One of the most coveted NTT IndyCar Series seats of the 21st century opened up when six-time series champion Scott Dixon confirmed that he would be leaving Chip Ganassi Racing at the end of the 2026 season, ending a 25-year run that has thus far seen six titles and 58 victories, both all-time records for any driver/team partnership.
It was announced shortly thereafter that Dixon is set to head to Arrow McLaren, along with ex-McLaren driver Felix Rosenqvist, who has spent the past three seasons competing for Meyer Shank Racing and won this year's Indy 500.
But the question that everyone wants an answer to is the one that nobody ever thought they'd be asking before Dixon retired: who will drive the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda next year?
Chip Ganassi should have no shortage of drivers contacting him about the opening, given the championship pedigree of the team and the opportunity to work alongside Alex Palou, the four-time overall champion and three-time reigning champion who currently leads this year's standings.
Who are the early favorites? Here are five possibilities.
Christian Lundgaard
I guess third in the standings with two wins isn't good enough for a contract extension with Arrow McLaren these days.
Christian Lundgaard, who inexplicably had a shorter leash with the team than Nolan Siegel, is the obvious option to replace Dixon, because as far as top-tier teams willingly letting top-tier drivers walk, Lundgaard might well be the best available free agent since the Indy Racing League was started in 1996.
The whole "he can't win on ovals" is only a convenient excuse. Has he yet? No. But that's what everyone said about Palou before he won the Indy 500 (and, for what it's worth, the 2025 oval championship). Heck, Rosenqvist didn't have a single oval podium in his first seven seasons, before winning this year's Indy 500 to effectively win back his McLaren seat from three years ago.
Lundgaard might well be the driver with the best chance to beat Palou over a full season as it is. Put him on the same team, and pair him with Mike Hull, and Ganassi could have a lethal 1-2 punch that will have Zak Brown and Tony Kanaan repeatedly punching air after yet another baffling decision.
Rinus VeeKay
Less obvious, but still on top teams' radars, is Rinus VeeKay, who always seems to be the "next man up" when it comes to consistently not getting signed when a big opening emerges.
VeeKay was dropped by Ed Carpenter Racing after five seasons post-2024, and he has done nothing but impress since. He scored a runner-up finish in Toronto for Dale Coyne Racing a year ago, despite having been confirmed by the team just weeks before the season started, and he's finished fourth in two of the three most recent races this year with Juncos Hollinger Racing.
He's been a guy whom fans have wanted to see get a true opportunity with a top team for the past five years now, really since he earned his victory at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course in 2021. He also knows how to go fast at the Indy oval, with three front row starts for the Indy 500.
Leonardo Fornaroli
If Ganassi has any interest whatsoever in striking back against his archrival Brown for signing Dixon away from him, Leonardo Fornaroli would be a great place to start.
The 2024 Formula 3 champion and 2025 Formula 2 champion is currently a McLaren F1 reserve driver, and he has garnered interest from around the IndyCar paddock as he seeks opportunities for 2027.
It would be a bold move to sign a rookie with no IndyCar experience to replace the driver who has literally been the face of IndyCar for decades, but who saw Palou winning four championships in five years after Ganassi signed him as a 16th-place rookie from Dale Coyne Racing following a stint in Japanese Super Formula?
Caio Collet
Speaking of the Palou signing, we have rising star whose driving style many have compared to Palou in Caio Collet, and he's a driver who actually does have experience in IndyCar already and has been under-the-radar impressive during his rookie year with A.J. Foyt Enterprises, even if the statistics don't tell the whole story.
We already discussed the quiet nature of Collet's strong rookie season in more depth earlier this month, regarding why he could potentially be a top name to watch to replace Rosenqvist at Meyer Shank Racing.
But perhaps Ganassi, knowing what he knows about how Palou has turned out, will want to skip over having the fast Brazilian compete for the team with which CGR has a technical alliance and hire him straight away to take over Dixon's ride.
Marcus Ericsson
Entering the 2026 season, it felt like a foregone conclusion that Andretti Global were ready to move on from Marcus Ericsson, with the logical replacement seemingly being rookie Dennis Hauger. The team loaned Hauger out to Dale Coyne Racing, with which they now have a technical alliance, for this year.
But Ericsson's uptick in performance has made things interesting, although so too has the availability of drivers such as Lundgaard and VeeKay, who could and probably should generate some attention when it comes to the No. 28 Honda.
Regardless, if Ericsson is out, don't rule out a return to his former team. Ericsson left Chip Ganassi Racing largely because he felt he had earned the right to be paid as a top driver, rather than simply bring funding. Would he and the team be able to come to terms for a reunion?
His three best seasons in IndyCar all came in the No. 8 Honda. He finished sixth in the championship standings each year from 2021 to 2023, and he won the 2022 Indy 500 before controversially placing second in 2023. He's a veteran driver who knows how to win, and he's proven it with this team in the past. He may not be the flashiest option, but he might be the safest bet on this list.
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