IndyCar: 5 possible landing spots for Alexander Rossi in 2025

Arrow McLaren have made the decision to replace Alexander Rossi after just two seasons, with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing's Christian Lundgaard set to move to the No. 7 Chevrolet for the 2025 IndyCar season and beyond.

While Lundgaard's replacement behind the wheel of the No. 45 Honda is rumored to be Juri Vips, much less is known about where Rossi might end up in 2025.

Here are five possibilities.

Prema Racing

The hot rumor is that Prema Racing are targeting the 2016 Indy 500 winner to be their lead driver when they enter IndyCar next year. With the only alleged roadblock in the way of Rossi and Arrow McLaren reaching a new deal having been contract terms, it is quite possible that he has an offer from elsewhere that Zak Brown's team simply weren't willing to match.

It's a gamble for the 32-year-old Rossi, but it has very little downside. Either Prema hit the ground running and are competitive, or he signs a lucrative multi-year deal and is set for life regardless, free to do whatever with whichever team will have him in one of their cars down the road.

Chip Ganassi Racing

From a financial standpoint, it's hard to see Chip Ganassi matching anybody's offer when it comes to driver salary, but aside from perennial champions contenders Alex Palou and Scott Dixon, he has three underperforming drivers in his other cars at the moment.

Kyffin Simpson may be safe due to his father's ties to major team sponsor Ridgeline Lubricants, but fellow newcomers Linus Lundqvist and Marcus Armstrong simply need to improve.

And we can't neglect to mention that signing Rossi and subsequently having success with the eight-time race winner would be the ultimate flex on archrival Zak Brown, arguably even more so than Palou winning last year's championship after McLaren thought he'd be in papaya. If Rossi wants to be just as competitive as he is now, he'll take a reduction in pay to join Ganassi.

A.J. Foyt Enterprises

With Lundgaard out at Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, there is a compelling case to be made for A.J. Foyt Enterprises as the next best team behind tier one (Chip Ganassi Racing and Team Penske) and tier two (Arrow McLaren and Andretti Global). Santino Ferrucci finds himself 13th in the standings, which hasn't been achieved by a Foyt driver since Vitor Meira finished 12th in 2010.

And their newfound status as a top team in the Indy 500 was solidified this year, with Ferrucci backing up a third place finish last year with an eighth. Rossi's father, Pieter, also interestingly manages teammate Sting Ray Robb and helped bring him to IndyCar last year.

Ed Carpenter Racing

Both Ed Carpenter Racing cars could be open this offseason, with neither Rinus VeeKay nor Christian Rasmussen under contract through beyond the end of the year, and Rossi is known to have a good relationship with team owner Ed Carpenter.

Carpenter also showed last year with his mid-season signing of 2014 Indy 500 winner Ryan Hunter-Reay that he is willing to turn to a veteran to try to spark a much-needed resurgence.

While the team have still struggled as a whole, Rossi could be at a point in his career where all he really cares about is having the best chance to win another Indy 500, and Ed Carpenter Racing can still provide that. The 2016 winner has finished in the top five in each of the last three years and has six career top five finishes in nine starts, including a runner-up finish in a hard-fought battle with Simon Pagenaud in 2019.

Meyer Shank Racing

Meyer Shank Racing would only become a serious option if David Malukas either does not perform as well as expected throughout the back half of the 2024 season after being released by Arrow McLaren earlier in the year himself, or if he performs well enough to get an offer to compete elsewhere. But if it does, it could make a lot of sense for Rossi.

After an abysmal 2023 season, the team have experienced a resurgence by bringing in Felix Rosenqvist, who happens to be a former Arrow McLaren driver himself.

Rossi is also familiar with Andretti Global, having spent seven years with the team before moving to Arrow McLaren in 2023, and both Andretti and Meyer Shank are working on extending their current technical alliance beyond 2024.

Not happening

Obviously Arrow McLaren isn't an option, and a return to Andretti Global is also off the table with their three-car lineup set. Team Penske are not expanding from three cars, and their driver lineup is set as well.

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing is technically possible, but a straight-up driver swap here doesn't make much sense, especially with the team reportedly eager to promote Vips. The team would likely need to replace Pietro Fittipaldi to consider looking elsewhere, and though he has struggled, so did Jack Harvey in 2022, and he was still retained for another year.

Juncos Hollinger Racing are fond of their current pairing of Romain Grosjean and Agustin Canapino, leaving only Dale Coyne Racing, which makes no sense for Rossi from a competitive standpoint.

Believe it or not, Dale Coyne's small and relatively underfunded team actually recorded at least one podium finish in 11 of the last 12 seasons entering 2024. But their top finish this year is only 13th place, and their Indy 500 speed was nonexistent.