Bullet points from IndyCar’s wildest season

I’ve been a fan of IndyCar for most of my life, worked in it across a variety of team and media roles for four decades, and seen just about everything of interest that’s taken place since the 1980s. With that context in mind, when I wind back through all of those years, I can’t think of a single season which tops the non-stop volatility that defined the 2024 championship.

It was one step forward, three steps back, two more forward, and constant gaining and losing of yardage with storylines. The endless eruptions were either humorous, embarrassing, positive, or poignant. And steeped in drama. Good Lord, the drama, and not always the good kind. It rained on IndyCar in biblical ways.

Never boring, and in no particular order, everything below actually happened:

• A mannequin hung from a bridge by the eccentric owner of Barber Motorsports Park breaks free and falls during the race, bringing out a caution to clear the female fashion figure from the circuit. Later deposited in the media center, race winner Scott McLaughlin poses with the mannequin, which is quickly turned into an official trading card by the series.

• Waterlogged skies threaten to postpone IndyCar’s crown jewel, but fans are gifted the best Indianapolis 500 in ages which goes down to the wire after an extensive rain delay pushes the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing" into an evening thriller. Settling near sunset between Pato O’Ward and new two-time winner Josef Newgarden, it’s also a smash for viewers with the local blackout being lifted due to the long delay. Ratings for the race are remarkable.

An Indy 500 showdown for the ages. Josh Tons/Motorsport Images

• David Malukas is hired by Arrow McLaren as its one new driver for 2024, but breaks his hand in a pre-season cycling incident, waits on the sidelines to heal for four races without success, and is dropped, never racing for the team.

• The adage, "It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog" comes to life in Michigan: Angered by a brief clash during practice with Kyle Kirkwood on the ridiculously tight Detroit street circuit, 5-foot-nothing Santino Ferrucci jumps over the pit wall after the session and walks down the full-size and approaching Kirkwood, all while dropping f-bombs and other choice curse words on live TV. Kirkwood is panned by his Andretti Global teammates for failing to hold his ground. A.J. Foyt Racing’s Ferrucci is called into the IndyCar hauler and receives some choice curse words from officials. He issues an apology.

• Arrow McLaren hires ex-Juncos Hollinger Racing driver Callum Ilott to stand in for the injured Malukas at the first race.

• With two cars and nobody to pay for an entire season of racing in either machine, Dale Coyne Racing enters a revolving cast of nine different drivers to keep both cars in motion throughout the year. Five of the nine get their first opportunities to race in IndyCar as a result of Coyne’s approach. And nine drivers in rotation, it’s believed to be a modern record. It also leads Penske Entertainment to implement a new restriction -- informally dubbed the Dale Coyne Rule -- for 2025 where a limit of three drivers per entry is enforced.

• IndyCar makes a big and successful return to the historic Milwaukee Mile after an eight-year hiatus. Hearty crowds show out for the doubleheader event.

• While discussing racing venues, Penske Entertainment CEO Mark Miles says returning to circuits which formerly held IndyCar races isn’t the right approach for the series. The comment is given sitting in the infield at the Milwaukee Mile… More than half of the races on the 2025 calendar are venues where IndyCar has left and made a return.

A welcome, and well appreciated, return to the Milwaukee Mile. Jake Galstad/Motorsport Images

• When Callum Ilott has a date clash with his primary team in the FIA World Endurance Championship, Arrow McLaren brings in new Formula 2 champion Theo Pourchaire for the second race of the year at Long Beach. The scrappy Frenchman shows strongly, placing 11th without the chance to test the car before the event. Arrow McLaren is showered with praise for giving Pourchaire a shot.

• Roger Penske, owner of the IndyCar Series, is embroiled in a stunning cheating scandal when his Team Penske cars are caught using 50-horsepower push-to-pass boosts during pre-race warm-up at Long Beach. Rival teams notice the use while the P2P system was malfunctioning and inactive, questioning why Penske’s cars were shown deploying P2P on the timing and scoring monitors when the rest of the drivers were unable to get the 50hp blasts.

