IndyCar, is the highest class of American open-wheel car racing in the United States, home of the Indy 500, and quickly gaining worldwide popularity. Let's take a look at the grid!
IndyCar was initially created in the 1920s in America and has raced under various names and sponsors until the IndyCar series that we know today was created in 2008. The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship. Although the Indy series began as pure 'oval' track racing, the current series includes a combination of oval circuits, street tracks, and permanent natural road courses (non-oval paved tracks).
Currently in IndyCar there are 11 teams that compete with a total of 36 drivers. It is important to note that some of these drivers are not considered 'full time' and will only race Oval Circuits, only race non- oval circuits, or will only race in the Indy 500 (these drivers will be included in this guide and marked as part time).
Identifying your favorite driver on track is a tad bit more complicated than it would be in Formula 1. While drivers race for 1 team all season, their livery and car sponsor will change from race to race. The best way to identify drivers is based on their car number - which will be included in this article!
IndyCar race weekends are set up similarly to F1 race weekends, with a few nuances*. The schedules will generally be:
* There are also occasionally double header races.
Team Penske has been a cornerstone of IndyCar since 1966 and was formerly known as Penske racing. They are competing in not only the IndyCar Series, but NASCAR Cup Series, IMSA SportsCar Championship, and FIA World Endurance Championship this year. Throughout all of the racing series that Penske has entered over the years, they have earned over 500 victories and over 40 championships. In IndyCar alone (during the modern era), their drivers have won 17 IndyCar Championships and 19 Indy 500 wins.
Team Penske drivers finished in 3rd, 5th, and 7th during the 2023 IndyCar Championship.
Hendersonville, Tennessee, USA
Car #2
Josef began open wheel racing in 2006 at the Skip Barber Racing School series. He competed from 2006 - 2008 and scored 2nd place overall twice with 8 wins over the years. In 2008, Josef was selected to race for Team USA in the Formula Ford Festival - where he would go on to win, the first American Driver to do so. In 2009, Josef moved to the British Formula Ford Championship, where he finished in 2nd place with over 550 race points and the most race wins.
After competing in the 2010 GT3 series, and taking home a dissappointing 18th place - Josef moved home to begin his lengthy IndyCar Series career. The IndyCar feeder series - Indy Lights was the home of Newgarden's debut in 2011 with Sam Schmidt Motorsports. He immediatly hit the ground running... winning the very first race on the Streets of St. Petersburg (Florida). He would score 4 more wins and 10 podiums, and lap the entire field in New Hampshire (the first driver to do this in a decade). He finished 1st in his rookie season.
In 2012, Josef moved to the IndyCar Series where he remains to this day. From 2012 - 2014 he raced for Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing, earning 2 podiums. In 2015, Newgarden raced under the same team that had now merged with Ed Carpenter Racing, earning his first and second race wins and finishing 7th in the standings. In 2016, Sarah Hartman left the team and with Ed Carpenter Racing, Newgarden scored 3 podiums (one at the Indy 500) and 1 race win, finishing 4th place (the highest non- Penske driver).
From 2017 to present, Josef Newgarden has been a staple of Team Penske. Throughout these years, Josef has become one of the highest regarded IndyCar drivers of the present era - 42 podiums including 26 race wins, 2 IndyCar Championships, and an Indy 500 win.
Newgarden is still with Team Penske and has had a strong start. He took pole position and converted this pole into a win at the first race in St. Petersburg.
Christchurch, New Zealand
Car #3
Scott has driven most of his career in Supercar series - prior to moving to open wheel racing in the 2020 IndyCar Series with Team Penske. From 2010 - 2016 Scott competed in a number of V8 Supercar Series around the world with his best results coming in 2012. McLaughlin took home 1st place at both the V8 SuperTourers Championship with a Holden VE Commodore at MPC Motorsport and Dunlop V8 Supercar Series with a Ford FG Falcon at Stone Brothers Racing. Scott also notably competed in the International V8 Supercars Championship in 2016, finishing 3rd with a Volvo S60 at Garry Rogers Motorsport.
In 2017 McLaughlin transitioned to competing in the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship with his future IndyCar team, Team Penske (DJR Team Penske). From 2017 - 2020 McLaughlin absolutely dominated the VAS Championship, winning the title in 2018, 2019, and 2020 and finishing 2nd in his first season (2017).
During the 2020 pandemic, Scott was given the opportunity to test the Team Penske IndyCar at Sebring. It was announced that this year, McLaughlin would be Team Penske's 4th car at the Indy 500 - however, due to travel restrictions, he was unable to travel to the United States. He made his series debut that October at the St Petersburg GP and was shortly announced as a full time driver for the 2021 season.
While his first full season in IndyCar was not very successful (finishing 14th), his 2022 and 2023 seasons were much more lucrative - finishing 4th and 3rd place in the championship respectively. He was the highest scoring driver for Team Penske in the 2023 season.
McLaughlin is still with Team Penske and has ALSO had a strong start. He finished in 3rd place at the season opener in St Petersburg.
Queensland, Australia
Car #12
Will Power is the son of Australian driver and team owner Bob Power. He began his racing career in Australia competing for his father's team in Australian Formula Ford from 1998 - 2001. His racing career started strong, taking home 1st place in the Queensland Formula Ford Championship and 2nd place in the Australian Formula Ford Championship in 2000 and 2001 respectively.
In 2001, Power graduated to competing in Formula 3 championships in both Australia and British series. He finished runner up in 2002 in the Australian F3 Championship, 14th and 9th in the British F3 Championships in 2003 and 2004 respectively, and 9th in the 2003 FIA European Formula 3 Cup. Power was even given the opportunity to test drive a Formula 1 car for Minardi in 2004.
Most notably, before his IndyCar debut, Power competed for Champ Car Team Australia from 2005 - 2007. While his highest finish with 4th place in the Championship, Power scored 7 podiums and 2 race wins during his Champ Car Tenure.
