RACER posted four IndyCar silly season updates by the end of July 2024 and another was on the way to open the month of August. Here we are one year later in early August 2025 and it’s the polar opposite of non-stop developments. Calmness in the driver market has ruled the season and continues to do so as the IndyCar paddock awaits news on one major player whose fate will have a domino effect on the rest.
Looking at the places where change is possible, it’s one seat at AJ Foyt Racing, potentially two at Dale Coyne Racing and Juncos Hollinger Racing, possibly one at Meyer Shank Racing and Rahal Lanigan Letterman Racing, and the main domino at Team Penske.
That’s six of IndyCar’s 11 full-time teams with decisions to make regarding who will pilot their cars next year, and while it’s a large number, the final turnover count could be surprisingly low – lots of mights and maybes, with no stampede of signings on the horizon.
“I think you’ll be surprised,” Coyne told RACER. “I think it’s going to be quiet. Real quiet.”
With Coyne’s prognostication in mind, let’s look at the leading players in the conversation.
Will Power continues to hold the keys to free agency – or, more accurately, Roger Penske, his boss since 2008, is the person who controls the market. There’s nothing new to report as of Friday at Portland, and just as he’s been at the center of the conversation all season, nothing has changed for Power as the two-time champion and 2018 Indy 500 winner waits to learn if he’ll be returning to Penske’s No. 12 Verizon Chevy for 2026.
The matter becomes interesting in how the paddock – those with paying seats to offer – are refraining from making their own driver decisions until Penske and Power come to their conclusion with the No. 12 car.
A number of teams are looking to sign extensions with current drivers or seek replacements, but as a mark of respect for the winner of 44 IndyCar races and all-time record holder with 71 IndyCar pole positions, most are holding off on making commitments until they know if Power is available – but that isn’t the case for every team. One, which asked to have its name withheld, is close to taking themselves off the list and moving on.
Where might the 44-year-old end up if Penske opts to part with his most tenured driver? Let’s run through the teams and work through which doors are open or closed.
“Lil Dave” could be a domino that falls, leaving a tenuous vacuum at AJ Foyt Racing in his wake. James Black/IMS Photo
AJ Foyt Racing is where Power’s replacement would come from in the Penske-signed David Malukas, and if the call-up happens, the Foyt team would fall back to where it was with its second car prior, where full-funded drivers like Sting Ray Robb and his predecessors bankrolled the entry’s season. Some have suggested a driver swap with Power taking the Foyt seat, but there’s no budget to make it happen. The takeaway here is that Foyt isn’t in a position to hire a driver for the second car if Penske pulls Malukas and its funding for 2026.
If Malukas leaves, the team has a big hole to fill with a driver who carries the sponsorship required to field the car, and that isn’t Power. If he stays, the clock starts to wind down on taking over Power’s car in 2027.
Andretti Global has all three drivers signed through at least 2026, and while Marcus Ericsson’s having the season from hell, the team told RACER there are no changes forthcoming. Power-to-Andretti sounds amazing, but it’s premature.
Chip Ganassi Racing has its lineup set for 2026, which leaves the second seat at technical affiliate Meyer Shank Racing as the lone car within the five-deep Ganassi family to place Power. It would be a major score for Ganassi, Meyer Shank, and Honda. It also isn’t the kind of thing Penske and Chevy need while trying to regain their form and beat Ganassi and Honda. Imagine an extended Ganassi lineup that has three Indy 500 winners in Scott Dixon, Alex Palou and Power, and 11 combined championships – which might be 12 by the end of the weekend in Portland.
Dale Coyne has the breakout star of the year with Rinus VeeKay and rookie Jacob Abel. Neither are committed to return, but it would be the best call for both. VeeKay has spoken with every team that has a vacancy and a willingness to pay for his talents, and not one of those teams are ahead of his Coyne entry in the championship.
In most years, a driver like VeeKay would be on his way to a championship-winning team, but those don’t become accessible until 2027 when Arrow McLaren, Andretti and possibly Ganassi have business to conduct. For 2026, VeeKay’s smartest choice appears to be staying in place with Coyne. Abel would like to have a second season in IndyCar, but that depends on Coyne’s willingness to keep him in the car. If that falls through, his options are limited to the teams with a seat for hire, and depending on the Power/Malukas situation, the second Foyt car jumps out as a something that could benefit both parties.
Ed Carpenter Racing has Alexander Rossi and Christian Rasmussen under contract for 2026, which is great for both, and it’s also worth mentioning Rasmussen is garnering interest for the future. Looking 12 months down the road, Rasmussen should be a significant name in the silly season. In the short-term, however, he’s not leaving and that means there are no immediate openings for Power.