• An investigation finds Newgarden and McLaughlin, but not teammate Will Power, made illegal use of the extra horsepower -- while the system was disabled for the entire field -- at the first race of the year in St. Petersburg, thanks to software settings enabled by the team within the onboard electronics carried by its three cars. St. Pete is won in dominating fashion by Newgarden with McLaughlin coming home a distant second. Both are disqualified and fined, and Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward is awarded the victory six weeks after the checkered flag waved.

• Penske says it was nothing more than an oversight, suspends his team president, managing director, Newgarden’s race engineer, and the assistant engineer who loaded the settings into the cars, and bans the group from being on the grounds at the Penske-owned Indianapolis Motor Speedway during the Indy 500. But all of the suspended personnel are allowed to communicate with the team and perform their duties remotely between sessions. Newgarden, who used P2P illegally on three occasions in the St. Pete race, defends himself and the team in a tearful press conference saved for Barber.

• McLaughlin, who illegally used P2P one time, and momentarily, is not punished by Penske, nor is his crew. He chooses a swift apology across social media channels prior to arriving in Barber and goes on to win from pole position.

• Handing over the St. Petersburg winner’s trophy to Arrow McLaren is expected to follow, but no immediate action is taken. Many races later, the team says the trophy was dropped off, at the back of one of its transporters without advance warning, and is eventually discovered by one of its crew members. O’Ward quickly posts photos of the new addition to his trophy case.

• In his first IndyCar start, Chip Ganassi Racing rookie Kyffin Simpson delivers the fastest lap of the race.

• Meyer Shank Racing gives its IMSA champion Tom Blomqvist a full-season go in IndyCar, but he struggles. Under pressure to finish races and deliver points, Blomqvist crashes seconds after the start of the Indy 500, wiping out 2022 Indy winner Marcus Ericsson and Pietro Fittipaldi in Turn 1 as well. He’s cut the next day, but all isn’t lost as Blomqvist is retained by the team for 2025 in IMSA.

• With Blomqvist as a prime example, instability among drivers and teams reaches a recent and unflattering high. Despite having 27 full-time cars in the field, only 21 drivers contest the entire season while 22 additional drivers drop in for either one or a handful of races, but less than the complete calendar of events.

• Weeks prior to the season opener, shockwaves move through IndyCar when the season finale, set to run on a revised street course layout in downtown Nashville, is cancelled, citing construction issues and other problems related to the Tennessee Titans building a new NFL stadium adjacent to the IndyCar venue.

• Arrow McLaren uses Theo Pourchaire for Rounds 2, 3, and 4 before recalling Callum Ilott, who has the oval experience Pourchaire lacks, to race at the Indy GP and the Indy 500.

F2 grad Theo Pourchaire made a strong impression as an IndyCar rookie, but also provided an example of how tough it is to land a full-time ride. Richard Dole/Motorsport Images

• Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing is raided by the FBI three days after the season finale. The source of the raid is alleged to be the rival Andretti Global team for alleged theft of Andretti’s intellectual property pertaining to its dampers by an employee who left for RLL. The matter is ongoing.

• Penske Entertainment signs a wildly positive TV deal with FOX where all of its races will be broadcast on a major network. Teams anticipate a rise in audience size that will significantly improve sponsorship values and make new fans. It’s the most significant new development since Penske bought the series in 2020.

• European powerhouse junior open-wheel outfit PREMA Racing announces a two-car entry for 2025, becoming IndyCar’s first new full-time team since 2018. The Italian squad hires Callum Ilott and 2022 Formula 2 front-runner Robert Shwartzman to lead the effort.

• Two weeks after the season finale, Michael Andretti steps down from his position atop Andretti Global and has no involvement in the team moving forward, be it IndyCar or the Formula 1 team he attempted to launch with Cadillac. Shortly after his exit, Andretti’s office is reportedly emptied and used as temporary storage space.

• Two months later, F1 announces the Cadillac F1 program, with no mention of Michael Andretti or Andretti Global, and is approved to join the grand prix grid in 2026. It’s a sad end for many IndyCar fans whose passion and loyalty for Andretti Global’s racing endeavors were tied directly to its now-former owner.