In 2008, Champ Car merged with IRL (modern day IndyCar) and Will remained in the series under the new IRL/ IndyCar umbrella - racing for Team Penske. He won the final 'Champ Car' race at Long Beach in 2008, therefore scoring him his first IndyCar Points. From 2009 on, Will Power has remained a cornerstone of Team Penske. He has won 2 IndyCar Championships (2014, 2022), finished 2nd in 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2016, and 3rd in both 2015 and 2018. Power has scored 94 podiums including 39 race wins and the 2018 Indy 500. Will Power is also the all time record holder for pole positions in IndyCar.
As with the rest of Team Penske, Power has had a strong start to the 2024 season, scoring 4th place in the season opener at St Petersburg.
While the McLaren racing brand is very familiar to Formula 1 fans - Arrow McLaren represents 2 separate companies: Arrow Electronics, McLaren Racing and Schmidt Peterson Motorsports (joined the team in 2019). This team was called Sam Schmidt Motorsports from its creation in 2001 until 2020 when McLaren Racing returned to the IndyCar Grid (for the first time since 1970). During their tenure as Sam Schmidt Motorsports, they achieved many race wins, and 7 INDY NXT titles.
In 2021, McLaren became the majority stakeholder of the team, where the team had its highest finish by Pato O'Ward in 3rd place overall.
Arrow McLaren drivers finished in 4th, 9th, and 12th during the 2023 season.
Monterrey, Mexico
Car #5
Pato O'Ward is a very popular name, not only in IndyCar but in Formula 1. He began his racing career in 2013, racing for lower formula series around the world including Formula Renault, Formula 2000, and Formula 4 championships. His most notable finish was in the 2015-2016 NACAM Formula 4 Championship, scoring 247 points and finishing 3rd overall.
O'Ward competed in the Pro Mazda Championship in both 2015 and 2016 for Team Pelfrey, finishing 2nd in 2016 - paving the way for his Indy Series debut. In 2017 Pato competed in Indy Lights on behalf of Team Pelfrey, with a disappointing 15th place finish. Simultaneously, he competed and won both the IMSA SportsCar Championship – PC and North American Endurance Cup – PC on behalf of Performance Tech Motorsports
In to 2018, Andretti Autosport signed O'Ward to compete in the Indy Lights championship for a 2nd year... which was a great choice for the team because O'Ward scored 13 podiums, 9 race wins, and the overall title. This same year, he made his IndyCar debut with Harding Racing, finishing 9th. He would also go on to part time drive in 2019 for Carlin Motorsport after his Harding contract 'fell through'. He only drove in 8 of the 13 races this year because he had signed a contract with Red Bull Junior team - even competing in Formula 2 and Super Formula. However, due to lack of Super License Points, the FIA ruled that O'Ward could not drive in F1 and Red Bull released him.
From the 2020 season on, Pato O'Ward has driven for the McLaren Racing team. Famously, McLaren CEO Zak Brown promised O'Ward an F1 drive as long as he could win one IndyCar race. O'Ward was given 2 opportunities to drive the McLaren F1 car in 2021 and throughout the years he has tested the F1 car several times. He was even named as one of the 2024 McLaren Reserve Drivers.
With Arrow McLaren, Pato has finished at the head of the pack consistently, scoring 3rd place in 2021, 21 podiums, 5 race wins, and finishing 2nd in the 2022 Indy 500.
Pato had had a strong start to his season, finishing the season opener at St Petersburg in 2nd place.
Nevada City, California, USA
Car #7
Rossi began his career in 2006 racing in both the Formula TR 1600 Pro Series and a number of Formula BMW series from 2006 - 2008. He scored 3rd place in Formula BMW Americas in 2007, 1st place in Formula BMW Americas in 2008 and 1st in the Formula BMW World Final. These successful finishes put him on the racing map at the very start of his career.
From 2009 - 2015 Rossi has competed in both GP2 and GP3 championships, with his highest finish of 2nd place overall coming in 2015 in the GP2 Series with Racing Engineering. He also competed in endurance racing in 2013 in both WEC and Le Mans in the LMP2 category. This is something that he has continued during most of his racing career - transitioning to the American IMSA Sportscar Championship from 2019 - Present. During this time Alex, also competed in a handful of Formula series including Formula Renault 3.5 and test driving for a multitude of Formula 1 teams from 2014 - 2016. Rossi made his F1 driving debut in 2015 under Manor Racing, competing in 5 races this season.
Rossi joined IndyCar in 2016 under the Andretti Autosport team where he remained until 2022. In 2018, Rossi finished 2nd place overall and in 2019 Rossi finished 3rd place overall in the IndyCar Championship. During his time at Andretti, Rossi racked up 35 podiums, 9 race wins, and won the Indy 500 during his rookie season.
In 2023, Alex signed a contract to race for Arrow Mclaren. He finished in 9th place during his first year with the team including 1 podium.
Rossi has had a decent start to the 2024 season, finishing 8th in his first race at St. Petersburg.
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Car #6
Malukas made his open-wheel racing debut in 2016, racing in the Formula 4 UAE Championship and finishing 5th overall. He continued on to race in ADAC F4 Championship in 2017, with a much more disappointing 19th place finish. He also competed in a handful of other lower Formulae including the U.S. F2000 National Championship (10th place with 1 pole) and Formula Regional Americas Championship (2nd place with 2 wins and 13 other podiums).
David moved from the lower formula racing pools to the Indy Lights competition in 2019 under HMD Motorsports. HMD Motorsports was created and is owned by Malukas' father, Henry Malukas - during the 2019 and 2021 season with the team (2020 was cancelled due to COVID-19), Malukas finished 6th and 2nd respectively.
David's strong performances in Indy Lights earned him a seat with Dale Coyne Racing in IndyCar in 2022 (in partnership with his father's team HMD Motorsports). However, Malukas' performance was less than thrilling - finishing 16th and 17th in 2022 and 2023 respectively.