There could be a possibility we may see taillights from both JHR drivers, even if it’s unlikely. Travis Hinkle/IMS Photo
Moving onto Juncos Hollinger Racing, the team holds station with Conor Daly as its veteran leader and journeyman Sting Ray Robb in the second car, and while one or both could continue, a complete driver changeover is also possible. There’s a firmly-held ambition to become more competitive, and to do so with a young charger – JHR’s version of what Kyle Kirkwood became for Andretti or what Alex Palou developed into at Ganassi – as its new core to build around for the future. Do not underestimate the team’s drive to make a huge leap next season.
Power would be an amazing short-term addition, but it’s a poor fit for someone who wants to stay near the front. Spending his last year or two in a deep rebuild with a midfield team isn’t how Power wants the story to end, and if the team is going to pivot with a young lion as its new focus, the time is now.
JHR could be a prime location for a promising rookie coming out of Indy NXT like Dennis Hauger or, in what might be the best alignment of all, an IndyCar Rookie of the Year like Linus Lundqvist who’s searching for a way back into the series and was incredibly impressive during his one season with Ganassi.
Lundqvist had the typical rookie ups and downs, but the big takeaways – well beyond the podium at Barber and pole at Road America – were his oval runs to close 2024 with a podium at WWTR, sixth at the first Milwaukee race and eighth at Nashville.
The knock against IndyCar rookies is oval driving and the need to burn two years while they figure out the finer aspects of the art form. Lundqvist’s year-one oval skills had multiple teams inquiring about his availability for 2026 because, as one team principal said after Lundqvist got the call from Arrow McLaren to be on standby for Nolan Siegel at Toronto, “He’s probably the most complete young guy that’s out there.”
Whether that belief is enough to open a door and put him in a car is one of the threads to follow in the coming weeks and months.
Just as Power is the leading talent being pursued, MSR’s No. 66 Honda, which sits eighth in the championship with Marcus Armstrong at the controls, is the top car being chased by free agents. That machine is a ticket to top 10s and wins and would be a perfect fit for Power to step into, but everything RACER hears says the team is loving what they have with Armstrong.
His output since Detroit has been remarkable and he’s only eight points behind team leader Felix Rosenqvist, who’s sixth in the standings. Armstrong’s among the biggest year-to-year movers in the series, improving from 14th in his first full IndyCar season with Ganassi to eighth in the championship after Laguna Seca with MSR. He was up to seventh after Toronto. It would be a surprise to see a change with Armstrong at MSR.
RLL could be the final destination. It all depends on what’s in Devlin DeFrancesco’s contract. Paul Hurley/IMS Photo
PREMA Racing has Callum Ilott and Robert Shwartzman under multi-year contracts, leaving Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing as the last team to consider. Graham Rahal has another year or two on his contract and the team is holding onto Louis Foster, which leaves the car currently driven by Devlin DeFrancesco as a potential landing spot for Power.
More than any other, RLL looks to be the strongest non-Penske option for the Australian.
Situated 26th in the championship, DeFrancesco was announced on a multi-year contract, but it’s not uncommon for the extra years to be team-based options or subject to performance clauses to lock in a second or third season. If DeFrancesco’s return is up to the team or something that can be triggered by achieving specific results, he has three races left to produce whatever might be needed to stay in 2026.
As RLL continues its years-long rebuilding effort and also looks to build for the future, a driver of Power’s caliber – despite his age – could be transformative for a team seeking to join Ganassi, Arrow McLaren and Andretti as a consistent front-running entity.
Plug in someone like Power, and it’s an immediate infusion of decades of top-tier engineering knowledge and operational experience from Penske at a point where it’s needed.
There’s also the other matter of RLL relying on funded drivers to put its third car on track. For the car to be driven by a well-paid champion like Power, RLL would need to find new money or more money from its existing partners to cover the tab. It’s a great addition if they can swing it, but there’s some math to solve first. RLL also has two reserve drivers in Juri Vips and Toby Sowery, and Bobby Rahal has said he wouldn’t stand in Vips’ way if another team wants to put him in a car.
It’s no secret within the paddock that RLL has its eyes on Power. Considering how fast Takuma Sato was at the Indy 500 for RLL in May, and how swift Rahal and Foster have been in qualifying, Power feels like a driver that could be the final piece the team needs to take the fight to its faster rivals.
Team Penske, for the sake of overstating the obvious, has two of its three drivers secured beyond 2026 with Josef Newgarden, who inked a new multi-year contract last year, and Scott McLaughlin is rumored to have recently done the same to stay in the only IndyCar team he’s known.
Other drivers are on the outside looking in, including Argentina’s Nico Varrone, the Argentinian sports car racer who’s been doing F2 testing to prepare for a big open-wheel shift, and former McLaren racer and recent F2 champion Theo Pourchaire, who’s trying to get back to the series with help from Simon Pagenaud. More can be found in Indy NXT, but we’ll wait for Penske’s call on Power before doing our next silly season dive where those on the outside will get more coverage.
Power, Malukas, VeeKay, Lundqvist, Hauger. Those are the top five to follow.