• Suitably impressed by his gritty performances, Arrow McLaren announces it’s keeping Theo Pourchaire for the rest of the season. He’ll replace Callum Ilott after Indy and conducts his first oval test with the team, receiving approval from IndyCar to race at every circuit left on the schedule when he returns.

• Bearing a strong likeness to the dark and murderous superhero "Homelander" on Amazon Prime’s gory-psycho TV series "The Boys," fans further embrace using the nickname "Homelander" for Josef Newgarden, IndyCar’s defiant and occasionally dark championship contender. Never one to be defined by others, Newgarden posts a photo of himself wearing a Homelander costume on Halloween. Well played.

A season of highs, lows and tough questions for Newgarden. Michael Levitt/Motorsport Images

• Private country club-and-racing facility The Thermal Club holds its first professional event in a non-points appearance by IndyCar. Tickets originally listed at $2000 barely sell, leading to $1500 discounts and refunds. As an on-track product, the calendar filler is a dud, capped off with a comically cheap podium that earns derision and scorn.

• Mostly healed by June, David Malukas is hired by Meyer Shank to backfill Blomqvist’s car for the rest of the season. He’s a rocket from the outset, thanks the team for saving his career, and the team expresses its interest in keeping him on a multi-year deal.

• Amid those many thanks, Malukas adds another chapter to the season of never-ending volatility by announcing he’s leaving Meyer Shank to join A.J. Foyt Racing in 2025 and rumored to be in the pipeline to replace Penske’s 43-year-old Will Power whenever he retires.

• Years in the making, the long-awaited debut of NASCAR Cup champion Kyle Larson at the Indy 500 happens in a partnership between Arrow McLaren and Hendrick Motorsports. The oval racing prodigy is a spectacle of his own at the Speedway and runs towards the front until a penalty for speeding on pit lane scuttles his chance of victory.

• A.J. Foyt Racing technical director Michael Cannon, widely credited for helping the team to claw its way from the back of the grid into the top 10 with Santino Ferrucci, leaves over an alleged salary dispute and signs with newcomer PREMA Racing, giving the program a formidable head start on its new American adventure.

• Breaking the steadfast rule regarding teammates hitting each other, Penske’s Will Power knocks Scott McLaughlin into the Toronto barriers and out of the race. McLaughlin waits for Power to circulate and return to the scene of the crime and gives Power a mocking round of applause. Between Newgarden and McLaughlin being at odds over the P2P ordeal, and now Power entering the chat, intra-squad harmony has been fleeting.

• Considered an integral part of Arrow McLaren as its lone veteran, 2016 Indy 500 winner Alexander Rossi and the team announce they will split at the end of the season, coming after being unable to find a mutually acceptable salary figure.

• Promoter Big Machine Music City Grand Prix salvages IndyCar’s season finale by moving it to the Nashville Speedway on the outskirts of Nashville. A former host of IndyCar races, the track was jettisoned from the calendar more than a decade ago due to poor attendance. With limited expectations for a significant change in local interest, the promoter attacks the market and pulls off a coup with solid crowds. IndyCar complements the promoter’s efforts by setting a technical specification for its cars that leads to exceptional racing. A grand failure turns into a grand victory.

• After multiple delays spanning multiple years, Penske Entertainment makes a successful move into using hybrid powertrains near the halfway point of the season. Panned after glitches sideline six-time series champion Scott Dixon on the parade laps at the energy recovery system’s debut and crucified by team owner/driver Ed Carpenter as being a heavy and unnecessary waste of money, the hybrid IndyCar formula puts on some good races, especially on the remaining ovals. By the last race of the year, blaming the hybrid units for IndyCar’s ills is a thing of the past. But a new season awaits with countless opportunities to revisit the topic.

• Days after the highs of the Indy 500, the Detroit Grand Prix is an unfortunate low point for IndyCar. The 100-lap downtown race is marred by eight cautions lasting 47 laps -- nearly half of the contest -- and making matters worse, 12 penalties are assessed to drivers and teams in the two-hour race as decision making, mostly of the poor or errant variety, rule over the event.

