15. Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren
Christian Lundgaard's start to his stint with Arrow McLaren is exactly what you hope for when a talented young driver takes a step up in terms of the quality of his machinery. But after three years with a struggling Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing team, there is literally nobody who knows just how good he can be on ovals. He is one of the drivers to watch early and often during practice week.
14. Rinus VeeKay, Dale Coyne Racing
Maybe this is a little bold, given Dale Coyne Racing's struggles at Indy in recent years, but then again, maybe it isn't. Rinus VeeKay has three front row starts and no starts lower than seventh place in five Indy 500 attempts with Ed Carpenter Racing, and he finds himself higher than Team Penske's Josef Newgarden in the championship standings through five races. He has breathed new life into Dale Coyne Racing after back-to-back disastrous showings for the small team in 2023 and 2024.
13. Colton Herta, Andretti Global
It was clear in post-qualifying practice for last year's Indy 500 that Colton Herta had the car to beat, and the only person who could beat him was himself (or his pit crew). It ended up being a combination of both. A crash knocked him out of contention, but the car's damage was such that he could have kept going. Unfortunately, it was too late before anybody noticed. Maybe scoring his first oval win at Nashville Superspeedway will boost his confidence this year, because something always seems to go wrong for him at Indy.