By Ted Nesbitt
The IndyCar race wasn’t the story this weekend.
Yes, the IndyCar series ran this past weekend in the rolling hills of central Ohio, and, yes, Cayman’s Kyffin Simpson and his teammates were in action at the race, but that was hardly the big news story.
“Silly Season”, which is largely conjecture, speculation and rumours of which drivers will be driving for what team(s) next season began at pretty much full speed.
The week kicked off with an announcement that this year’s Indy 500 Champion Felix Rosenqvist would not be returning to Meyer Shank Racing for 2027. Due to Meyer Shank’s close working relationship with Ganassi Racing, this was a pretty big shoe to drop.
Less than 48 hours after this announcement, rumours started bubbling on a huge change – IndyCar driver Sir Scott Dixon perhaps leaving Ganassi where he has raced for the past 25 seasons. Dixon, who will soon be 46 years old, has six IndyCar Series Championships, one Indy 500 win and 59 race wins with 145 top 3 podium finishes. He may be up there in age, but as a team owner, you want him piloting one of your cars.
This news was the equivalent of a Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes or LeBron James move, and speculation soon ran rampant. The rumoured destination of Arrow McLaren made sense as they do have one massively underachieving young driver there in Nolan Siegel, but Arrow McLaren was also being bandied about in talks regarding Rosenqvist as well. That could mean that most recent race-winner and winner of two this season for Arrow McLaren Christian Lundgaard could be on the move as well.
Early Friday, word trickled out that Dixon had indeed signed with Arrow McLaren.
Through Friday, everyone waited for more news, and on Saturday morning Arrow McLaren hit us again with word that Rosenqvist was also joining the team, alongside the recently signed Dixon and perennial favourite, Mexican driver Pato O’Ward.
As of writing, Lundgaard is looking for a ride next season, as is Siegel. Meyer Shank have re-signed Marcus Armstrong, meaning they have one open seat, and Dixon’s seat is still open at Ganassi. Both rides are highly coveted and more moves are sure to happen quick.
I expect to see Lundgaard sign at Ganassi in short order, as team owner Chip Ganassi is famous for his saying “I like winners.”
Expect to see many more moves as well, with young Dutchman Rinus VeeKay being high on the radar for teams.
Race results
There was a race, right?
Yes, there was indeed a race on Sunday, 5 July, at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
Soon-to-be-departing Arrow McLaren driver Christian Rasmussen made a statement Saturday by qualifying on the pole with O’Ward alongside in 2nd place, also in an Arrow McLaren.
Championship leader Alex Palou qualified 8th in his OpenAI Ganassi Honda, with teammates Simpson and Dixon struggling for grip, qualifying 20th and 23rd respectively.
Lundgaard and O’Ward ran away and effectively held their positions, except for pitting throughout the 90-lap, race which would not see a yellow-flag. O’Ward took the lead on lap 42 when Lundgaard ran wide off Turn 2 and did not set a wheel wrong the rest of the way.
The race win on Sunday was the first for O’Ward since his win in Toronto last July, 15 races ago. He was happy to see his drought end.
“It’s been a year, it’s been a tough one for sure,” he said. “Today was just a perfect example of execution. I waited for the perfect time to pounce and from there we just controlled it.”
This was O’Ward’s second win at Mid-Ohio in the last three years. The 1-2 finish was also a first for Arrow-McLaren in the series.
Andretti-Honda driver Kyle Kirkwood came home 3rd and closed on championship leader Palou in the points, with Palou finishing 5th.
Simpson and Dixon had unremarkable days, finishing 15th and 17th, respectively.
The IndyCar series resumes on 19 July, when the cars take to the short oval at Nashville Superspeedway. Expect to see better results from all 3 Ganassi drivers on the Music City 1.33 mile concrete oval.
Ted Nesbitt is a regular contributor for the Cayman Compass.
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