Racing is right around the corner, and it’s time to introduce the new faces and new teams this year. Here is our 2026 IndyCar outlook! Feels like just yesterday we were saying congratulations to Alex Palou on what was an amazing whirlwind season. But we are back with new tracks, new teammates, and new drivers for 2026.
So let’s get to it and first introduce our 2026 IndyCar drivers. The 2026 NTT IndyCar Series is the upcoming 115th official championship season of American open-wheel racing. It is also the 31st season under the IndyCar Series rule.
AJ Foyt Racing
Santino Ferrucci #14 Chevrolet
Ferrucci is loud, boisterous, and isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but what a year for Santino! After a slow start, Ferrucci again shone at the Indy 500, including a podium at Detroit and Road America. In 7 Indy 500’s, Santino’s worst finish has been tenth. As the lead driver for AJ Foyt Racing, they are expecting big things from him this season. Santino enters his fourth season with AJ Foyt Racing and has 3 podiums and one pole.
Caio Collett #4 Chevrolet (Rookie)
The Brazilian rookie has been tabbed by AJ Foyt Racing to pilot the #4 Chevrolet for the 2026 season. Collett raced for HMD Racing in NXT both in 2024 and 2025. In 2024, the Sao Paulo native finished in 3rd and in 2025, finished in second overall. In that 2024 season, Collett finished with one win (Mid-Ohio) and several podiums (6). In 2025, Collett finished with three victories and nine podiums. but couldn’t get past Dennis Hauger, who picked up the NXT Championship by 72 points.
Andretti Global
Will Power #26 Honda
Probably the biggest move of the offseason, Will Power announced that he was leaving Team Penske and joining Andretti Global for 2026. Will Power was a staple of Penske Racing since he joined the team in 2009. Power is a pole master breaking the record for most poles by a single driver (71). The Queensland, Australia native had been relatively clean as multiple scandals broke out at Penske Racing over the last few years. Power joins Andretti as one of the most winning drivers in IndyCar history, fourth all-time in wins (45), first all-time in poles (71), and fourth all-time in podiums (108). At the 2025 Indy 500, Power was the only Penske driver to finish the race with a 16th-place finish. Power would win at Portland but finish in 9th in a quiet season for the 44-year-old.
Kyle Kirkwood #27 Honda
Kyle Kirkwood had a breakout season in 2025 with three huge victories, including Long Beach, Detroit, and Gateway, three podiums, and his highest finish in the championship. Kirkwood would finish 4th overall in the standings, but it seemed to be a season of highs and lows for Kirkwood. He would finish 6th at the 500 but would be disqualified after failing tech inspections. Kirkwood also had 5 top 5s, but after a 4th place at Road America, Kirkwood never finished higher than 6th the rest of the year. Overall, Kirkwood would finish with 10 top 10s, including a 6th-place finish at Nashville.
Marcus Ericsson #28 Honda
Ericsson enters his third season with Andretti Global after leaving Chip Ganassi following the 2023 season. Ericsson hasn’t had the success that he had when he was with Chip Ganassi Racing. Since the switch, he has finished no higher than 5th and only two top tens. Ericsson initially finished second in the 2025 Indianapolis 500, but was disqualified after the race due to his car failing tech. With confirmation that Marcus had issues during a 2026 test, the Swede will have his work cut out for him this season. The 2022 Indy 500 winner needs a huge season.
Arrow McLaren
Pato O’Ward #5 Chevrolet
The Mexican IndyCar driver has quickly become the face of the series. The 26-year-old Mexican had the best season of his career, and if it weren’t for the dominant run of Alex Palou, O’Ward would have won it all. Pato finished with six podiums and two victories. He also finished 3rd at the Indy 500. O’Ward is well-loved in the circuit and is one of the most popular drivers in the series. With wins in Iowa and Toronto, and several 2nd place finishes, Pato is looking for his first title this season. O’Ward was the winner of the 2018 Indy Lights (Now NXT) Series.
Nolan Siegel #6 Chevrolet
This will be a critical year for Siegel, who starts his second full season with Arrow McLaren. Siegel joined AM halfway through the 2024 season, and the 21-year-old has not seen the success his bosses would have liked to see from the young Californian. Siegel’s best race in 2025 was an 8th-place finish at Road America. Siegel only had two top ten finishes, including a ninth at Barber. A lone bright spot for Siegel came with a 13th-place finish at the Indy 500, but Arrow McLaren is looking for a big step forward in 2026.
