2023 INDYCAR SILLY SEASON
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ANNOUNCEMENTS
POSSIBLE 2024 INDYCAR CANDIDATES
DRIVER EVALUATION TESTS
Jan 4, 2023 - The following drivers tested at Sebring Int'l Raceway in an IndyCar:
test with Ganassi
test with Ganassi
test with Penske
F1 Tester
Indy NXT
IMSA
Robert Schwartzman
Kyffin Simpson
Dane Cameron
TEAM
CONFIRMED DRIVERS
CAR#
2024 INDYCAR DRIVERS CONFIRMED
NOTES
2023 IndyCar Silly Season
Jan 2023 - June 2024
Jan 12, 2023 - Nascar star Kyle Larson announced he will be racing
in the 2024 Indy 500 in a Dallara-Chevrolet fielded by Arrow McLaren
Racing and co-owned by Rick Hendrick.  Afterward, he'll fly to
Charlotte to compete in the Coca-Cola 600.
AJ Foyt Racing
14
41
Santino Ferrucci
Sting Ray Robb
Andretti Global
88
27
28
Colton Herta
Kyle Kirkwood
Marcus Ericsson
Pato O'Ward
Alex Rossi
Theo Pourchaire (R)
Nolan Siegel (R)
5
7
6
6
Arrow McLaren SP
Dale Coyne Racing
51
18
Ed Carpenter
Christian Rasmussen (R)
Rinus VeeKay
20
20
21
Ed Carpenter Racing
Ovals only
All road and street courses
2022 multi-year contract
5/2022 multi-year extension

6/18 - released
6/18 - hired, multi-year deal
8
9
10
11
Linus Lundqvist (R)
Scott Dixon
Alex Palou
Marcus Ericsson
Kyffin Simpson (R)



Will race ovals/multi-yr contrct
Chip Ganassi Racing
06
06
60
Tom Blomqvist (R)
David Malukas
Felix Rosenqvist
June - released
6/7/24 - hired
Meyer Shank Racing
2
3
12
Josef Newgarden
Scott McLaughlin
Will Power

9/6/22 - multi-year deal
Contracted thru 2025
Team Penske

08/2022 - long-term
Graham Rahal
Christian Lundgaard
Pietro Fittipaldi (R)
15
45
30
Rahal Letterman Lanigan
Racing

Jack Harvey
Contracted thru 2027
Contracted thru 2026
multi-yr beginning 2024
Romain Grosjean
Agustin Canapino
77
78
Juncos Hollinger Racing

