In an announcement that many had been anticipating for this very week since even before the 2025 IndyCar season began, Team Penske and Will Power announced that they will not continue their partnership together for 2026, ending an ultra-successful 17-year run which included 43 wins, including an Indy 500 victory, as well as two series championships – and just one winless season.
Power quickly landed elsewhere, with Andretti Global replacing the Cadillac F1-bound Colton Herta with the 44-year-old Australian behind the wheel of the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda for 2026.
As has been the case since late last season, it's still expected that David Malukas, who spent the 2025 season competing for the Penske-affiliated A.J. Foyt Enterprises after Roger Penske himself was said to have orchestrated the deal, will take over behind the wheel of the No. 12 Chevrolet, lining him up alongside Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin.
But what has become somewhat of a hot talking point, as a result of the ongoing domino effect, is who will replace Malukas behind the wheel of the No. 4 Chevrolet.
New Penske contender emerging for the future?
Dale Coyne Racing intended to confirm that Rinus VeeKay would be returning behind the wheel of the No. 18 Honda in 2026 when they made their major sponsorship announcement over the weekend at Nashville Superspeedway. However, VeeKay and his camp informed the team that he would be pursuing other opportunities.
VeeKay, who spent the first five seasons of his career with Ed Carpenter Racing before making the move to Dale Coyne Racing, has since been linked to Malukas' No. 4 Chevrolet alongside Santino Ferrucci for 2026.
VeeKay elevated a Dale Coyne Racing team that did not score a single top 12 finish in 2024, recording seven top 10 finishes, including a runner-up finish on the streets of Toronto, in 2025. The move to a resurgent Foyt team could be exactly what he needs not just to score even better results in 2026, but to place himself firmly on Penske's radar for the coming years.
Considering Foyt's recent resurgence at Indy, which includes Malukas' runner-up finish in 2025, and VeeKay's stellar qualifying record there (four top four starts, including three on the front row, in six attempts), this could truly be the underrated driver move of the offseason if confirmed.
Though he has spent six full seasons in the series, VeeKay is still only 24 years old. So while Newgarden and McLaughlin are certainly not thought to be eyeing retirement at any point in the immediate future, that Foyt/Penske technical alliance cannot be ignored, specifically if VeeKay continues to impress.
And although their history of full-time driver changes is nowhere near as extensive as other teams', especially in recent years, we've also seen Penske opt for younger drivers on multiple occasions, even when their veterans were still performing relatively well.
Juan Pablo Montoya was replaced by Newgarden after 2016, just one year after winning the Indy 500 and missing out on the championship on a tiebreaker, while Helio Castroneves' post-2017 full-time departure and ultimately Simon Pagenaud's post-2021 departure fully paved the way for McLaughlin's long-term stay.
Now Power, despite being the team's top finisher in the championship standings in a challenging 2025 campaign, and despite being the series' most recent champion not named Alex Palou (2022) as well as the series' most recent championship leader not named Palou (Saturday, June 22, 2024), is out in favor of (presumably) Malukas.
Perhaps after Malukas, VeeKay could become Team Penske's next new driver – even if it doesn't happen for several years down the road.