INDYCAR Silly Season Hinges On Will Power’s Status At Penske

Will Power remains the highest-running Team Penske driver in the standings.

He also remains the lone Team Penske driver without a contract for next year.

Power, in some ways, holds the keys for the INDYCAR silly season. Except he doesn’t really have the keys. It’s more like he’s stuck in the road blocking traffic.

The 44-year-old veteran with 44 victories (fourth all-time) and 71 poles (first all-time) had hoped to have a new deal prior to this season. And then talks got pushed to June. And then they were delayed again, with changes in the Penske leadership.

Power has still had a frustrating year at ninth in the standings, partially the result of two races where he had engine issues and another with a blown tire during the summer stretch.

“It’s very typical of life that a bad year would play out when you’re trying to get a contract,” Power said during the Toronto weekend.

“But I love it here. I do. I really hope I’m back next year.”

Roger Penske told me in May: “His contract is up. He’s done a great job for us. We’re just looking at our options, and I’m sure he will, too. But at the moment, we feel confident that he will be back.”

Whether that has changed is unclear — except for the fact that Power remains unsigned. 

Power won three races in 2024 and seemed miffed he didn’t get a contract offer after that. Whether it comes down to the length of the deal offered (would Penske do longer than a one-year deal?) and what Power likely wants remains to be seen.

If he doesn’t sign, then the question remains on who replaces Power. 

David Malukas, who drives for Penske alliance team A.J. Foyt Racing, is the name mentioned most often. Malukas sits 10th in the season standings.

If Malukas does replace him, Power could end up in that spot at Foyt, which has shown an increased strength this year. If he goes anywhere else, he’d be pushing someone out of a ride (assuming that Malukas is the one who replaces him at Penske). 

And the driver most talked about as far as moving to a more competitive team? That’s Rinus VeeKay. He finished second at Toronto and sits 11th in the standings for Dale Coyne Racing, despite landing the ride just a few weeks before the season began.

“There’s been some chatter around but nothing that keeps my focus from racing,” VeeKay said during race weekend at Laguna Seca. “It’s a waiting game. That’s all the future. I want to be in the present right now.”

So let’s take a look at where INDYCAR silly season sits currently.

These teams appear to be set for next year:

— Chip Ganassi Racing with Alex Palou (first in standings), Scott Dixon (third) and Kyffin Simpson (16th). The 45-year-old Dixon is always a question because of his age but never a question in the sense that he appears to still enjoy racing. Simpson was 21st in the standings last year and has shown growth this year.

— Arrow McLaren Racing with Pato O’Ward (second), Christian Lundgaard (fifth) and Nolan Siegel (21st). O’Ward and Lundgaard have combined for 11 podiums this year. Siegel has also shown improvement throughout the season.

— Meyer Shank Racing with Felix Rosenqvist (sixth) and Marcus Armstrong (eighth). In the first year of their Ganassi alliance, both drivers have shown strong potential and there’s no reason to think either would leave this situation. Armstrong is on loan from Chip Ganassi Racing this year. 

— Ed Carpenter Racing with Christian Rasmussen (14th) and Alexander Rossi (18th), both of whom are on multi-year deals with the organization and not expected to leave. Rasmussen is having his best season to date and Rossi just joined the team (which is owned by his good friend Ed Carpenter) this season.

— Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing with Graham Rahal (19th), Louis Foster (22nd) and Devlin DeFrancesco (26th). Foster and DeFrancesco joined the team at the start of this season on multi-year deals. 

— Andretti Global with Kyle Kirkwood (fourth), Colton Herta (seventh) and Marcus Ericsson (20th). The only question here is about Ericsson and whether he would be expendable in what has appeared to be an uncharacteristically unlucky season for the former Formula 1 driver. After all, he finished second in the Indy 500 before that result was wiped away for a technical violation. The hard part for Andretti is that Dennis Hauger has five wins and leads the Indy NXT Series standings as a rookie, potentially showing enough that he is ready for a full-time INDYCAR ride.

These organizations could be more in play:

— Team Penske, obviously, if Power (ninth) does not return. Scott McLaughlin (12th) and Josef Newgarden (15th) have contracts and are expected to be back in 2026.

— A.J. Foyt Racing is not letting go of Santino Ferrucci (13th), but it would have an opening if Malukas goes to Penske. If the team wants to go young, would it look to Myles Rowe, especially if it continues a Penske relationship? Rowe, a former USF Pro 2000 champion, won the Indy NXT race at Iowa earlier this year and is part of Penske’s Race for Equality & Change Initiative.

— Dale Coyne Racing would love to have VeeKay (11th) back but whether it can keep him remains to be seen. Jacob Abel (27th) has not had a good rookie season, but if he has the funding, he should get another season to show improvement.

— Juncos Hollinger Racing currently has Conor Daly (17th) and Sting Ray Robb (25th) behind the wheel. Daly has scrambled for funding this year and that could impact him. Robb has funding and has had three top-20 finishes in the last five races.

— Prema Racing currently has Robert Shwartzman (23rd) and Callum Ilott (24th) in its first season. Ilott appears set to return. Shwartzman, who won the pole for the Indianapolis 500, should come back, unless a team in Europe that can show him a path to Formula 1 comes knocking.

Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.