• Among the penalties, one is assessed to Arrow McLaren’s Theo Pourchaire for flying into a hairpin, locking his brakes, and knocking Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Agustin Canapino aside. Both drivers continue, but Canapino’s strong run is hampered as he falls to 12th place at the finish.

• In a repeat of two incidents in 2023 when Canapino’s ardent fans went on social media attacks with his then-teammate Callum Ilott over on-track clashes -- which included death threats -- the same online explosion happens to Pourchaire, who receives a variety of threatening and menacing messages from some of Canapino’s followers. As with the 2023 threats, Canapino and team co-owner/countryman Ricardo Juncos appear to be uninterested when calls to help quiet the attacks are made.

• Reacting to the inaction, McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown, who struck a commercial deal between Arrow McLaren and Juncos Hollinger Racing during the preseason that would allow for some of its overflow sponsorship deals to be carried on JHR’s cars, calls off the deal.

Carmageddon in Detroit. Brett Farmer/Motorsport Images

• Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, along with the owner of the Texas Rangers and the mayor of Arlington, announces the Arlington Grand Prix will take place as a street race that fires around the two stadiums starting in 2026. It’s another big achievement by Penske Entertainment.

• Making more headlines, Penske’s Mark Miles questions the drawing power of the series’ most popular driver Pato O’Ward while discussing a potential return to race in O’Ward’s native Mexico. The embattled executive is taken to task internally for the comments and by the driver’s giant fan base.

• Harnessing his power as the series’ top draw, a livid O’Ward starts a "Pato Who?" clothing line in response to Miles. But he’s not finished as O’Ward pays for two big billboards for month-long runs emblazoned with "Pato Who?" for Miles to see on his drive in and out of work each day in Indianapolis. To his credit, Miles eats crow without pushing back.

Pato O'Ward got the last laugh on several fronts in 2024. Michael Levitt/Motorsport Images

• With the championship winding down and a growing need to catch points leader Alex Palou, Penske’s Will Power crowds and hits Meyer Shank’s David Malukas late at World Wide Technology Raceway, leading Malukas to crash and Power to fire volleys of anger and blame at Malukas. A shaken and innocent Malukas, who says he was verbally accosted -- "screamed at" -- by Power after the incident, and whose team said he had to be consoled after the interaction, overplays the exchange and is later corrected by Power, who says he didn’t get in his rival’s face, but rather, rode by on a golf cart with his wife and yelled, "Malukas, what the ****?"

• Given a false impression of the situation, Malukas fans tear into Power for a perceived act of physical intimidation that didn’t take place. The two reconcile before the next race and the storm in a teacup is forgotten.

• Returning to green after the Malukas crash, and with Power holding fourth, IndyCar fans learn about the rules and intricacies of restart zones at WWTR when race leader Josef Newgarden opts to wait until the last possible moment to accelerate, which is legal, but is a rare choice in the series. Some of the cars close behind the leader stack up, including Power, who goes and then slows, and is hit from behind by Alexander Rossi who, for the second time in three races, rides over the back of a car -- Power -- and sees his Arrow McLaren car briefly shoot skyward. Both drivers are out on the spot. Newgarden, an easy target after the push-to-pass scandal, is blamed but cleared of any wrongdoing by race control.

• Renowned as one of the best races on the schedule, the Iowa Speedway doubleheader goes down as the worst IndyCar races of the year, if not the decade, due to a mismatch between tire specification for the heavier hybrid cars and the newly paved track surface. Saddled with tires that are too hard on a grippy short oval that prevents tire degradation, drivers spend two days going in circles with a bare minimum of passing. Skeptics of the hybrid powertrain use the forgettable event as evidence of the concept’s failings.

• Moving straight from Detroit to Road America, the furor over the online attacks against Pourchaire starts to affect Canapino’s mental health. The Juncos Hollinger Racing team, seeing Canapino’s mood sour shortly before the first practice session, yanks him from the car and sends him back to Indianapolis. Nolan Siegel, there to race in the Indy NXT development series, who made one IndyCar start at Long Beach for Dale Coyne Racing and did his best to qualify for the Indy 500 but was unsuccessful, is asked to step in and replace Canapino. Siegel does a good job in tough circumstances, earning 23rd.

