O’Gara joins IndyCar as VP of competition for race engineering

The IndyCar Series has hired veteran race engineer and team manager Mike O’Gara as its new VP of Competition, Race Engineering.

O’Gara departs Chip Ganassi Racing after 12 years where he was a fixture in its IndyCar program, ran its IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship and FIA WEC efforts, and recently oversaw its Indy NXT team. Prior to CGR, the Hoosier’s IndyCar career began with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing in 2000 and he went on to join CGR as a race engineer before leaving for Sarah Fisher Racing and returning to CGR in 2016.

O’Gara fills the void left by Bill Pappas, who served in the role from 2016-25 and returned to race engineering during the offseason with Dale Coyne Racing on the No. 18 Honda driven by Romain Grosjean. O’Gara’s deep technical knowledge, vast engineering experience and friendly demeanor should be an asset for IndyCar.

He’ll be tasked with overseeing the technical side of IndyCar’s rulebook and bulletins, working with teams, manufacturers and vendors in car-related aspects, contributing to the ongoing safety improvements with the Dallara DW12 and upcoming IR28, and functioning as IndyCar’s main technical voice while collaborating with his teammates who focus on the aerodynamic and powertrain domains.

“I am thrilled to take this next step in my career and honored to join IndyCar in this critical role for the series,” O’Gara said. “This is truly an exciting time for the sport with a new car on the horizon and the opportunity to build on a growing focus and interest in Indy NXT. I know my prior experience has set me up to successfully contribute and help mold the future of North America’s premier open-wheel racing series. I cannot wait to get started.”

IndyCar President Doug Boles is excited to have O’Gara on the team.

“Mike’s vast experience in motorsports will make a substantial impact to IndyCar’s competition and engineering team,” Boles said. “It is clear that his impressive list of accomplishments, engineering acumen and proven knowledge of building high-performance teams and operations have the respect of the IndyCar paddock and will continue to be a real asset for our sport in this new role. We look forward to working with Mike as we look toward building competition, innovation, safety initiatives and IndyCar’s world-class racing.”