t come to fruition, who knows that might happen.
Running another paying driver isn’t the answer. Rahal placed 19th in the championship to lead RLL and Foster was 23rd, which says one thing in cold results-driven language: The team needs to improve, across the board.Being saddled with an extra car that does nothing to assist in that improvement only hinders the process. Watch this space.
TEAM PENSKE: Roster complete.
No. 2 Chevy, Josef Newgarden; No. 3 Chevy, Scott McLaughlin; No. 12 Chevy, David Malukas
Source link
