SALINAS, Calif — There’s been plenty of NTT INDYCAR SERIES news leading into Sunday’s season finale in Laguna Seca. Here’s what you may have missed during a busy week.
Silly Season
David Malukas is joining Arrow McLaren Racing. That was announced on Friday. That news comes three days after Meyer Shank Racing announced that Felix Rosenqvist would leave McLaren for the Honda team. A month ago, MSR announced Tom Blomqvist would drive 1 of their 2 cars. Now, Rosenqvist is in the other.
Speaking of “qvists” Linus Lundqvist was confirmed to be heading to Chip Ganassi Racing on a multi-year deal beginning in 2024 too. He replaces the departing Marcus Ericsson who heads to Andretti Autosport.
Then on Thursday, Ganassi confirmed that Marcus Armstrong will be back and round out their 2024 driver lineup.
So, what’s left?
It’s a foregone conclusion that Graham Rahal is staying with RLL. I don’t see them breaking up.
Then, it’s down to Andretti Autosport. We know Romain Grosjean and Devlin DeFrancesco both aren’t coming back. The question is, do they replace 1 or both?
Ericsson is coming, is anyone joining or do they scale back? That’s all dependent on if DeFrancesco can keep this car in the top 22 of the leaders circle standings this weekend.
DeFrancesco is likely heading to Coyne. Is Sting Ray Robb back? I’ve heard of a potential Grosjean reunion there.
Robb could be in the mix of returning to Andretti (he raced for them in Indy NXT) and bringing some funding with him for that 29 seat if they should need it.
Past that, there’s truly not much left.
Callum Ilott is a free agent but I’ve heard of a plan in the works for McLaren to form an alliance with Juncos Hollinger Racing. They’re high on Ilott and this is a plan to have him under their umbrella and gives McLaren the space to expand and grow since they’re maxed out in their current building. If this happens, then I expect JHR to remain status quo.
Think of it as something similar to Penske and Foyt and with that said, I expect all five combined drivers to be back. I know Penske will have no changes and while both Foyt drivers have been allowed to look, I don’t see any path for them to leave.
That means that the only true rides left for the taking are the 30 at RLL, the 20 at ECR and 1 seat at Coyne.
Ganassi, McLaren Both Now Set Up For Future Run
Ironically enough, by Alex Palou not leaving Ganassi for McLaren, it has set both teams up for the future. Ganassi confirmed last Sunday that Palou will in fact be returning for 2024.
“Alex Palou’s going to be in our car,” Ganassi boasted. “I can tell you that.”
With his contract ending in 2023, that also likely means that Palou will be operating on a multi-year deal as well. As a result, all four of the drivers in 2024 will have multiple years of service left now.
Scott Dixon is already under contract but Linus Lundqvist and Marcus Armstrong just signed multi-year deals in consecutive weeks.
Palou is only 26. Lundqvist is 24 and Armstrong 23. They’re set up for the future.
Dixon just completed his 17th top four points finish in the last 18 years. There’s no signs of slowing down. That’s a good thing.
Palou has won 2 of the last 3 championships.
Armstrong is likely to become the rookie of the year while Lundqvist was strong in his 3 starts this year and was the 2022 Indy NXT champion.
With Ganassi going 1-2 in points this season and likely producing the Rookie of the Year, the future is as bright as ever.
“They have the best cars right now,” Will Power says “They do. They’re able to extract the most out of qualifying. Their cars look good off the tires, they’re very fast in the race, and their strategy’s good — they’re just simply the best team right now. They are.
“They’ve got good cars, good drivers. You think about Palou and Dixon and even Ericsson. Marcus Armstrong is a rookie, but also very quick. They’ve got a very tough group.”
Power says that it is has nothing to do with a Honda vs. Chevy thing here either. It’s just the fact that Ganassi is purely outperforming them across the board.
“No, I don’t think much to do with the engines. I think the engines are pretty equal,” Power said. “I think the Chevy has a bit more top end. Honda might have a bit more torque down low. But all in all over laps, it’s probably pretty similar.
“Ganassi definitely have good cars right now.”