Contract for 2024
R=Rookie
Jan 23 - Michael Andretti says sportscar aces Ricky and Jordan Taylor are on his radar for an
IndyCar seat.  “Hopefully we’re going to get him (Ricky) in the car soon and see how he does."
Feb 14 - The following drivers tested at Sebring's Short outer loop in an IndyCar:
test with Penske
test with Ganassi
IMSA
Formula E
Felipe Nasr
Nick Cassidy
Mar 13 -  F2 driver Jüri Vips, who tested with RLL last October, is filling in for the injured Jack
Harvey in the No. 30 RLL Honda at a private test at the Barber Motorsports Park today.
Mar 21 - 2022 Indy Lights champion Linus Lundqvist will test for RLL at the Texas Motor
Speedway on April 3rd - the day after the IndyCar race.
May 10 - RLL will test Toby Sowery at Sebring June 8
June 8 - Ed Carpenter Racing has hired Ryan Hunter-Reay to drive
the No. 20 Chevrolet and hopes the experienced driver can help the
team figure out what is wrong with the car.  Hunter-reay joined CART
in 2003.  In 2012, he joined Andretti Autosport and won the IndyCar
Championship. He stayed with the team ten years.  He won Indy in 2014.
June 6 - Ed Carpenter Racing has fired Conor Daly.  He joined the
team in 2020.  Prior, he drove full seasons in IndyCar with Dale Coyne
Racing (2016) and A.J. Foyt Racing (2017).  He also drove some races
for Carlin, Andretti, Harding, and Schmidt Peterson.
July 4 - With sponsorship help from his father's HMD race team, David
Malukas is in his 2nd year in IndyCar and driving for Dale Coyne
Racing.  He reports that the loss of some key team members has him
looking to race elsewhere next year.
July 7 - Andretti Autosport says they plan to have four cars next year
with no pay drivers, meaning they will choose each driver regardless of
any money a driver can bring to the team.  This is likely to affect Devlin
DeFrancesco who's sponsors help put him in the No. 29 car the past
two years.
July 11 - Meyer Shank Racing is bringing in their IMSA champion Tom Blomqvist to fill in for
injured Simon Pagenaud at the Toronto race.  This will be Blomqvist's first IndyCar race.
July 31 - Linus Lundqvist will fill in for injured Simon Pagenaud at the Nashville street race for
Meyer Shank Racing.  This will be Lundqvist's first IndyCar race.
Update - Lundqvist continued driving for MSR through to St. Louis.
Aug 11 - Tom Blomqvist will replace Helio Castroneves in 2024 as a
full-time driver for the Meyer Shank Racing IndyCar team. The English-
man has been driving for MSR this year in their IMSA WeatherTech
Sports Car GTP team.  He raced Formula E in 2021.
Aug 12 - After a year of intrigue over Alex Palou moving to Arrow
McLaren in 2024, Palou announced he will be staying with Chip
Ganassi Racing next year.  Considering he is on his way to another
championship with the CGR team this year, McLaren seemed surprised
and upset, as did Palou's management team, whom he broke ties with.
Aug 15 - RLL has fired Jack Harvey, who moved there from MSR in
2022.  
Aug 16 - Racer Magazine reported that Ganassi is replacing 2022 Indy
500 Winner Marcus Ericsson with rookie Linus Lundqvist in 2024.
Lundqvist won the Indy Lights championship last year and may have a
half million in scholarship money to bring.  He raced in the last two Indy
Car races for MSR, subbing for injured Simon Pagenaud.
-- Contract verified Aug 31.
Aug 23 - Andretti Autosport scooped up Marcus Ericsson to drive
for them in 2024, in a multi-year deal.
INDYCAR DRIVERS
INDY NXT DRIVERS
Callum Ilott
Devlin DeFrancesco
Conor Daly
Ryan Hunter-Reay
Benjamin Pedersen
Simon Pagenaud
Takuma Sato
Hunter McElrea
Aug 28 -  Jüri Vips,making his IndyCar debut, will race the final two rounds of the 2023 season
for RLL in the No. 30.  Vips is a 23-year-old Estonian with experience in Formula 2.
Sep 5 - Meyer Shank Racing has hired Felix Rosenqvist to drive their
No. 60 car in 2024.  Rosenqvist drove for McLaren (2021-23) and for
Ganassi (2019-2020).  McLaren has yet to announce who will replace
Rosenqvist in their No. 6 car.
Sep 8 - Rookie Marcus Armstrong has signed a multi-year contract to
continue driving for Chip Ganassi Racing.  In addition, he will race on
oval tracks too next year.  The Kiwi raced in F2 last year where he won
3 races.  His best finish this year in IndyCar was 7th.
Sep 5 - With the hiring of Rosenqvist, it appears Simon Pagenaud has
been replaced at Meyer Shank Racing.  Pagenaud has not competed
since his violent crash at Mid-Ohio in July.
Aug 11 - Helio Castroneves has been replaced at Meyer Shank
Racing's IndyCar team for 2024.  He will return to race for them in the
2024 Indy 500 to continue his chase of being the only 5-time winner.
He has become a co-owner of the team and will also serve as a
driving coach.
Sep 8 - David Malukas has signed a multi-year contract to begin
racing for Arrows McLaren next year.  This will leave a vacancy at
Dale Coyne Racing.
Sep 8 - Takuma Sato has driven the oval tracks in the No. 11 for Chip
Ganassi Racing in 2023.  Now that Marcus Armstrong has decided
to compete on ovals this year, the 2-time Indy 500 Winner is out of a
job.
Sept 20 - Christian Rasmussen (2023 Indy NXT Champ) and Oliver Askew (2022 Formula E)
recently shared a day on Chevrolet’s Nascar simulator in North Carolina ahead of an upcoming
test at Barber Motorsports Park where Ed Carpenter Racing is expected to evaluate the results
and choose Askew or Rasmussen as the full-time driver for the No. 20 entry.
Sept 20 - Andretti Autosport gave Louis Foster his first IndyCar test yesterday at Road America,
where he completed 74 laps.  Foster drove for Andretti's Indy NXT team this year, finishing 4th in
the championship. Last year, he won the Indy Pro 2000 Championship driving for Exclusive Autosport.
Sept 25 - Christian Rasmussen  and Oliver Askew tested separate IndyCars for Ed Carpenter
Racing at Barber Motorsports Park today.  One of them will likely be hired as driver.
Oct 4 - Romain Grosjean is out at Andretti Autosport and is
suing them. Also, his race engineer, Olivier Boisson, who followed
him to AA is staying to work with new hire, Marcus Ericsson.  
Long-time Andretti sponsor DHL (on Grosjean's car), is departing
the team after this season as well. Will Andretti field a 4th car?
Oct 18 - Juncos Hollinger Racing announced they've extended the
contract for Agustin Canapino another year.
Oct 24 - Pietro Fittipaldi will make his NTT IndyCar Series return
with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, stepping into the No. 30
Honda piloted for most of 2022-2023 by Jack Harvey.
Oct 26 - Ed Carpenter Racing has hired 2023 Indy NXT champion
Christian Rasmussen.  He will race the No. 20 Chevrolet at all street
and road courses in 2024 while Ed takes over the wheel on the ovals.
Oct 26 - Juncos Hollinger Racing announced that it has parted
company with its 2022 and ’23 IndyCar driver Callum Ilott.  The Brit
finished 16th in points this year with best finishes of 5th at the first and
last race of 2023.
Oct 27 - Enzo Fittipaldi will participate in a 2-day IndyCar test at Sebring for Dale Coyne Racing.
(Enzo is the younger brother of Pietro Fittipaldi, who was just hired by RLL.)
The Coyne team may also test Indy NXT driver Jacob Abel at the event next month.
OTHER DRIVERS
Oliver Askew (Formula E)
Tatiana Calderon (LMP2 - ELMS, F2)
Juri Vips (F2) - under contract with RLL
Nov 2 - Juncos Hollinger Racing has hired Romain Grosjean to drive
the No. 77 in 2024.  He drove for Andretti Global in the series the past
two years. Grosjean moved to IndyCar from F1 in 2021 and has had five
2nd-place finishes spread over those three years.
Sep 18 - Chip Ganassi Racing has hired rookie Kyffin Simpson to
drive full-time in IndyCar for the team in  2024.  He has raced in Indy
NXT the past two seasons and has sports car experience.
Sep 26 - Kyle Kirkwood has signed a multi-year contract extension
to remain with Andretti Autosport in the No. 27 AutoNation Honda.
Oct 11 - It has been reported that Andretti Global have said the team
will not be making any further announcements regarding 2024 IndyCar
drivers and that their line-up is complete.  Reducing the team from 4 cars
to 3 frees up a Honda engine lease. This extra engine now means another
Honda team (RLL, Coyne, MSR) could expand if Honda approved.
Dec 15 - Sting Ray Robb has been hired by AJ Foyt Racing to drive the
No. 41 in 2024.  Robb just completed his first year in IndyCar driving for
Dale Coyne Racing; finishing 23rd in points. Foyt did not run No 41 this
season and their No. 14 seat remains unfilled.  What does this mean for
Benjamin Pedersen in the No 55?
Jan 9, 2024 - Santino Ferrucci has been confirmed to remain at A.J.
Foyt Racing, driving the No. 14 Sexton Properties Chevrolet full-time.
Jan 9, 2024 - The press release from AJ Foyt Racing announcing the
signing of Ferrucci, finished by saying that Ferrucci and Robb were their
two drivers and they were not planning a third entry.  This means
Benjamin Pedersen is out.
Nov 7 - Jacob Abel had his first IndyCar test with Dale Coyne Racing at Sebring.  He ran 130 laps.
Abel raced the past two seasons in the Indy NXT series, 2 years in the Indy Pro 2000 series, and
one full season before that in the USF2000 series.

