IndyCar: Early Silly Season Driver Lineup for 2018

Simon Pagenaud is the defending IndyCar champion and has been getting much better on oval tracks. While he does not yet have a win on a road or street course this season, he has still maintained his prowess at road and street course racing as well. If Team Penske ends up cutting a driver from its current lineup, Pagenaud should in no way, shape or form be the one, especially since he has a shot to become the first driver in the DW12 era to win consecutive championships. NOTE: The #1 does not mean I necessarily think he will be the 2017 champion.. Team Penske. Chevrolet. SIMON PAGENAUD. #1

JOSEF NEWGARDEN. #2. Josef Newgarden was just hired by Team Penske this past offseason, and he has actually exceeded the lofty expectations set forth for him by a lot of people. He is tied for the series lead in victories with two and is in a good position to contend for his first career championship in only his first season with his new team. If Team Penske lets a driver go, Newgarden has an approximately 0.0% chance of being that driver, give or take 0.0%.. Team Penske. Chevrolet

Team Penske. Chevrolet. JAMES HINCHCLIFFE. #3. James Hinchcliffe will arguably be the top free agent in IndyCar following the conclusion of the 2017 season. Team Penske signed Simon Pagenaud as the most coveted free agent before the 2015 season and Josef Newgarden as the most coveted free agent before this season. There is no reason to believe that team owner Roger Penske won’t go after Hinchcliffe, especially with the good possibility that Helio Castroneves will be leaving the #3 car for Penske’s sports car team. After all, Hinchcliffe’s most successful seasons came in his second and third seasons in IndyCar with Andretti Autosport in a Chevrolet car.

Team Penske. Chevrolet. WILL POWER. #12. Will Power’s career as a whole has been on a slight decline since he won his lone championship in the 2014 season. But again, that’s only a slight decline. And when he gets hot, he get’s hot, as we saw last season when he racked up six consecutive top 2 finishes, including four victories. He has been extremely inconsistent this season, but he is still tied for the series lead with two victories, which goes to show that when he’s on, he’s on.

While I don’t see him keeping his full-time ride in the 2018 season, I have included Helio Castroneves on this list since he is the driver that is going to get the most attention this offseason. This blurb included, everything regarding the future of him in racing is pure speculation and nothing more. Given how great he still is despite the fact that he is 42 years old, he really has no reason to leave IndyCar, and Team Penske has no reason to let him go elsewhere. He is still a contender at pretty much every race track. Right now, he leads all three of the team’s other drivers in the championship standings in 2nd place just three points out of the lead. But with the sports car option lurking as well as perhaps Penske’s desire to fill the #3 car with a younger driver, Castroneves looks like an Indianapolis 500 only driver in 2018.. Team Penske. Chevrolet. HELIO CASTRONEVES. #22