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IndyCar’s wild Silly Season is not done yet

By Asher Fair

MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 21: Santino Ferrucci #19 of United States and Cly-Del Manufacturing Honda leads Charlie Kimball #23 of United States and Tresiba Carlin Chevrolet during practice for the NTT IndyCar Series Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on September 21, 2019 in Monterey, California. (Photo by Robert Reiners/Getty Images)
MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 21: Santino Ferrucci #19 of United States and Cly-Del Manufacturing Honda leads Charlie Kimball #23 of United States and Tresiba Carlin Chevrolet during practice for the NTT IndyCar Series Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on September 21, 2019 in Monterey, California. (Photo by Robert Reiners/Getty Images) /
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IndyCar has had an unexpectedly wild Silly Season this year, and it is not quite done yet, even after perhaps the most shocking announcement of all.

In July, IndyCar‘s Silly Season revolved around Alexander Rossi and whether or not he decided to renew his deal with the Honda-powered Andretti Autosport team or move to the Chevrolet-powered Team Penske organization after his first four seasons.

Andretti Autosport signed a new contract extension with Honda and Rossi signed a new two-year contract extension to drive the #27 Honda for the team.

But instead of ending Silly Season, that announcement barely started it.

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Since then, McLaren announced a partnership with Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports to enter IndyCar as Arrow McLaren Racing SP next year.

They switched from Honda engines to Chevrolet engines and overhauled the team’s driver lineup despite the fact that the team had a contract with Honda for 2020 and the fact that James Hinchcliffe had a contract to drive for the team next year. 2018 and 2019 Indy Lights champions Patricio O’Ward and Oliver Askew were confirmed as the team’s two drivers for next year.

Additionally, Andretti Autosport announced that Colton Herta is set to drive a fifth car for the team through a partnership with Harding Steinbrenner Racing, which previously had a technical alliance with Andretti Autosport.

Chip Ganassi Racing also confirmed that Felix Rosenqvist is set to return to the team next year, and they somewhat unexpectedly announced that Marcus Ericsson is set to join the team as their third driver. They also haven’t ruled out fielding a fourth car, possibly for the ride-seeking Hinchcliffe, Ericsson’s former teammate.

To add on to that, Meyer Shank Racing, the one-car Honda-powered team that previously had a technical alliance with Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, announced a technical alliance with Andretti Autosport, and they confirmed that Jack Harvey is set to continue to drive for the team. They are set to contest the full season for the first time.

Most recently, Ed Carpenter Racing cut ties with Spencer Pigot and announced that 2019 Indy Lights runner-up Rinus VeeKay is set to be his replacement and Dale Coyne Racing unexpectedly cut ties with Sebastien Bourdais, which was arguably the most shocking announcement of all thus far.

Yet even with all of that, Silly Season is still far from over, even when it was supposedly over once Rossi was confirmed at Andretti Autosport for next year.

We still don’t know who will drive for Ed Carpenter Racing in the road and street course races. Team owner Ed Carpenter stated that he has already selected a driver, but a deal has not been announced.

We also don’t know any of Dale Coyne Racing’s drivers now, although it is still expected that Santino Ferrucci will return. But who will replace Bourdais? Will Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing add a third car or continue on with just Graham Rahal and Takuma Sato?

Will A.J. Foyt Enterprises continue on with two full-time cars despite the loss of primary sponsor ABC Supply? If so, who will their drivers be? How many drivers will drive the two Carlin cars in 2020 after six did so in 2019? Will DragonSpeed compete more regularly in 2020 than they did in 2020?

And where, if anywhere, will Hinchcliffe fit into the equation?

What about Indianapolis 500-only entries?

As old as it is, Silly Season is still quite young.

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When the 2020 IndyCar season rolls around with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida on Sunday, March 15, what will the driver lineup look like? As unexpectedly wild as Silly Season has been so far, there are still several X-factors out there even though the offseason between the 2019 and 2020 season is nearing its halfway point.