It’s February, which means only one thing! The start of the 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season is just four weeks away. The Firestone Grand Prix of St Petersburg, presented by RP Funding, takes place from February 28 to March 2.
Heading into the new season, many changes have occurred up and down the pit road. Chip Ganassi Racing has reduced its car count from five to three and entered a technical partnership with Meyer Shank Racing. Marcus Armstrong has joined Meyer Shank Racing, replacing David Malukas, who has joined Santino Ferrucci at AJ Foyt Racing.
Ed Carpenter Racing has a new driver, Alexander Rossi, joins Christian Rasmussen. Ed Carpenter Racing has brought in a new business partner with Indiana businessman Ted Gelov, Chairman and CEO of the Heartland Food Products Group, who bought into the team. Two of his companies, Splenda and JAVA Coffee, have joined the team as sponsors.
Arrow McLaren has a new team principal: Tony Kanaan, an NTT INDYCAR SERIES veteran moving up from his Sporting Director role. Christian Lundgaard, who joins the team from Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, will work alongside Pato O’Ward and Nolan Siegel.
Dale Coyne Racing is the only team that has to complete its driver lineup. They have signed Jacob Abel, and we are waiting to see who will partner with the INDYCAR SERIES rookie.
Juncos Hollinger Racing has a brand-new lineup, with Sting Ray Robb and Conor Daly joining the Chevrolet-powered team. Team Principal Dave O’Neill is joined by Will Phillips, who joins the leadership team as head of trackside engineering, and Tom Edwards, who joins the team as team manager.
Team Penske has an unchanged line-up for 2025. However, their leadership will be slightly different as they announced on Friday that Tim Cindric is stepping back from his day-to-day role with the team but will remain President of Team Penske’s INDYCAR program. In contrast, Ron Ruzewski remains the managing director of the Penske INDYCAR team.
PREMA Racing is new to the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, with Robert Schwartzman making his series debut alongside Callum Ilott. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing has a new lineup with series rookie Louis Foster and returning Devlin DeFransceco, who is joining series veteran Graham Rahal on the team.
Andretti Global’s 2025 lineup is unchanged. However, Michael Andretti has left the team, and TWG’s Dan Towriss will take full ownership of the soon-to-be Fishers-based INDYCAR SERIES team.
The most significant change for 2025 is introducing the new charter system, and we also have a new broadcast partner, Fox Sports, taking over from NBC. Will Buxton has joined Fox Sports from Formula One and is joined in the booth by former INDYCAR SERIES drivers and NBC commentators James Hinchcliffe and Townsend Bell. We are yet to find out who the pit-lane reporters will be. However, Paddock Eye understands that Dreyer and Reinbold Racing with Cusick Motorsports drivers Ryan Hunter-Reay and Jack Harvey do this role. At the same time, Jamie Little will join them for the 109th running of the Indianapolis 500, presented by Gainbridge on Sunday, May 25.
We don’t know yet the pecking order for this season as there will only be two days of opening pre-season testing coming up next week at Sebring International Raceway.