Still, while Penske is regarded as the top team ever in the sport with 236 wins and 298 poles ( compared to 130 wins and 95 to Ganassi, they’ve also been doing it for decades longer too. Ganassi is by all accounts, closing that gap back up.
If you go back to 1996, Penske leads Ganassi 140-129 in regards to trips to victory lane. In the two most important matrix, Indy 500 wins and championships, Penske leads 8-5 in trips to victory lane on Memorial Day weekend. However, Ganassi has doubled Penske up in championships 15-7 in that span as well.
This duo has ebbed and flowed with Penske winning 7 times in 2020 to 5 by Ganassi. In 2021, it was Ganassi with 6 wins and Penske with 3. Last year it was 9-4 and this year 7-5. That’s Penske leading 24-23 in victories during the Aeroscreen era.
Penske outperformed Ganassi in 2022 only for Ganassi to pay them back.
Now, maybe McLaren is built for the future too.
With Lando Norris shining and Oscar Piastri finding his footing as a rookie, the McLaren F1 team has a bright future. Norris is just 23. Piastri is only 22. If McLaren can keep the vulchers like Red Bull, Mercedes or Ferrari away from Norris, they’re set up for the future overseas.
Here stateside, they have Alexander Rossi locked in. He’s about to be 32. He has no interest in heading back to F1 so he’s set. Pato O’Ward is only 24. Even if the F1 dream never comes to fruition, I don’t think it’s a secret that he’s on the verge of being a star here.
Now you get 21-year-old David Malukas. So long as these three perform and the cars keep getting more and more better, this NTT INDYCAR SERIES program has a 5-10 year runway ahead of strength.
Plus, I’ve heard about an alliance with Juncos Hollinger Racing coming and how high they are on Callum Ilott. This can get him too. Ilott is going to only be 25 in November.
Which means they’re set up for the now and the future. If the F1 side does so well it gets 1 or even both of Norris and Piastri taken elsewhere, O’Ward, Ilott and Malukas are easy targets to replace them. If they replace them, it means they did well here. If they did well here, they have quality rides other young stars will want to come to.
Which is why this pipeline is strengthening and a much better scenario than the Alex Palou drama. This could be a blessing in disguise for them and a big blessing for Ganassi to keep Palou too.
Andretti Rebrands
Andretti Autosport, a Championship-winning motorsports organization, announced on Tuesday a major rebranding initiative that will see the international organization adopt the branding of Andretti Global, the identity previously named as the parent company to the U.S.-based race team.
It’s not the first time the team has been rebranded. From Andretti Green to Andretti Autosport, they now will be known as Andretti Global which makes the upmost sense with what they’re trying to accomplish.
“I’m proud of what Andretti Autosport has accomplished over the years, and all the memories that have come with so many special moments,” said Michael Andretti. “Just as proud as I am of our past, I’m equally excited about our future. As we continue to expand and build a global racing institution, our goal is to be engrained in the culture of our fans, teams and partners. This rebrand is a major milestone in our team’s journey, but we are only getting started. We are determined to achieve success and confident that there are big things in store for Andretti Global.”
As a brand that is built on a foundation of racing excellence, the new Andretti Global name will unite all aspects of the organization under a single identity, more closely aligning with the team’s already-established legacy. Andretti Global currently operates in eight motorsports platforms racing across six continents with an appetite to expand its worldwide footprint into other major motorsports series.
With an already established INDYCAR, Indy NXT and Formula E team, they since branched out and bought into IMSA with Wayne Taylor Racing. They’ve also dabbled into NASCAR recently with Spire in a move that could bring them in that direction too. They’ll also await F1’s decision on if they can join overseas as well.
Which is why they made this name change since they’ve become a global juggernaut and are currently building a new facility to house all in one spot.
Along with the name change, the current Andretti Autosport shield will be replaced with the Andretti Global logo. As each of the 2024 racing seasons get underway, fans can look forward to a new digital experience from the most trusted name in motorsports with the rebrand additionally bringing a new structure to the team’s social media presence.
“The words Andretti and motorsports are synonymous, and I’m impressed and excited by the worldwide fanbase and reach of the Andretti name,” said Dan Towriss, partner of Andretti Global. “I’m proud to be working with Michael and his team to build that name and legacy into an even stronger brand that reflects our ambitions and values. We are committed to excellence, and I believe our work will benefit our fans and partners around the globe.”