It was announced that David Malukas would drive for Arrow McLaren for the 2024 season. However, the team rookie has yet to make his debut due to a severe injury to his arm. Malukas was replaced by well known IndyCar alum (and Arrow McLaren reserve driver) Callum Illot for both the St. Petersburg race and the $1M Challenge. He will make his debut with Arrow McLaren at the Grand Prix of Long Beach.
Elk Grove, California, USA
Car # N/A
Kyle Larson is an extremely decorated NASCAR Driver. He won the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East in 2012 and the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series. He also placed 2nd in the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series. Larson has not raced in IndyCar before.
Kyle Larson will be the 4th addition to the Arrow McLaren team for ONLY the Indy 500 during the 2024 season.
Andretti Global (formerly Andretti Autosport) is in fact that Andretti - a family who has been the cornerstone of motorsports worldwide. The team is now led by racing legend Michael Andretti and has teams competing in IndyCar, Indy NXT, IMSA, and Formula E - with additional drivers in Extreme E, Mexico SuperCopa, and Australian Supercars. Andretti joined the Indy competition in 2003 after switching their newly purchased team from the CART series. Since that point, they have won 4 IndyCar championships and 5 Indy NXT championships. Additionally, the team has won the Indy 500 6 times.
In the 2023 season, the drivers for Andretti placed 10th, 11th, 13th, and 22nd in the championship.
Santa Clarita, California, USA
Car #26
Colton Herta has IndyCar racing in his blood as the son of former driver Bryan Herta. In 2015, Herta made his debut in open-wheel racing at the MSA Formula Championship, placing 3rd in his inaugural season. Throughout 2016, he continued to race in the Formula circuits with Carlin Motorsport competing in the Euroformula Open Championship (3rd place), Spanish Formula 3 Championship (2nd place), BRDC British Formula 3 Championship (19th place) and drove one race in the Masters of Formula 3.
Once 2017 rolled around, Colton made his transition into the Indy series, driving for Andretti in the feeder series, Indy Lights. He performed extremely well, placing 3rd in 2017 and 2nd in 2018 (as well as driving one IndyCar race in 2018)- earning him a full time seat in the 2019 IndyCar series. During his rookie season, Herta raced for Harding Steinbrenner Racing, finishing 7th place overall, only 5 points behind the highest scoring rookie, Felix Rosenqvist. However, in this season, Colton set the record for the youngest driver to ever win an IndyCar race at the IndyCar Classic at Circuit of the Americas (COTA).
In 2020, Colton signed to drive with Andretti Autosport, where he has remained to the present day. Along with his IndyCar career, Colton drives in the IMSA SportCar Championship for Andretti Autosport. His best finish thus far was 3rd in the IndyCar Championship in 2020. Herta finished the 2023 season in 10th place with only 1 podium.
Herta has started the season strong, finishing in 5th place during the season opener in St. Petersburg.
Jupiter, Florida, USA
Car #27
Kirkwood began his career in 2015 racing in various open-wheel Formula series around the world. He began with the F1600 Championship Series with Chastain Motorsports, placing 6th overall. From there Kirkwood began to find real levels of success in Formula 4 and Formula 3. In 2016, he placed 3rd in the United States Formula 4 Championship and in 2017 Kyle placed 1st in the same championship with Cape Motorsports. He quickly graduated to the Formula 3 Americas Championship in 2018 where he placed 1st. In the same year, he took hom the U.S. F2000 National Championship title as well. His final Formula series was Euroformula Open Championship where he competed in only 2 races.
In the midst of his Formula racing success, Kirkwood competed in his first Indy event - Taking home 1st place in the Indy Pro 2000 Championship with RP Motorsport. In 2021, he joined the Indy Lights series with Andretti and took home 1st place with 10 race wins and 14 podiums. He made his IndyCar Series debut in 2022 with A.J. Foyt Enterprises, but only placed 22nd in the championship before quickly being picked up by his Indy Lights team - Andretti for the 2023 season.
Kirkwood placed 11th overall in the 2023 IndyCar Championship with 2 race wins. Since 2020 Kirkwood has also competed in the IMSA SportCar Championship with Vasser Sullivan Racing (as with a number of other IndyCar drivers).
2024 Season
Kirkwood placed 12th in the 2024 Indycar series opener at St. Petersburg.
Kumla, Sweden
Car #28
Ericsson is one of the handful of IndyCar drivers you may recognize from Formula 1. He began his open-wheel racing career in 2007 with a championship win in Formula BMW in the UK. From there, Ericsson moved up through the formulas throughout the years. He placed 5th in the British Formula 3 in 2008, 1st in the All- Japan Formula 3 Championship in 2009, and 11th in the British Formula 3 season of 2009. He also test drove for Brawn GP in 2009.
Before his F1 debut, Ericsson spent 2009 - 2013 racing in various GP2 series. In the 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013 GP2 series, Marcus placed 17th, 10th, 8th, and 6th respectively. Although, his highest finish was in the GP2 Final of 2011, coming in 2nd place racing for iSport International.
In 2014, Ericsson made his Formula 1 debut with Caterham F1 team. In his rookie season, he finished 19th overall, with the team falling into administration before the final races of the season. From 2015 - 2018 Ericsson drove for Sauber (Alfa Romeo and now Stake F1). His highest finish was 17th in the drivers standings in 2018 and Marcus won no races and scored only 18 points across his 4 seasons with the team. He was most notably the teammate of current F1 driver Charles Leclerc in 2018.
After his Formula 1 career ended (although he was the Alfa Romeo reserve in 2019), Ericsson joined the IndyCar Series with Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. He finished 17th in his rookie season, having missed races to serve as Kimi Raikkonen's reserve in Formula 1. In the 2020 season, Marcus moved to the Chip Ganassi IndyCar team where he would remain until 2023. Marcus finished 12th in his first season with Chip Ganassi in 2020, but has gone on to score a consistent 6th place from 2021-2023 with 9 podiums, 4 of which are race wins. He most notably finished 2nd in the Indy 500 in 2023 after a last second overtake by Josef Newgarden.
