INDYCAR Series 2023 driver line-up: Which teams will drivers race for?
Team Penske
Will Power
Josef Newgarden
Scott McLaughlin
Chip Ganassi Racing
Scott Dixon
Alex Palou
Marcus Ericsson
**TBA 4th Car**
Andretti Autosport
Colton Herta
Romain Grosjean
Kyle Kirkwood
Devlin DeFrancesco
Arrow McLaren SP
Pato O’Ward
Alexander Rossi
Felix Rosenqvist
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Graham Rahal
Christian Lundgaard
Jack Harvey
Ed Carpenter Racing
Rinus VeeKay
Conor Daly
Meyer Shank Racing
Helio Castroneves
Simon Pagenaud
Dale Coyne Racing
David Malukas
Takuma Sato
AJ Foyt Racing
Santino Ferrucci
Benjamin Pedersen
Juncos Hollinger Racing
Callum Ilott
**TBA 2nd Car**
The 2022 silly season will forever be known as the wildest one in history. Colton Herta was headed to F1, then he wasn’t. That drama played out during most of the summer. The saga that surrounded Alex Palou and the tug-of-war between Ganassi and McLaren was wild, but the 2020 series champion will be back in the No. 10 car for at least one more year.
Zak Brown will still have a new driver for next season, and he has quite the resume, too. Alexander Rossi joins Pato O’Ward and Felix Rosenqvist in a third car, as the 2016 Indy 500 winner brings valuable experience to the team. With those dominoes out of the way, the next one to drop was that of a seven-time NASCAR Cup champion.
Jimmie Johnson recently announced that he will not return to the series full-time, but he would still like to do a few races next year, including the Indy 500. That leaves Ganassi with a vacancy to fill, which could be a number of high-profile drivers. The team still plans to run that car, although it will have a different number. Ganassi has been rumored to have former Williams Formula 1 driver Nicholas Latifi on their radar for that open seat.
Andretti was able to secure Herta for the foreseable future after they agreed to an extension that will have the young driver in the No. 26 seat through at least the 2027 season. Replacing Rossi at Andretti will be Kyle Kirkwood, who had a rough rookie campaign at Foyt. This car will be significantly better than the one he drove last year, and he should start to produce the results that earned him the solid reputation that he has.
Filling Kirkwood’s seat at Foyt will be Santino Ferrucci, who returns to full-time competition in 2023. The aggressive young driver will have a rookie as his teammate, with Benjamin Pedersen replacing Dalton Kellett in the other Foyt entry.
David Malukas is ready for his sophomore season after an impressive debut last year. He will likely have Takuma Sato back as his teammate, but the two-time Indy 500 winner has not officially announced his return. Should the veteran Sato call it a career, the team could look to one of Linus Lundqvist, Danial Frost, Marcus Armstrong, or Sting Ray Robb to take his spot.
The other question that remains to be answered is the second car at Juncos Hollinger Racing. The team announced their plans to field a second full-time car next season, but they have yet to name a driver for that seat. Team Penske, Ed Carpenter Racing, RLL Racing, Meyer Shank Racing, and (maybe) Dale Coyne Racing will all return next season with the same driver lineup.
There will be more seats to fill at Indianapolis, and plenty of drivers are trying to secure a deal for the 107th running of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing next May. Two veteran drivers have already done so, with Marco Andretti returning to his father's team for his 18th Indy 500 start. Tony Kanaan, winner of the 2013 race, is set to drive a fourth entry for Arrow McLaren SP. That car had been driven by two-time Indy 500 winner Juan Montoya, but he is likely out of the frame now. Dreyer & Reinbold Racing will presumably have one seat to fill as they will likely have Sage Karam back in one of their cars. Top Gun Racing and/or DragonSpeed could also make their return to the speedway.
Others still vying for seats at Indy would include Jimmie Johnson, JR Hildebrand, Simona de Silvestro, and Stefan Wilson just to name a few. There are also the rumors of Kyle Larson and Kyle Busch floating around, as they contemplate doing "the double" next May.