Herta’s Have Great Moment
On Wednesday, the Herta’s had a fun drive in an iconic moment in Laguna Seca. It’s no secret, this track means so much to his family.
Bryan Herta has 4 career Indy Car wins. 2 of which came here in back-to-back seasons in 1998 and 1999. Those were his only two CART wins. His other two came in the old IRL days.
In 8 career CART starts on this track, Herta had 5 top 6 finishes including 3 results in the top 2. In a pair of Indy Lights starts, he was 2nd and 1st.
For Colton Herta, he’s won 2 of the 3 return trips to this track with both wins coming from the pole.
That’s 13 combined starts between Indy Lights and IndyCar for the Herta’s here with 5 wins and 9 top 6 finishes including a pair of runner-up’s too.
This track just suits them.
The older Herta had his fair share of moments here including “the pass” in the corkscrew which actually went against him.
Still, that Shell car meant a lot to Herta and last month, his son Colton, found it and bought the original car for Bryan. In return, Bryan was able to pull off Gainbridge, Colton’s sponsor, to change the livery on Colton’s car this weekend to mimic Bryan’s Shell car.
As a result, Andretti Autosport, Laguna Seca and INDYCAR was able to pull off a father-son day here on Wednesday to where they can have both cars out on track for fun.
2024 Schedule
While INDYCAR had hoped to have next year’s schedule unveiled this weekend, sources have said that they’ll wait a little longer. The goal is now to have it out by the end of the month. That’s due to a couple of factors.
One is NASCAR is hopeful to have theirs out soon and if INDYCAR releases theirs and it shows no more shared weekend next summer at IMS, it could tip the hand of one of the worst kept secrets in racing about the return of the Brickyard 400.
That’s also part of another domino that Milwaukee will likely return in the INDYCAR races’ interim and INDYCAR is going to have an event there to unveil the comeback.
The final piece is Toronto is close to a new contract but it’s not done. INDYCAR wasn’t want to jump the gun on that.
Mix all three factors and you can see why it’s best to wait.
In saying that, we do know some dates and some rumored dates already.
St. Pete is already listed on the Chamber of Commerce site for March 10 and I don’t see a scenario to where the series starts before that. So it looks like March 10 is the season opener for 2024.
Easter is March 31, so we know that’s an off weekend.
Long Beach weekend for IMSA is April 19-20 which means the Grand Prix for the INDYCAR side is April 21. Detroit for IMSA is May 31-June 1 which means the INDYCAR race will be June 2. The GMR Grand Prix and Indianapolis 500 will take place on May 11 and May 26.
Nashville is the season opener next Sept. 15.
So, how does the rest look?
June will be busy with the likelihood of Laguna Seca moving to a late date that month. With Detroit on June 2, you have June 9, June 16, June 23, June 30 and July 6 for Road America, Laguna Seca and Mid-Ohio.
Toronto and Iowa could be July 13 and July 19-20.
You also have the Olympics July 26 through Aug. 11.
After that, it’s Aug. 17 maybe World Wide Technology Raceway for the rumored night race. You can’t do it head-to-head a week later against NASCAR so move it up a week and with Milwaukee coming back, it could run on Aug. 25. Portland has done well on Labor Day weekend (Sept. 1). Nashville concludes the season on Sept. 15.
Which leaves just the early portion.
You have March 17 and 24 then April 7, 14, 28 potentially open for Texas and Barber. Do you want to have a lot of races early and an open weekend at the end of April leading into Indy or do you prefer a busier month of April preceding the ever so important Month of May?
Schedule Estimate
March 10: St. Pete
March 31: Easter
April: 7: Texas
April 21: Long Beach
April 28: Barber
May 11: Gallagher Grand Prix
May 26: 108th Running of the Indianapolis 500
June 2: Detroit
June 16: Road America
June 23: Laguna Seca
July 7: Mid-Ohio
July 14: Toronto
July 20-21: Iowa
July 26-Aug. 11: Olympics
Aug. 17: World Wide Technology Raceway
Aug. 25: Nashville
Sept 1: Portland
Sept. 15: Laguna Seca
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