• Unsure if Canapino -- a sports car champion many times over and national hero in his native Argentina -- is done as an IndyCar driver after 1.5 seasons, the team announces he will return at the next race at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, which comes as a surprise when it appeared Siegel, with a healthy base of sponsorship to offer, was primed to head to his home race in Monterey with Juncos Hollinger and finish out the year in the car.

• Canapino stays in the car for five races, finishing last or close to last while crashing or similar across the last three, and is pulled for good by the team. With ovals filling most of the events left to run, the team drafts in oval ace Conor Daly to try and move the car upwards in the race to earn one of Penske Entertainment’s $1 million prize money payouts for its top 22 entries. Daly is instantly effective, delivering Juncos Hollinger its first podium finish and other quality results that allow the car to squeak in and snare one of the last $1 million contracts.

Conor Daly gave Juncos Hollinger Racing a late-season boost it desperately needed. Geoffrey Miller/Motorsport Images

• A.J. Foyt’s Santino Ferrucci and Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Romain Grosjean act like magnets -- angry magnets -- who have a penchant for finding each other in a variety of tracks and corners, with both demonstrating high commitment to impeding or making contact whenever possible. It isn’t a good look, which leads to ongoing questions as to why IndyCar’s race control isn’t trying harder to control the situation.

• After announcing Theo Pourchaire will complete the season in the car Malukas was originally meant to drive, Arrow McLaren makes a 180-degree turn, calling the night before he was due to fly to Monterey, to say his services are no longer required. The team has signed local driver Nolan Siegel -- a baffling development for the blindsided F2 champ -- but the car is said to be exceptionally short on funding, which would explain the sudden reversal. Arrow McLaren is roasted for its umpteenth contribution to this season of unparalleled nonsense.

• Ignoring the chatter, Siegel shows occasional flashes, topped by a drive to seventh at WWTR, the best result for the car all season.

• Also years in the making, Penske Entertainment launches a charter membership program for its 10 existing full-time teams. Those members receive guaranteed entries at every race, excluding the Indy 500, and are able to sell their memberships if approved by Penske, but receive no profit sharing, TV revenue, or any other income in the arrangement.

• Arrow McLaren’s Alexander Rossi crashes during practice in Toronto, breaks a finger and is ruled out for the rest of the event. At home in France, the dropped Pourchaire is reached by the team and agrees to be temporarily un-dropped, races to the Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, does a full "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles" impression to reach the street circuit in time to qualify the car -- having never seen the track -- and finishes 14th in the race. Rossi reclaims his car for the following races.

• Forgetting Iowa, the remainder of the oval-heavy schedule in hybrid specification produces some unforgettable racing as drivers and fans rave about the quality of competition at Milwaukee, WWTR and Nashville.

• Even with the absence of new financial support from Penske Entertainment through the charters, some teams wielding memberships drew interest from new or potential investors. Among these are Ed Carpenter Racing, which welcomes the CEO of sugar substitute maker Splenda into its ownership group.

• If Detroit’s street race held the crown for hijinks and calamity, the next street race in Toronto delivers an almighty "Hold my beer" challenge with a close to the event that results in millions of dollars in damage and destroyed cars. A late-race restart sees Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward spin entering the funnel-like Turn 1, back into the wall and is hit by Andretti Global’s Marcus Ericsson, who is unable to avoid the incident. Together, they’re blocking approximately half of the road, and next through is A.J. Foyt Racing’s Santino Ferrucci who scales the front of O’Ward’s car, takes flight, turns sideways as he spears across the fencing and lands upside down at Turn 2. He’s uninjured. Then Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Pietro Fittipaldi hits the front of O’Ward’s car and goes for a short flight of his own.

O’Ward’s Arrow McLaren teammate Nolan Siegel comes upon the worsening scene and hammers the front of O’Ward’s car, but thankfully doesn’t fly as his car ricochets to the right side of the road. Dale Coyne Racing’s Toby Sowery, the last to make contact, lightly hits the back of Siegel’s car. Ericsson tries to drive back to the pits, but his front wings, tethered to the chassis, slip under his front tires and he can’t steer. Time for a red flag and a lot of questions about how swiftly race control did or didn’t react to the initial crashes and trigger a caution.