Nov 10 - Abel Motorsports confirmed Jacob Abel will be racing for them again in the Indy NXT
series in 2024.
Team
Rank
Andretti
2nd
Jan 15, 2024 - Danial Frost, who finished 6th in the 2023 Indy NXT series, was a candidate for an
IndyCar ride in 2024.  However, he has to serve a two-year stint in the Singapore military, so his
racing plans are now put on hold.
Oct 10 - HMD Motorsports announced Indy NXT driver Nolan Siegel will be returning to the team
for 2024, so he is out of the running for an IndyCar seat.
Oct 16 - Andretti Global confirmed Indy NXT driver Louis Foster will be returning to the team for
2024, so he is out of the running for an IndyCar seat.
Team
Rank
Juncos
Andretti
Carpenter
Dreyer
Foyt
MSR
CGR
16th
22nd
25th
26th
27th
28th
29th
# Races
17
17
11
11
17
9
5
Dec 12 - Formula 2 champion Theo Pourchaire has signed to drive in the Japanses Super Formula
series in 2024, so, he is off the table.
Dec 7 - Enzo Fittipaldi has signed to drive for a different F2 team in 2024, so he is no longer a
candidate for an IndyCar ride.
Jan 24 - Dale Coyne Racing is the only team who have not announced who their drivers will be this
season.  The first IndyCar test of 2024 was this week at Homestead, Jack Harvey tested their 2024
car on Monday and Tuesday.  Indy NXT driver Nolan Siegel tested the car today.  Hm. Could these
drivers be on Coyne's short list?  DCR will have another test session in February at Sebring.
Feb 25 - Dale Coyne Racing have still not announced their 2024 drivers.  They announced today that
drivers Jack Harvey and sportscar driver Colin Braun will be behind the wheel of the #51 during testing
at Sebring this week.
March 5, 2024 - Dale Coyne Racing hired Jack Harvey to pilot the
#18 at 14 races in 2024.  Indy NXT driver Nolan Siegel has been
tapped to drive the car at 2 races.  While no full-time driver for their #51
has been hired, sportscar ace Colin Braun will race #51 at St. Pete.
Note: The "Silly Season" is the period of time when race car
drivers join or depart race teams, mostly between seasons.

