It was a chaotic IndyCar silly season on many levels, to say the least. If you include the fact that Prema Racing will not compete full-time in 2026, there are six full-time drivers from 2025 who won't run full-time in 2025, four drivers who did not compete in 2025 who are set to compete full-time in 2026, and three drivers who have swapped teams.
For this article, we're going to zero in on the three drivers who switched teams.
Two drivers moved on after only a single season with their organizations. The other had been with his team since before those other two were even 10 years old.
3 drivers change IndyCar teams for 2026
After 16 full seasons, two championships, 42 race victories, and an Indy 500 victory, Will Power did not have his contract renewed by Team Penske, even though he remains the most recent series champion not named Alex Palou (2022) and the most recent points leader not named Alex Palou (June 2024).
He also led Roger Penske's team in the 2025 championship standings, and he was their last remaining title contender in 2024.
Power is set to move to Andretti Global, thanks to the fact that Colton Herta finally made the move to Europe to compete for Hitech Grand Prix in Formula 2 as he aims to secure enough Super License points to eventually move to Formula 1. He is also set to join the new Cadillac Formula 1 team as their reserve driver.
Power, who is set to drive the No. 26 Honda, has not driven a Honda-powered IndyCar since the 2011 IndyCar season finale at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, which claimed the life of Dan Wheldon.
As for his replacement behind the wheel of the No. 12 Chevrolet, that would be David Malukas, who spent the 2025 season with A.J. Foyt Enterprises behind the wheel of the No. 4 Chevrolet and is now set to be replaced by rookie Caio Collet.
Malukas was dropped by McLaren in 2024 before ever competing in a race, and now he has a chance to make Zak Brown and company pay for it – in a big way. He already proved what he can do in the Indy 500 with a runner-up finish behind Palou in 2025. B-level driver, anybody?
The other driver to switch teams for 2026 is Rinus VeeKay, whose departure was initially considered somewhat of a surprise. After being signed by Dale Coyne Racing just before the 2025 season began, he breathed new life into a team that didn't record a single top 12 finish in 2024.
His runner-up finish on the streets of Toronto extended an underrated Coyne streak that dates back to 2012: in the 12 (of those 14) seasons in which they've had at least one full-time driver, the team have scored at least one podium finish.
But he decided shortly after the 2025 season to bolt for Juncos Hollinger Racing as the replacement for Conor Daly in the No. 76 Chevrolet.
Fox is set to provide live coverage of the 2026 NTT IndyCar Series season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg from the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida beginning at 12:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, March 1. Start a free trial of FuboTV today and catch all of the action!