During this time, Marcus has also competed in the Porsche Carerra Cup Scandinavia and IMSA SportCar Championship.
2024 Season
Ericsson has had a tough start to his 2024 season with his new team at Andretti, not finishing (DNF) the season opener at St. Petersburg.
Nazareth, Pennsylvania, USA
Car # N/A
Yes... again... THAT Andretti! Marco is the grandson of Mario and son of Michael Andretti (team owner). Marco has had a successful IndyCar career from 2006 - 2020 with 2 wins, 6 poles, and 107 top 10 finishes. He drives in various NASCAR series, now, but has returned to his father's team to compete as the 4th driver in the Indy 500 from 2021 - present.
2024 Season
Marco Andretti will be the 4th addition to the Arrow McLaren team for ONLY the Indy 500 during the 2024 season.
Chip Ganassi has been a cornerstone of motorsport for most of his adult life. The team entered IndyCar in 2000 with an entry and subsequent win at the Indy 500. The team joined IndyCar full time in 2002 and have been one of the most successful teams alongside team Penske.
Today, the teams include 5 cars racing in the IndyCar Series (2 of which are not full time drivers), a team in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, a car in Extreme E, and a team competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship. Overall the teams have 22 championships and 253 wins including Indy 500, Daytona 500, 24 Hours of Le Mans, Rolex 24, and 12 Hours of Sebring.
In IndyCar alone, they have boasted 11 championship wins and 5 Indy 500 wins including Alex Palou's championship win during the 2023 season with Scott Dixon taking home 2nd place.
Barcelona, Spain
Car #10
Alex began his open-wheel racing career competing in several Formula championships. In 2014 he competed in both the SuperFormula Open Championship and the Spanish F3 championship with Campos Racing, where he finished 3rd and 2nd respectively. Later that year, Palou competed in the BRDC Formula 4 championship, but only finished in 23rd place.
In 2015, Palou graduated to the GT3 series with Campos Racing, where he remained for 2 seasons (2015-2016). However, he was not seeing success with his driving or the car, finishing 10th and 15th respectively. Palou moved back to Formula racing series in 2017, joining the Japanese F3 Championship and finishing 3rd overall. This earned him a spot in Formula 2 with Campos racing, as a reserve driver which resulted in him competing in 2 of the final races of that season.
In 2018, Palou returned to Europe full-time for a season in the Formula 3 European Championship. He scored 7 podiums which resulted in 7th in the championship. He then moved back to Japan in 2019 to compete in Super GT and SuperFormula. Although he only placed 15th in SuperGT, Palou came in 3rd in the SuperFormula Championship.
Finally in 2020, Palou made his final move to IndyCar. He spent his first season at Dale Coyne Racing where he scored his first podium and finished 16th in the championship. He moved to Chip Ganassi Racing in 2021 where he has remained through the 2024 season - the team where Palou became the man to beat on the track. He has won the IndyCar Championship twice in 3 years with the team (2021, 2023), including 9 wins out of 23 podiums. Simultaneously Palou served as McLaren F1's reserve driver in 2023, and has competed in IMSA SportsCar Championship for the past 2 seasons.
Alex Palou is the reigning champion of Indycar.
2024 Season
Alex has had a decent start to the 2024 season, finishing 6th in the first race at St Petersburg.
Queensland, Australia
Car #9
Scott Dixon is one of the staples of IndyCar, from its former era (CART series) to present and SportsCar series including IMSA. He has been a cornerstone of American open-wheel racing and specifically the Chip Ganassi Racing team for over 20 years (whether in IndyCar or SportsCar). For the sake of giving Scott Dixon the credit he deserves, we will review his wins and titles in table format:
Scott Dixon finished in 2nd place in the 2023 IndyCar Championship.
2024 Season
Scott has had a slow start to the 2024 season, finishing 9th at the St Petersburg series opener.
ChristChurch, New Zealand
Car #11
Marcus Armstrong is a very familiar name to fans of the lower formulae. He began his racing career in the Toyota Finance 86 Championship from 2013 - 2016 where his highest finish was 7th in 2014. He then moved to the more popular Formula series on his road to competing for a Formula 1 seat.
In 2017, Marcus competed in the Italian F4 championship and ADAC Formula 4 Championship with Prema Powerteam. He made his mark immediately finishing in 1st and 2nd respectively. In 2018, he moved up to Formula 3 and competed with Prema again in the Formula 3 European Championship, finishing 5th. He returned again to the FIA Formula 3 Championship series with Prema in 2019, finishing 2nd and earning a coveted seat in FIA Formula 2. Marcus spent 3 seasons in Formula 2, but did not finish the championship higher than 13th place in the 3 years (with 3 different teams). He did, however, achieve 4 wins and 8 podiums. During this time from 2017 - 2019, Armstrong competed in the Toyota Racing Series M2 competition, finishing 4th, 3rd, and finally 2nd over his 3 seasons.
In 2023, Marcus' career in Formula 2 came to an end, but his IndyCar career began with Chip Ganassi Racing. He was a part time driver, competing in the road and street circuit. While he had no experience in the Indy-style car, he finished with 214 points in 20th place overall.
2024 Season
Marcus will have a full time seat in the 2024 season of IndyCar. Also, having completed his oval-test, he will be allowed to compete in ovals and at the 2024 Indy 500. Armstrong is off to a slow start, not finishing the season opener at St Petersburg.
Tyreso, Sweden
Car #8
Linus made his single seater debut in 2015 during the Formula Renault 1.6 Nordic Championship, where he claimed 4th overall. He returned in 2016 and took home the championship. He made a very similar debut in the Formula Renault 1.6 NEZ Championship, claiming 3rd in 2015 and then returning for the title in 2016. In 2017, he moved up to the F4 British Championship, finishing 5th. That same year competed in 3 races BRDC British Formula 3, paving the way for him to race full time in this series in 2018. Lundqvist went on to win the British Formula 3 Championship in 2018. Finally, in 2019 and 2020 Linus competed in the Euroformula Open championships and Formula Regional Americas. He won both the EuroFormula Open Winter series and the Formula Regional Americas championship.
