It’s the second week of January and nine out of the NTT IndyCar Series’ 10 full-time teams have their drivers signed and ready to go for the March 10 season opener on the Floridian streets of St. Petersburg.
That’s a testament to the stability of the paddock as the majority of the teams — all privately-owned businesses — have secured the budgets, personnel, and driving talent to have their programs locked in at a comparatively early point in the year. It’s a notable change from how the process usually works.
Getting into late January and early February with two or three incomplete rosters has been common throughout the years, and on more than one occasion, the season’s final full-time driver has rocked up at Round 1 to meet their new team and pose for official series photos the day before the opening practice session. But that shouldn’t be the case in 2024, as 25 of the 27 drivers who’ll comprise the grid across 17 rounds are signed and confirmed.
The 10th and final team to nominate its drivers is Dale Coyne Racing which, historically, is not unexpected due to the frequent rotation of rookies and veterans through its pair of Honda-powered entries. Two-year Andretti Global driver Devlin DeFrancesco has been mentioned on a regular basis as someone who is likely to join the Illinois-based team, but the Italian-Canadian pilot was non-committal when asked about the matter.
“I’m leaving that to my managers,” DeFrancesco told RACER. “I’m definitely working to come back in ’25, full-swing, if ’24 does not happen. But I will definitely be back, one-million percent. It’s just a matter of when, not if.”
Along with DeFrancesco, former Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver Jack Harvey, Indy NXT and Coyne-affiliated driver Danial Frost, former A.J. Foyt Racing driver Benjamin Pedersen, and others have been spoken of as potential options for Coyne to consider.
The grid won’t be set until the 26th and 27th entries have “To Be Determined” removed from their placeholders, so for now, here are the 25 new or returning team and driver combinations.
A.J. Foyt Racing
No. 14 Chevy, Santino Ferrucci
No. 41 Chevy, Sting Ray Robb (replacing Benjamin Pedersen, joining from Dale Coyne Racing)
Andretti Global
No. 26 Honda, Colton Herta
No. 27 Honda, Kyle Kirkwood
No. 28 Honda, Marcus Ericsson (replacing Romain Grosjean, joining from Chip Ganassi Racing)
Arrow McLaren
No. 5 Chevy, Pato O’Ward
No. 6 Chevy, David Malukas (replacing Felix Rosenqvist, joining from Dale Coyne Racing)
No. 7 Chevy, Alexander Rossi
Chip Ganassi Racing
No. 4 Honda, Kyffin Simpson (rookie, new entry)
No. 8 Honda, Linus Lundqvist (rookie, replacing Marcus Ericsson)
No. 9 Honda, Scott Dixon
No. 10 Honda, Alex Palou
No. 11 Honda, Marcus Armstrong
Dale Coyne Racing
TBD
TBD
Ed Carpenter Racing
No. 20 Chevy, Christian Rasmussen (rookie, road and street courses) and Ed Carpenter (ovals)
No. 21 Chevy, Rinus VeeKay
Juncos Hollinger Racing
No. 77 Chevy, Romain Grosjean (replacing Callum Ilott, joining from Andretti Global)
No. 78 Chevy, Agustin Canapino
Meyer Shank Racing
No. 60 Honda, Felix Rosenqvist (replacing Simon Pagenaud, joining from Arrow McLaren)
No. 66 Honda, Tom Blomqvist (rookie, replacing Helio Castroneves)
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
No. 15 Honda, Graham Rahal
No. 30 Honda, Pietro Fittipaldi (replacing Jack Harvey)
No. 45 Honda, Christian Lundgaard
Team Penske
No. 2 Chevy, Josef Newgarden
No. 3 Chevy, Scott McLaughlin
No. 12 Chevy, Will Power
