The 2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season was an extremely entertaining one, both on track and off it. The 17-race calendar provided fans with plenty of excitement with a total of 7,753 on-track passes. We had a first-time Indianapolis 500 winner in Josef Newgarden who took victory in the No.2 Shell V Power Team Penske Chevrolet in May.
There were five different winners in the opening five races of the season from four different teams. There were new drivers in the sport this season too with Benjamin Pedersen at AJ Foyt Racing, Sting Ray Robb at Dale Coyne Racing, Marcus Armstrong at Chip Ganassi Racing, and Agustin Canapino at Juncos Hollinger Racing.
AJ Foyt Racing had a breakthrough at the Indianapolis 500 with Santino Ferrucci scoring a fantastic third-place finish at the Brickyard. This year was big for fuel supplier Shell who started using bio-fuel.
Firestone Racing also introduced the Guayule tire compound. Alex Palou had a very busy season both on track and off it. The Spaniard claimed his second NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship and scored five wins and a further five podium finishes and scored top-ten finishes in each of the 17 races this season.
Off-track, Palou was embroiled in a legal battle with both Chip Ganassi Racing and Arrow McLaren. The Spaniard had been due to join Arrow McLaren in 2024 but reneged on the deal, opting instead to stay with Chip Ganassi Racing for 2024 and beyond.
Kyle Kirkwood joined Andretti Global from AJ Foyt Racing this season and took two victories this season and will be hoping to build on this success in 2024.
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon continued his historic run of taking at least one victory in the past 19 seasons of INDYCAR SERIES racing. The Iceman took back-to-back victories in Gateway where he came from 16th to victory while also winning the Gallagher Grand Prix of Indianapolis on the IMS road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway while also scoring his 56th career victory at the season-ending Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey in California.
Dixon is now in second place in the all-time winners list just nine wins away from AJ Foyt’s record of 67 wins. It was a great season for Josef Newgarden who took victory in Texas, the Indianapolis 500, and the double-header at Iowa Speedway.
In May, Graham Rahal failed to qualify for the 107th running of the Indianapolis 500 with RLL however, following a huge crash for Stefan Wilson which ruled the Cusick Motorsports driver out of the race, Rahal stepped into the cock-pit of the Cusick Motorsports with Dreyer and Reinbold Racing car alongside Ryan Hunter-Reay.
It is going to be interesting to see what the 2024 season brings for the likes of Will Power who didn’t win a race in 2023. There are a lot of changes for 2024 with Marcus Ericsson having moved to the trimmed-down Andretti Global team who will have three full-time drivers in 2024. Arrow McLaren has brought David Malukas to partner Pato O’Ward and Alexander Rossi.
Meyer Shank Racing has an all-new line-up with Tom Blomqvist and Felix Rosenqvist joining the team while Helio Castroneves will compete in the Greatest Spectacle In Racing, the 108th running of the Indianapolis 500 on May 26.
AJ Foyt Racing has a new driver with Sting Ray Robb moving over to the No.41 Chevrolet from Dale Coyne Racing while Romain Grosjean moves to Juncos Hollinger Racing alongside Agustin Canapino for 2024. Marcus Armstrong moves up to a full-time drive for Chip Ganassi Racing Linus Lindqvist will drive the No.8 American Legion Chip Ganassi Racing while Kyffin Simpson will make his series race debut in St Pete on March 10.
We will also have the eagerly awaited arrival of the new hybrid technology at some point following the 108th running of the Indianapolis 500 in May.
It is going to be a very interesting and exciting 2024 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season. Here at Paddock Eye we just want to say a massive thank you to everyone for all of your support over the past racing season and we are excited to bring you more excitement in 2024. Wishing you all a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR! Here’s to a wonderful 2024!