Lundqvist moved to the IndyCar feeder series, Indy Lights in 2021. Similarly to how he competed in his early years, Linus finished 3rd in 2021... but that wasn't good enough for him and he returned to claim the 2022 Indy Lights title.
Although his performance in Indy LIghts was impressive, he did not have a full time drive in the 2023 IndyCar series. He only competed in 3 races with Meyer Shank Racing, taking over for injured Simon Pagenaud.
2024 Season
Linus signed a multi-year deal to join Chip Ganassi beginning with the 2024 season. He has not had a strong start, finishing 23rd in the season opener at St Petersburg.
Bridgetown, Barbados
Car #4
Kyffin is one of the youngest drivers on the IndyCar grid at only 19 years old. He began his career in the 2020 Formula 4 United States Champoinship, finishing in 18th. This same year, he competed in the Formula Regional Americas Championship, finishing 13th. In 2021, he returned to the Formula Regional Americas Championship and won the title with 7 wins and 13 podiums.
Simpson has also competed in IMSA SportsCar for the past 2 years in the LMP2 category. During the Asian Le Mans Series AND the European Le Mans Series, he performed very well placing 3rd and 1st respectively.
His road to IndyCar began in 2021 with Juncos Hollinger Racing at the Indy Pro 2000 Championship (although he only finished 18th). However in 2022 and 2023, Kyffin competed in the Indy Lights (Indy NXT as of 2023) series, finishing 9th in 2022 and 10th in 2023. During this time Kyffin was a development driver for the Chip Ganassi team and was announced as their 5th full time driver for the 2024 season.
2024 Season
Simpson has had a strong start to the season, finishing ahead of all of the IndyCar rookies in the season opener at St. Petersburg- as well as setting the 2nd fastest lap of the race.
Meyer Shank has successfully competed in motorsports for nearly 30 years, but have had a resurgence as a championship winning team in IndyCar and various SportsCar championships for only the past decade or so.
The smaller team has claimed 3 IMSA titles in the past 4 years and also led Helio Castroneves to his 4th Indy 500 victory in 2021 (becoming the 4th driver to ever achieve this feat). They aim to 'revive' their IndyCar lineup this season with a handful of new drivers competing as well as their Indy 500 champion returning to aim for a 5th.
Last season in 2023, Helio was their only full time driver, finishing only 18th. While their second car was split between 4 drivers throughout the season.
Varnamo, Sweden
Car #60
Felix has an extremely long and successful racing career beginning in 2007. He started off with the Formula Circuit, where he competed from 2007 - 2019. In 2007 and 2008 he competed in the Asian Formula Renault Challenge, finishing 4th and 8th respectively. Also in 2008, he competed in the Formula Renault 2.0 Asia championship - winning the title. The next year he competed in the Formula Renault 2.0 Sweden Championship, Formula Renault 2.0 NEZ and Formula Palmer - winning every single one of these titles.
In 2010 (and until 2015), Rosenqvist moved up to Formula 3 championships around the world. In 2010 he placed 5th in the German Formula 3 Championship. The next year he competed in the Formula 3 Euro Series and Masters of Formula 3. He took home the masters title and 5th place in the Euro series. Felix returned to the Formula 3 Euro series and Masters of Formula 3 in 2012 finishing 4th and 9th respectively. More importantly, in 2012, Felix finished 3rd in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship, and 2nd at the Macau Grand Prix. Felix competed in the Masters of Formula 3 a final time in 2013, winning the series for a second time. From 2013 - 2015 he also competed in the FIA Formula 3 Championship, finishing 2nd and 8th in 2013 and 2014 before finally taking home the title in 2015 (and winning the Macau Grand Prix twice in a row).
Rosenqvist moved to a very different series in 2016. He competed in the Formula E series for Mahindra racing for 3 seasons, finishing 3rd in 2016, 5th in 2017, and only racing once in the 2018 season. During this time, Felix also took home 3rd place in the 2017 SuperFormula Championship and competed for various SportCar series including GT and IMSA.
Felix moved to IndyCar in 2019 with Chip Ganassi Racing - winning the Rookie of the Year title and finishing 6th in the standings with 2 podiums. He remained with Chip Ganassi in 2020, scoring his first race win but finishing 11th. In 2021, he moved to Arrow McLaren, where he remained from 2021 - 2023. His highest finish with the team was 8th in the championship with 5 podiums.
2024 Season
Rosenqvist left Arrow McLaren for Meyer Shank for the 2024 season. He had a strong start at the season opener at St Petersburg, finishing 7th.
Varnamo, Sweden
Car #66
Tom has a racing history similar to Felix, his teammate. From 2009 - 2014 he competed in various lower Formulae before moving on to other series. In 2009 and 2010 he competed in the Formula Renault 2.0 Sweden, Formula Renault 2.0 NEZ, and Formula Renault UK series'. Blomqvist was consistent and a very strong driver, finishing in 3rd twice and winning the UK series in 2010. At this point, in 2011 Tom moved up to Formula 3 championship events. He competed in German Formula 3 in 2011 and 2012 finshing 6th and 5th respectively. He then competed in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship for 3 seasons from 2012 - 2014. HIs highest finish was 2nd place in 2014 with Carlin Motorsport.
Blomqvist tried his hand at a different style of racing from 2015 - 2017, competing in DTM (BMW). He became the youngest person to win a race in this series in 2015 and finished 6th in 2016 as his highest result. During this time and to the present day, Blomqvist competed in various SportsCar series including IMSA, Asian Le Mans, WEC, and 24 hour races (Nurburgring).