Christian Lundgaard #7 Chevrolet
For as rough a season as Siegel had, Lundgaard had the exact opposite. The Dane earned six podiums and finished seventh at the Indy 500. He earned a pole at Portland but couldn’t hold it due to an engine change. Lundgaard had previously been with Rahal Letterman Lanigan but left to take over the vacant seat of Alex Rossi. While Lundgaard didn’t secure a victory in 2025, he did finish in fifth overall and had back-to-back 2nd-place podiums at Laguna Seca and Portland.
Chip Ganassi Racing
Kyffin Simpson #8 Honda
The 21-year-old may seem like he’s in the shadow of two absolute monsters in the industry, but Kyffin held his own in 2025. He had 3 top 5’s, including one podium at Toronto. He also had six top tens with a best finish at Toronto, where he podiumed (3rd). The Cayman Island native finished 25th in the Indy 500 and with a fourth-place finish at Nashville, Simpson is looking for a better season in 2026.
Scott Dixon #9 Honda
What can I say about the Iceman? Sir Scott Dixon (as he was knighted this offseason) continues to impress and holds the record for 21 years in a row with a win. He is a six-time IndyCar Champion and is second for most wins overall with 59. Dixon won at Mid-Ohio this year after a rare Alex Palou mistake, allowing him to continue his streak. Scott Dixon has won at least one race every year since 2005. While Scott didn’t have the season that we are accustomed to seeing from him, the 45-year-old had 3 podiums, including one win. He would finish 3rd overall on the season.
Alex Palou #10 Honda
Words can not express the domination that Alex Palou held on the 2025 Indycar Season. His critics said, “He never won at ovals.” Palou conquered ovals. “He never conquered the Indy 500.” Palou conquered the 500. In fact, the Spaniard only finished out of the top ten twice, 25th at Detroit and 12th at Toronto. Alex has won 3 championships in a row and shows no signs of slowing down. After his lawsuit with Arrow McLaren got settled, there is nothing in Palou’s way this year as far as distractions, and I expect another big year from the 28-year-old. 8 wins from Alex this last season, 4 seconds, and one third place. If that’s not a recipe for success, I don’t know what is.
Dale Coyne Racing
Romain Grosjean #18 Honda
Grosjean returns to full-time racing after serving as a reserve driver for Prema in 2025. Grosjean had a rough 2024, often finding himself on the wrong end of on-track incidents. While Grosjean did not have any podiums in 2024, he did finish with six top 10s. Grosjean looks to get back behind the wheel this season and lead a Dale Coyne team that is longing for success. Grosjean’s best finish was a second in his rookie season at IMS at the Grand Prix. Grosjean has had six podiums since he joined the circuit in 2021.
Dennis Hauger #19 Honda (Rookie)
Caio Collet’s biggest competition was this man, Dennis Hauger, who also made the jump to the IndyCar main stage. The Norwegian would win the title in his first year of competition after previously racing in F2. Hauger is set to become the first Norwegian IndyCar driver in 109 years. He won Indy NXT in 2025 with six wins and 11 podiums in 14 races.
Ed Carpenter Racing
Alex Rossi #20 Chevrolet
The 100th Indy 500 winner, replaced Rinus Veekay at ECR, and struggled in his first year there. He secured seven top tens with a highest finish of 4th at Milwaukee. Rossi has had success historically, especially when he was with Andretti, but after spending time in Arrow McLaren and not getting a win, it feels like time is running out for Rossi. His last victory occurred at the Indy Grand Prix in 2022.
Christian Rasmussen #21 Chevrolet
A Danish driver, Christian Rasmussen, had a fantastic year and was one of the few to cost Alex Palou a loss, as he picked up a win in Milwaukee. The season overall didn’t go the way Rasmussen wanted, as he only got two podiums: the win and a 3rd place finish at Gateway. Top ten wise, Rasmussen was a little better, as the 25-year-old had six top tens. The hope going into this season is that Ed Carpenter has gotten the ovals figured out. It will be interesting to see how they handle the road and street courses this season.
Juncos Hollinger Racing
Rinus Veekay #76 Chevrolet
Rinus spent 2025 with Dale Coyne Racing and had a rough season with only a podium finish at Toronto and a fourth-place finish at Barber. Rinus had 7 top tens last season with DCR and actually spent time with Juncos Racing before. In 2018, he dominated the Pro-Mazda Championship and finished second with Juncos in 2019 in the Indy Lights series. Veekay has two poles in his Indycar Career and is looking to build on his 14th-place finish from last season.