My annual Silly Season coverage ends when the last
drivers for the new season have been selected.

For 2024, this process has taken several months longer
than normal.  Due to indecision and an injury to David
Malukas, driver selection has continued into June.
Page Index
April 30, 2024 - David Malukas has been unable to race for his new
team - Arrow McLaren, due to an injury he sustained in a bicycle accident
before the first race of the season.  McLaren has used drivers from other
series (Callum Illot and Theo Pourchaire ) to fill in for him during the first
four races this year.  Today they announced they are releasing Malukas.
May 9 - Arrow McLaren signed Theo Pourchaire to drive the No. 6 car
at all of the remaining 2024 IndyCar races except for the Indy 500.
Pourchaire is a Sauber F1 reserve driver.  He left his new ride in Super
Formula to compete in IndyCar.
June 18 - Arrow McLaren suddenly released Theo Pourchaire and he
will no longer race their No. 6 car.
June 18 - Arrow McLaren signed 19 y/o Indy NXT driver Nolan Siegel
to drive the No. 6 in a multi-year deal.  Siegel gained experience in IndyCar
this year when he raced at Long Beach (for Dale Coyne Racing) and at
Road America (for Juncos Hollinger Racing.)
June 7 - Meyer Shank Racing has hired the recently healed David
Malukas to drive the No. 66, beginning at Laguna Seca.