Tom moved to Formula E in 2017 where he remained until 2022 as a reserve driver. The only season that Tom had a full-time seat in this series was 2020-2021 with NIO 333. However, the car was the slowest on the grid.
At this point, Tom (while still competing in endurance and sportscar racing) moved to IndyCar he drove in 3 races during the 2023 season, replacing an injured Simon Pagenaud.
2024 Season
Blomqvist was given a full time seat at Meyer Shank for 2024 and has had a slow start at the season opener in St Petersburg, finishing in 17th.
Sao Paolo, Brazil
Car # N/A
Helio Castroneves is an IndyCar GREAT. He has won the Indy 500 four times in 2001, 2002, 2009, and 2021 - one of only 4 drivers to ever do so. In modern day IndyCar (not including CART), Helio has secured 25 wins, 84 podiums, and 48 poles. He has retired from full-time racing as of now.
2024 Season
Helio Castroneves will return to race only at the Indy 500 during the 2024 season, shooting for a 5th win.
Ed Carpenter Racing is entering its 13th season competing in IndyCar and is led by the only owner/driver (Ed will compete in the Indy 500). The team began with Ed Carpenter funding HIS OWN drives during the 2012 and 2013 season, with no other drivers on the team. Since this point, ECR has expanded to a large lineup for the Indy 500 and 2 full time drivers.
The team finished in 14th with their only full time driver, but had 3 other part time drivers to fill the other car (including Ed himself).
Hoofddorp, Netherlands
Car #21
Rinus began his junior racing career in various lower Formulae and 'challenges' in 2016. From 2016-2019 he competed in the MRF Challenge Formula 2000, finishing 10th and 2nd respectively. He then moved to the U.S. F2000 National Championship where he finished 2nd - followed up by two years (2017 and 2018) in the BOSS GP Series where he finished 2nd and 5th. His greatest achievements during this time period was winning the Pro Mazda Championship with Juncos Racing in 2018 and the F3 Asian Winter Series in 2019.
In 2019, Veekay made his Indy debut, securing 2nd place in the Indy Lights championship feeder series, and therefore securing a spot for him in the 2020 IndyCar series. He has remained with Ed Carpenter Racing since 2020, finishing 12th in 2021 and 2022 as his highest finish.
He also competes in IMSA races at the Daytona 24 every year.
2024 Season
Veekay has had a decent start to his 2024 season, finishing 10th in the season opener at St Petersburg.
Hoofddorp, Netherlands
Car #20
Christian Rasmussen is relatively new to racing. He raced in lower formulae from 2016 - 2020 and saw a HIGH magnitude of success. IN 2016 he competed in the Danish Formula Ford Champoinsihp, finishing 2nd. In 2017 he moved to the Danish F4 Championship, finishing 3rd - immediately followed by the US Formula 4 Championship in 2018, where he also finished 3rd. In 2019 Rasmussen remained in the US, competing in the F2000 National Championship, placing 3rd AGAIN before returning in 2020 and winning the Championship Title.
In 2021, Rasmussen moved to the Indy circuit, competing in and winning the Indy Pro 2000 Championship. This performance earned him an Indy Lights seat for 2022 and 2023 (when it was renamed to Indy NXT). Over the course of his 2 seasons in the feeder series, Christian finished 6th in his first year and then claimed the title in his second year with Dale Coyne Racing.
During this time, Rasmussen also competed in IMSA SportsCar - LMP2. He placed 1st in their first race of 2024.
2024 Season
Rasmussen is an IndyCar rookie this year and finished 21st in the season opener at St Petersburg.
Paris, Illinois, United States
Car # N/A
Ed Carpenter is a cornerstone of IndyCar who has competed in the series in some capacity since 2003, including funding his own drives and starting his own team in 2012. Throughout the years, he never finished the championship in higher than 12th place, however, he loves the sport enough to keep going. He has 3 wins, 9 podiums, and 4 pole positions to his name.
2024 Season
Ed Carpenter will return to race only at the Indy 500 during the 2024 season, as well as leading his namesake team.
A.J. Foyt Racing was created in 1965 after its namesake and successful IndyCar driver A.J. Foyt. During this time they won 2 Indy 500s and 3 IndyCar Championship titles, thanks to their team namesake. Since Foyt retired in 1993, the team has claimed 2 more IndyCar Series Championships and the 1999 Indy 500 title.
The team is now led by Larry Foyt, A.J. son, who abandoned his NASCAR career to run the team in 2006. They currently have 2 full time drivers, and those drivers finished 19th and 27th in the 2023 championship.
Woodbury, Connecticut, United States
Car #14
Santino began his career in 2014 working through the lower formulae in Europe. He began with the FIA Formula 3 European Championship, where he remained for 2 seasons finishing 19th and 11th respectively. He also had a stint German Formula 3, finishing 10th in 2014. In 2015, he tried his hand at GP3 driving where he would remain for the 2016 and 2017 seasons, finishing 12th and 19th respectively.
During this time, Ferrucci's potential path to Formula 1 opened up as he was signed the Haas F1 Team's Test/ Reserve driver program in 2016. In 2018 he competed for half of a season in the FIA Formula 2 Championship with Trident while remaining a Haas F1 Development driver. Throughout the 2018 season, Ferrucci was the subject of numerous incidents of 'bad behavior' and 'poor sportsmanship' including breaking safety and security rules, intentionally pushing his teammate off the track numerous times, and campaigning for Donald Trump while competing. He was dropped from the team and not allowed to compete in a handful of events.
In 2018 Santino moved to IndyCar, racing in a handful of events for Dale Coyne Racing. He earned a full time seat in the 2019 and 2020 seasons with Dale Coyne Racing before leaving for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. However, this season was cut short as he was replaced with young driver Christian Lundgaard.
He was given a full time seat during the 2023 season with A.J. Foyt Racing and finished 19th with only 1 podium.
2024 Season
Ferucci finished in 11th place in the 2024 season opener at St Petersburg.