Sting Ray Robb #77 Chevrolet
Oh, Sting Ray. The greatest IndyCar driver name in quite a while, Sting Ray, got his name from his parents, who are avid Chevrolet enthusiasts. Sting Ray moved to Juncos Hollinger last season and labored through a rough season. He would finish third lowest in active driver points. A lone bright spot came for Robb at Long Beach, where he finished ninth. All in all, the young man from Idaho is going to have to put in a strong season if he’s going to want to keep his seat secure. Robb started 17th in the 2025 Indy 500 and finished 23rd after getting collected in a car crash with Kyle Larson. Sting Ray’s average finish was 19th.
Meyer-Shank Racing
Felix Rosenqvist #60 Honda
It was a tale of two halves for Felix Rosenqvist in 2025. He started off the season very well, finishing in the top 10 in 5 of the first six races. Rough results at Detroit and Gateway cooled off any conversations of running for the championship, and despite a 2nd place finish at Road America, it would be the only time the Swede would grace the podium. Despite the 4th place finish at the Indy 500, Rosenqvist would finish sixth in the point standings and secure ten top 10s.
Marcus Armstrong #66 Honda
The 25-year-old New Zealander won Rookie of the Year in 2023 and has been getting better and better every season. Armstrong crashed in his first race with MSR at St. Pete, but righted the ship with a 7th-place finish at Thermal. Trouble at the Indy 500 led to an 18th-place finish. Armstrong would rally for 6 straight top 10s, including a 3rd place finish at Iowa. Armstrong would finish 14th at Toronto but would pick up two more top 10s at Laguna Seca and Portland. Overall, Marcus Armstrong finished 8th overall and, despite only having one podium in 2025, is poised to have a huge year driving the #66 Honda.
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Graham Rahal #15 Honda
Graham Rahal hasn’t won a race since 2017, but that hasn’t stopped him from leading RLL. The 37-year-old Ohioan secured 3 top 10s, including a 4th at Portland in 2025. He started 28th at the 2025 Indy 500, finished 17th, and finished 19th overall in the standings. Rahal just missed out at top tens at Thermal and Iowa. Rahal has had a rough couple of seasons and has progressed worse in the overall year-end point standings for five years since finishing 6th in 2020.
Louis Foster #45 Honda
Louis Foster signed a multi-year contract to remain with RLL for the foreseeable future. The 2025 IndyCar Rookie of the Year took pole at Road America, it was a year of learning for the young British driver. The 2024 NXT Championship is hoping to build on his 2025 season, where his highest finish was 11th both at the IMS Grand Prix and at Road America. The 22-year-old finished 23rd in his first full season in IndyCar.
Penske Racing
Josef Newgarden #2 Chevrolet
A season to forget for Josef Newgarden, who ran into roadblock after roadblock throughout the 2025 IndyCar campaign. In a season that started off with so much promise (a 3rd place finish at St. Pete) and ended with so much promise (a win at Nashville), it was often mired by disqualifications, fines, firings, and plenty of crashes. Struggles at Long Beach, a modified attenuator at Indy sent him and Will Power to the back, followed by a fuel pump failure at lap 135, and only the two podiums left Newgarden with a season to forget. The Nashville native would finish 12th. It would be his worst finish since 2014. Newgarden had 7 top 10s on the season. It will be interesting to see how much pressure will be on Team Penske to perform this year, given the shortcomings of 2025.
Scott McLaughlin #3 Chevrolet
“I’d never wish this feeling on my worst enemy.” Scott McLaughlin posted on his social media pages after crashing on the warm-up lap of the Indy 500. It was an exclamation mark to what turned into a rough month that resulted in an overall rough season for the 32-year-old. McLaughlin, along with Josef Newgarden and Will Power, had one of the worst seasons for Team Penske as a whole. The Thirsty 3’s are hoping to build on a strong end of the campaign when Scottie took back to back 3rd place finishes at Milwaukee and Nashville, but the New Zealand native did not finish higher than 3rd (which he also got at Barber), and he also finished tenth overall in the standings. McLaughlin started off on the pole at St. Pete, but again, that would be one of the few high points for his season.
David Malukas #12 Chevrolet
Lil Dave was the missing piece for Team Penske, taking Will Power’s spot. Malukas has had quite an interesting start to his career in IndyCar, as the Chicago native is going to be on his 4th team in 4 years. It felt that Team Penske was always the end goal for Malukas, who had been moving around since a hand injury in 2024 cost him a ride at Arrow McLaren. Malukas joins Team Penske this year, looking to improve on his road/street courses. The 24-year-old finished second at the Indy 500 and secured top tens at Iowa and Milwaukee. His only top ten at the road/street courses came at Road America, where he finished 7th, and Toronto with a 9th place finish. Team Penske is expecting big things from Lil Dave, and with big expectations come expected big results.
Image Credit: Penske Entertainment: Joe Skibinski
