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.
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.