Boise, Idaho, United States
Car #41
Sting Ray (yes, that's his real name) is relatively new to the racing world. He began racing in 2015 at the Skip Barber Winter Series, claiming 2nd place to kick off his career. In 2016 and 2018 he also tried his hand at NASCAR in the K&N Pro Series, placing 29th and 42nd.
He moved into the Indy circuits in 2017, competing in Pro Mazda (later renamed to Indy Pro 2000) in 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020. He finished 6th, 7th, and 4th in his first 3 years before finally claiming the championship in 2020. In 2021 and 2022, Robb competed in the Indy LIghts series finishing 8th and then 2nd before moving up to the IndyCar Series in 2023 with Dale Coyne Racing. He finished 23rd in the 2023 championship.
2024 Season
Sting Ray moved to the A.J. Foyt team in 2024 and did not finish (DNF) the season opener at St Petersburg.
Rahal Letterman Lanigan was initially created by former Indy 500 champion Bobby Rahal and Carl Hogan in 1991. Later, with the addition of David Letterman, it became Team Rahal in 1996, and was known as Rahal Letterman Racing from May 2004 until December 2010. Co-owner Michael Lanigan joined the team in 2010, where the team name now remains.
The team currently competes in the IndyCar Championship and the IMSA SportCar Championship. Although the team has competed in many seasons of IndyCar, they only have 25 race wins and 2 Indy 500 victories. In the 2023 season of IndyCar they finished 8th and 15th with a 3rd car that had several part-time drivers.
Miami, Florida, United States
Car #30
The last name Fittipaldi may be familiar to you... because the entire family is made up of racing drivers. Pietro is the 4th driver to have raced in Formula 1 in the family and has found a home in IndyCar. Pietro began his career with 2 back to back seasons in NASCAR's All American Series from 2011 - 2012, finishing 1st and 5th respectively.
In 2013 Pietro moved to the Formula circuit. In his first year he raced in Protyre Formula Renault Championship, Formula Renault Autumn Cup, BRDC Formula 4 and the Formula 4 winter championship. His lowest finish amongst all of these series was 15th in the Formula 4 Championship. In 2014, Pietro returned to Protyre Formula Renault to win the series followed by a 9th place in the Renault 2.0 Alps. It wasn't until 2015 that he began to move up through the Formula series to Formula 3 where he finished 17th in the championship. During this time and into the 2016 season, Pietro also competed in the MRF Challenge Formula 2000, taking home the title before moving to the Formula V8 series where he placed 10th in 2016. He then returned to this series in 2017 and took home 1st place.
In 2018 Pietro started his move into IndyCar, as a part time driver for Dale Coyne Racing. Simultaneously, he competed in one race in the Super Formula series. Continuing down the Formula circuit, Fittipaldi became a Test Driver for the Haas F1 Team in 2019 and is still on their reserve driver list through the 2024 season. Shockingly in 2020 Fittipaldi was able to drive the Haas F1 car in 2 races after Romain Grosjean's near fatal crash.
In 2021 and 2023 Pietro raced part time in the IndyCar series. More consistently, throughout the 2021 - 2024 IndyCar Seasons Fittipaldi has competed in IMSA SportsCar LMP2 Class as well as Stock Car series and a handful of 24 hour endurance races.
2024 Season
Pietro is racing his first full IndyCar season this year and placed 15th in the season opener in St Petersburg.
New Albany, Ohio, United States
Car #15
Graham Rahal is the son of team owner and Indy 500 winner, Bobby Rahal. Graham's racing career is very simple to follow, unsurprisingly! He has competed in SportCar events and/or IndyCar during his entire adult racing career. On the IndyCar (and Champ Car) side of the aisle, Graham has always driven for his father's team and throughout his 17 seasons of IndyCar he has scored 6 wins, 29 podiums, and 5 pole positions. However, his highest finish in the IndyCar Championship was 4th place during the 2015 IndyCar Season.
Graham has also competed in several Le Mans Series (American Le Mans), Rolex 24 at Daytona, and the IMSA SportCar Championship - his tenure in these series ended in 2019, when he turned his full attention to IndyCar and his family.
Graham finished the 2023 IndyCar Championship in 15th place with 2 pole positions.
2024 Season
Graham has started off the 2024 IndyCar season in 16th place just behind his teammate, Pietro Fittipaldi, after the first race at St Petersburg.
Hedensted, Denmark
Car #45
Christian began his career in the Formula Series and quickly moved up the ranks throughout the years. Starting in 2017, Lundgaard competed in three F4 championships including SMP F4, Spanish F4, and Danish F4. He quickly impressed the field claiming two titles in his first two series, and driving extremely well in his 3 races in Danish F4. The next year, 2018, Christian competed in Formula Renault Eurocup coming in 2nd place and 2 races in the GP3 Series.
In 2019, Christian moved upwards again to FIA Formula 3, finishing 6th and was even able to compete in 2 races in FIA Formula 2 ahead of his F2 debut. In 2020 Lundgaard officially moved into the FIA Formula 2 Championship with ART Grand Prix, where he remained for 2 years. In 2020 he finished 7th with 2 race wins and 6 podiums and in 2021 he finished 12th with 3 podiums. At this point, Christian had been selected as a Sim Driver for the Alpine F1 Team.
In 2021, Christian moved to IndyCar with one race at RLL, finishing 12th and securing his position at the team. Lundgaard competed in full seasons for the team in 2022 and 2023, quickly impressing the Indy field with race wins and podiums. He finished the 2023 season in 8th place overall (highest of the team).
2024 Season
Lundgaard has returned for his 3rd full season in IndyCar and has had a rough start placing 20th in first race at St Petersburg.
Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
Car # N/A
You may recognize Sato's name from his tenure in Formula 1. He was a driver from 2002 - 2008 with Jordan, BAR, and Super Aguri, claiming no wins but scoring a handful of points. Sato moved to IndyCar in 2010 and performed at a much better level, scoring 6 wins, 14 podiums, and 10 pole positions with various teams.
