The NTT INDYCAR SERIES has enjoyed a phenomenal 2023 season with incredible racing and with seven different race winners over the course of the year, the sport is in a wonderful place as it heads into the new hybrid era in 2024.
The sport survived a very tricky period at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic but has come out the other side as a stronger product thanks to Penske Entertainment’s acquisition of the series and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In recent times teams have begun to form technical alliances with each other which has helped accelerate (no pun intended) the growth and health of the series.
Meyer Shank Racing formed a technical partnership with Andretti Technologies part of the Andretti Global organization led by Michael Andretti where team setup sheets were made available between MSR and Andretti Global’s INDYCAR SERIES team which proved to be beneficial for the success of both teams.
In 2021, Meyer Shank Racing won the Greatest Spectacle In Racing with now team co-owner Helio Castroneves and this was a fantastic result for the Mike Shank-led team as they were able to work with the drivers with Andretti Autosport.
In recent weeks, Team Penske announced a technical partnership with AJ Foyt Racing where they would share technical expertise with each other while also setting up an engineering mentoring group between the two teams to help promote new engineering talent.
Team Penske had in recent years also had a technical partnership with Paretta Autosport which helped the Beth Paretta-led female-forward team get up to speed and compete in the Indianapolis 500 with Simona De Silvestro making the field for the Greatest Spectacle In Racing.
These team partnerships have gone beyond the borders of the series with Arrow McLaren forming a relationship with NASCAR’s Henrick Motorsports which will allow 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson to compete in the 108th and 109th running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge in a Henrick Cars sponsored and Arrow McLaren prepared Dallara Chevrolet.
Juncos Hollinger Racing announced a strategic alliance with Arrow McLaren on the commercial side of the NTT INDYCAR Series which JHR hopes will lead to a wider technical partnership between the two teams in the future.
The technical partnerships ensure the long-term viability of the smaller teams and it is the way forward for the series. David P.Morgan, the newly-appointed Team Manager of Juncos Hollinger Racing believes that while the technical partnerships are good for the future of the series at the likes of the Indianapolis 500 for one-off entries it will show the gaps between the haves and have-nots for the Greatest Spectacle In Racing.
Dreyer and Reinbold Racing who compete in the Indianapolis 500 teamed up with Cusick Motorsports, the Don Cusick-led team for the race which proved to be a huge success for both teams.