Old faces, new places: Ranking IndyCar lineup changes for 2025

Of the 27 full-time IndyCar Series teams in 2025, 13 have different drivers than they did at the 2024 opener in St. Petersburg.

Nolan Siegel drove the final 10 races for Arrow McLaren last year and is back in that ride, so 12 teams have either a new driver or one who only did a handful with the team last year.

The top nine drivers in the 2024 points standings are back with their same ride, so as far as blockbuster moves, there aren’t many for 2025.

Which moves were the best for the driver and team? Which ones maybe not so much? Let’s take a look, from the 10th best to the best.

Here are moves that didn’t make the top 10 (in alphabetical order by driver):

— Devlin DeFrancesco, who raced in the series in 2022 and 2023, makes his return to the series with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing

— Callum Ilott, who competed in two IndyCar races last year, is one of the drivers for Prema Racing’s two-car inaugural IndyCar season.

— Sting Ray Robb (20th in the standings in 2024), who was at A.J. Foyt Racing last year, has moved to Juncos Hollinger Racing.

And now 10 changes for this season, from 10 to one:

10. Jacob Abel-Dale Coyne Racing

The runnerup in Indy NXT, Abel moves to Dale Coyne Racing. This could be a good move for both — especially to let Abel learn an IndyCar, with little pressure but a rookie with a team that sometimes struggles for speed often has challenges.

9. Louis Foster-Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing

Foster won the Indy NXT title and has landed at RLL. The lineup of the veteran Graham Rahal with youngsters Foster and DeFrancesco gives the team an interesting dynamic.

8. Conor Daly-Juncos Hollinger Racing

Daly drove the final five races for JHR last season, where their pairing showed promise. Funding issues could hamper this relationship, and if anyone knows the ups and downs of IndyCar racing, it’s Daly.

7. Rinus VeeKay-Dale Coyne Racing

VeeKay’s split from Ed Carpenter Racing was a little bit of a surprise. He has finished 12th through 14th in the standings in each of his seasons and won in 2021 on the Indianapolis road course. 

6. Doug Boles-IndyCar

OK, this isn’t a driver change, but this felt like the right place to mention that Doug Boles is now president of IndyCar. Think of his role akin to a league commissioner. He replaces Jay Frye, and Boles also remains president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He is a tireless executive who champions the sport. He has the relationships to do a great job. Boles does have competition experience, as he helped found and run Panther Racing, but his focus has been on track operations as he became president of IMS in 2013.

5. David Malukas-A.J. Foyt Racing

Malukas will try to put his 2024 behind him. Last year, a broken hand in a mountain biking accident sidelined him, leading him to lose his McLaren ride. He drove for Meyer Shank later in the year and now has a ride with Foyt and its much-heralded, much-maligned alliance with Team Penske. If he runs well, it will put pressure on the Penske drivers. If he doesn’t, he might not get a chance with a top team.

4. Christian Lundgaard-Arrow McLaren

Lundgaard had one win in three years at RLL and was eighth in the standings in 2023. He simply said it was time for a change. And he made his move to Arrow McLaren, an organization that has won seven races with Pato O’Ward over the same three-year span.

3. Robert Shwartzman-Prema Racing

Shwartzman is a former test driver for Ferrari and he finished second in the Formula 2 championship in 2021. It might take him a little time to acclimate to an IndyCar. He is expected to be fast, at least on the road courses — sooner than later.

2. Alexander Rossi-Ed Carpenter Racing

Would there be a cooler story than Rossi and ECR achieving glory together? After being a title threat in 2018 and 2019, Rossi has finished ninth or 10th in the standings in each of the last five years driving for Andretti and McLaren. So the fact he is no longer racing for McLaren maybe isn’t too much of a surprise, but the breakup still seemed a little premature.

1. Marcus Armstrong-Meyer Shank Racing

Armstrong moves from Chip Ganassi Racing to its new alliance partner, Meyer Shank, as CGR downsized from five to three IndyCar teams (it did add a couple of Indy NXT cars). He was in the top 10 in four of the last six races in 2024. So if he can build on that momentum — he does have some members of his team who went to Meyer Shank with him — he very well could have his best season in 2025.

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.