• Searching for a more competitive team, Rahal Letterman Lanigan’s lead driver Christian Lundgaard announces he’s leaving to replace Rossi at Arrow McLaren.

• Told to be on the lookout for a new contract extension to sign, young five-year Ed Carpenter Racing veteran Rinus VeeKay is stunned when his manager calls the team to ask when the contract will land in his inbox and is informed they’ve changed their minds -- it isn’t going to be tendered and VeeKay is out. The news comes five days after the last race, which means few high-caliber opportunities are left for VeeKay to explore.

Alexander Rossi is confirmed as his replacement. VeeKay continues to wait for a new team to make an offer, but out of 27 cars, only two seats are left to fill.

• Arrow McLaren’s Alexander Rossi tries to make it to the finish line on fumes at the second race of the Iowa Speedway doubleheader, but his motor sputters and dies coming out of the corner on the last lap just as A.J. Foyt Racing’s Sting Ray Robb is charging hard behind him. Robb tries to avoid the slowing Rossi, but clips his left-rear tire with his right front and is launched skyward. The cars of Robb, Rossi, plus Ed Carpenter, and Kyle Kirkwood -- innocent bystanders -- are thoroughly trashed in the melee. How many times have cars gotten airborne this season?

A championship lifeline thrown by Palou's pre-race glitch spins away at Milwaukee in part one of a tough end to the season for Power. Brett Farmer/Motorsport Images

• Cruising to his third championship, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou crawls to a stop with hybrid problems while coming to the green flag at the second Milwaukee round -- the penultimate race of the year. Holding second in the championship, it’s the perfect gift for Penske’s Will Power to erase Palou’s advantage and head to the title decider in the lead.

• Down multiple laps before the problem is rectified, Palou’s cooked and helpless, unable to prevent Power from exploiting the season’s biggest dramatic turn. Until he isn’t. Coming back to green on a restart, Power hits the throttle too hard and spins, throwing away almost everything the racing gods gave him. He finishes a dispirited 10th while Palou fights back from last to 19th and, in another twist, departs for Nashville with a nearly insurmountable lead.

• Resigned to go on the attack from the outset at Nashville and hope for more adversity to strike Palou, it’s Power’s turn to encounter problems on the warm-up laps. Qualifying fourth, a mind-bending view of Power pulling onto pit lane as the field was readying to start the race all but guarantees the delivery of Palou’s third championship. And the reason for the visit is just cruel: Some form of malfunction with the central seatbelt locking mechanism has caused the lap belts to pop loose and leave Power untethered from his car. His Penske pit crew fights and struggles to reconnect the belts, losing multiple laps before the issue is rectified. The problem re-occurs later in the race -- with Power’s fate already sealed -- and he’s forced to pit for a second time, surrendering the championship through no fault of driver or crew.

• But there’s one more gut punch for Power, who loses eight laps in the race, drops to 24th at the checkered flag, and falls from second in the championship -- Penske’s best for most of the season -- to fourth in the standings, behind teammate Scott McLaughlin in third and Colton Herta, who surged to second.

Long Beach's place among IndyCar's crown jewels looks secure. Josh Tons/Motorsport Images

• Under potential threat from Formula 1 and NASCAR, who want a marquee event in Southern California, Penske Entertainment steps in and buys the rights to the Long Beach Grand Prix, IndyCar’s second-biggest event after the Indy 500. It’s another bold move by IndyCar’s owner that meets with resounding approval.

• Arrow McLaren announces it’s parting ways with team principal Gavin Ward, who joined the team in 2022 in a technical role, was promoted to team leader a few months later after its president quit and went to Chip Ganassi Racing, and led Arrow McLaren in 2023 and '24. He’s replaced by assistant team principal and 2014 Indy 500 winner Tony Kanaan, also a racing team management neophyte.

When it wasn’t Penske or one of his executives, three teams in A.J. Foyt Racing, Arrow McLaren, and Juncos Hollinger Racing were the most prolific contributors to IndyCar’s wildest and most turbulent year in memory. May that change for the better in 2025.