Photo Credit: Penske Entertainment: Matt Fraver
The Silly Season is here!
With the 2026 IndyCar season at just past its midpoint, it has begun that fun time of the year when the pieces start moving around the board as teams attempt to set their driver lineups for 2027.
Except for a few deals with the smaller teams, most of the action typically hinges on the decision of one big-name driver that then sets things in motion for everyone else. This year that decision (surprisingly) rested on the shoulders of Scott Dixon, who announced last week that he wouldn’t be returning to Chip Ganassi Racing next year.
First of all…shocker! Of course, nothing is forever in sports, especially auto racing, but if there was one person I thought would spend a long career with and later retire from the same team, it would be Dixon. When you look at the success he’s had, as well as what has always seemed like a close and harmonic relationship with his bosses, Dixon leaving after a quarter-century of service is something I couldn’t have fathomed.
And to then go from CGR to Arrow McLaren? I mean, that seems like a lateral move. Of course, any movement the guy who I think is the best IndyCar driver of all-time (not talking about best overall IndyCar driver, that discussion will always come down to A.J. and Mario) would come across as a lateral one.
Still. I hope it’s just as simple as he wanted the opportunity to drive for the team founded by his countryman and one of his heroes, Bruce McLaren. I know it’s not, but a guy can dream. It’s probably a bit messy behind the scenes, because, honestly, anything pitting Zak Brown vs. Chip Ganassi gets messy, but I don’t want it to be, not for Scott Dixon.
So the big piece on the board moved, and the slightly smaller piece to move came in the same announcement, as 2026 Indianapolis 500 winner Felix Rosenqvist will be back in papaya with a team for which he drove from 2021-23, finishing P21, P8 and P12 in the standings.
It wasn’t surprising to see Fro leave Meyer Shank Racing after three seasons. That’s just how things work, you win the Indy 500 and strike while the iron is hot. Which is usually accompanied by a pretty decent pay raise.
So next year, Arrow McLaren’s lineup will be Pato O’Ward, Dixon, and Rosenqvist, with Ryan Hunter-Reay reprising his role as a one-off for the 500 next May.
That means we are looking at an everyday driver lineup that on paper looks like this:
O’Ward — Has the potential to win wherever he goes, including last weekend at Mid-Ohio. If O’Ward finishes the season in his current form, he will have finished in the top 5 in points for six of the last seven seasons. He’s also finished P4 or better in five of his last six 500s.
Dixon — Smart, experienced, consistent. We all know his resume, but the fact is since winning at Mid-Ohio last year, he’s only notched two podiums in the last 18 races and sits an uncharacteristic ninth in points. He’s 45, so is this losing his fastball or a combination of bad luck and no longer being the number one driver at CGR?
Rosenqvist — Fast as hell, spectacular at times, as he proved in winning the 500 in May, but still wildly inconsistent. In his last 28 races, he has six top 5 finishes, but 14 finishes of P10 or worse. The fact his confidence is at an all-time high may change those numbers moving forward.
Yesterday, when I first heard the news about Dixon and Rosenqvist, my intial thought was this:
Arrow McLaren is going all-in to win the Indianapolis 500.
I mean, can we see it any other way? Of course, O’Ward is a title contender, but given the chokehold that Alex Palou has had in five of the last six years, toppling him would be a massive feat. Dixon finished P3 in the points last year, and if he can return to that form, maybe he could win a championship, and given his inconsistent finishes, Rosenqvist’s ceiling is probably solid in the points, but never enough to win a title.
But you know what you have? Two guys who have won the 500, and a third who has done everything but win one. Then you have a driver in Hunter-Reay who won the 500 in 2014 and brings almost 20 years of experience to the seat.
Then you look at the management team. Tony Kanaan, who runs the show, is as we know also a 500 winner, and RHR was recently hired as the team’s sporting director when he isn’t behind the wheel.
Of course, Kanaan and RHR are more than the Indy 500. They both won series championships and combined for 35 wins on ovals, road, and street course. But the connection between all five drivers to me is pretty undeniable.
Then you look at the subtraction, as Christian Lundgaard was sent packing with a year left on his contract. Mind you, this is a guy with a race win this season, and sits third in points after finishing fifth a year ago. He’s only 24, can drive the wheels off of anything, and is super consistent. The knock on the Dane? He’s not super great on ovals.
The only reason you sack that guy (and Nolan Siegel as well), is if you are shifting your focus a little.
I was at a press conference at Long Beach in 2019 where Brown was speaking of McLaren’s potential move to IndyCar. Brown said that the McLaren stakeholders were interested in IndyCar and that if the stakeholders want it to happen, it would.
So is this what the stakeholders want? It would make sense. After all, the Formula 1 team, after several down years stuck in the midfield, have experienced a rebound, winning the constructor’s championship the last two years and the World Championship in 2025 with Lando Norris.
McLaren will also be entering the World Endurance Championship in 2027 in the Hypercar division, with two solid, experienced drivers. If they were to, say, add Dixon to their lineup at LeMans and bring a stout car, you’d have to believe they would have a chance to win.
To me, it all points to decisions being made to deliver Arrow McLaren a big win. They need that Big One, and I think the pieces are being put into place to try and make that happen.
Or bust.
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