Most notably, he has won the Indy 500 twice in 2017 and 2020.
2024 Season
Takuma Sato will only drive in the Indy 500 this season.
Juncos Racing entered IndyCar (CART Series) in 1997 but did not become the team we know today until 2021 when Brad Hollinger (of Williams F1) joined the team. The team has found previous success in multiple U.S. motorsport categories, winning a handful of INDY NXT and Indy Pro 2000 titles, as well as strong entries at both the Rolex 24 At Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring races.
The Juncos Hollinger Racing drivers finished in 16th and 21st during the 2023 IndyCar Season.
Arrecifes, Argentina
Car #78
Augustin Canapino spent most of his career in Touring Car Championships, where he is a very decorated driver. From 2006 - 2022, Canapino raced in exclusively touring car series taking home 15 Championship titles, 5 2nd place finishes, and 7 3rd place finishes. Canapino was awarded the Olimpia de Oro award in 2018 for the best Argenti sportsman of the year.
In 2019 he was asked by Ricardo Juncos (Juncos Racing) to race at the 24 Hours of Daytona and later the 12 hours of Sebring. Shortly after, in 2023, he completed his first season in IndyCar with Juncos Hollinger, finishing 21st in the championship.
2024 Season
Agustin Canapino has had a slow start to the 2024 season, finishing the first race at St Petersburg in 18th place.
Geneva, Switzerland
Car #77
Yes, THAT Romain Grosjean. Romain worked his way up through the Formula series and GP series from 2003 - 2011. He became a test driver for the Lotus F1 team in 2010 and 2011 before receiving a seat on their 2012 Formula 1 Team. During his time at Lotus (2012 - 2015), his highest finish was 7th in the World Drivers Championship - he also earned 10 podiums and 1 pole position. In 2016 Grosjean moved to the all new Haas F1 Team where he remained until 2020. He scored no wins, podiums, or poles with Haas and retired in 2020 after a near- fatal accident at the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix. This crash earned him the title 'the Phoenix'.
Upon ending his Formula 1 career, Grosjean immediately joined IndyCar in 2021 - racing part of a season with Dale Coyne racing and finishing 15th. For the 2022 and 2023 season, Grosjean raced for Andretti, scoring 2 poles, 3 podiums and finishing 13th in the IndyCar Championship both years.
2024 Season
Grosjean has begun his 4th season in IndyCar with Juncos Hollinger with an unlucky first race at St Petersburg after crashing.
The Dale Coyne team was founded in 1984 by none other than Dale Coyne. The team went through a number of name changes throughout the years and have also raced in Indy NXT. Although the team has been in the series even before the present era, they have scored no championship wins, no Indianapolis 500 wins, only 6 race wins, and 2 pole positions overall.
The drivers finished 17th and 23rd in the 2023 IndyCar season.
Lincolnshire, United Kingdom
Car #18
Jack began his career in the lower Formula series in 2009. He began by competing in the Formula BMW Europe Series, finishing 7th. The next year in 2010 he returned to the same series and finished 2nd. In 2011 he moved up to British Formula 3 (International Series) where he remained for the 2012 season as well. Although he finished 9th in his first season, he returned to win the championship title in his second season. His final Formula Series was the FIA Formula 3 European Championship where he only competed in 6 races and was Not Classified as a guest driver.
In 2013 he competed in the GP3 Series, finishing 5th before moving into his IndyCar career. In 2014 and 2015, Harvey finished 2nd in the IndyCar Junior series, Indy Lights with Schmidt Peterson Racing. Finally, in 2016 Harvey moved into the IndyCar championship with Meyer Shank racing. He stayed with this team until 2021, with only the 2020 and 2021 seasons as a full time driver. He moved to Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing for the 2022 and 2023 seasons, where he was winless and finsihed 24th during the 2023 season.
2024 Season
Jack Harvey will be racing for his new team, Dale Coyne Racing, in 2024 and finished 19th in the first race at St Petersburg.
Ovalo, Texas
Car #51
Colin Braun is very new to IndyCar but not at all new to winning racing championships. He is an extremely decorated endurance, NASCAR, and SportsCar driver whose professional career began in 2005. He has competed in 24 at Daytona for 20 years and has taken home 3 class championships and 1 overall championship (which is very impressive). He raced in NASCAR from 2007 - 2011, taking home a handful of wins and podiums. He also competed in American Le Mans, taking home many race wins from 2007 - 2013.
Some of Colin's best finishes have been at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the IMSA SportsCar Championship. In 2023, he was part of the winning Le Mans team in his class. He has raced in the SportCar championship from 2014 to the present taking home 3 championship wins, 2 second place finishes, and 1 3rd place finish, as well as, well over 10 race wins.
2024 Season
Braun will race in his first IndyCar races this season and finished 22nd at the season opener at St Petersburg.
This small team was founded in 2000 by Dennis Reinbold, grandson of the famous "Pop" Dreyer. After a rough stint in IndyCar from 2000 - 2012, this team became a part time team. They initially only competed in partial seasons at ovals, and, from 2014 on, only compete at the Indianapolis 500.
Last season their drivers finished 11th and 22nd in the Indy 500.
Noblesville, Indiana, United States
Car # N/A
Conor Daly has competed on and off in IndyCar from 2013 - present with a number of part time seats and full time seats throughout the years across various teams. He has only scored 1 podium in his IndyCar tenure. Daly also drives in NASCAR.
2024 Season
Conor Daly will only drive in the Indy 500 this season.
Dallas, Texas, United States
Car # N/A
Ryan has driven in IndyCar from 2007 to the present day with a very successful career. He won the 2012 IndyCar Championship and the Indy 500 in 2014 with Andretti Autosport. Throughout his IndyCar career he has racked up 16 wins, 44 podiums, and 6 pole positions.
2024 Season
Ryan Hunter-Reay will only drive in the Indy 500 this season.
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