RLL begins downsizing for slimmed-down 2027 IndyCar program

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing has started the process of downsizing its IndyCar Series operation from three cars to two and crafting the next version of the program, which includes the formation of a technical alliance with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing.

RLL and DRR entered into a new business arrangement over the summer that resulted in the sale of RLL’s third charter to DRR with the shifting of the No. 47 Honda driven in 2026 by Mick Schumacher from RLL to DRR (main image), which is fielding the single-car No. 24 Honda entry from its Indianapolis base for Conor Daly next year.

Following the charter sale, RLL will concentrate on the No. 15 Honda for Graham Rahal and the No. 45 Honda for Louis Foster, and as the team reduces its footprint in the paddock, some of RLL’s staff will remain with the team and others are expected to join DRR as it ramps up to full-time status, while others will likely join other teams.

"As we go forward, we got input from the car chiefs and everybody about how this could look,” RLL president Jay Frye told RACER. “Going from three to two could be perceived as a negative thing, but with the partnership with Dreyer & Reinhold, there was great an opportunity because so many are getting the opportunity there, so we're really pleased about that.

“We'll still have the 15 and the 45 car. The 15 team had been in place for a while. The 47 was new for Mick, so you merge some of the 45 and the 47 people together, and then we're also going to have a third program in-house, which is mainly a shop-based testing group, getting ready for when the new car comes, and then they’ll start working with that. So we’ll still have plenty of people, just moved around to do different things.”

RLL ran four cars at the Indianapolis 500 with the addition of Takuma Sato’s No. 75 Honda to the season-long trio. Looking to next year, Frye says the team’s Indy 500 plans are the next major topic to finalize.

“What we’ve been going through with Dreyer & Reinbold with the sale and the technical relationship, that’s step one,” he said. “What's next or what that looks like going down the road, we're prepared to do an extra car, obviously, with the third group of people we just mentioned who’ll be doing all the testing, so that group could do it. But we'll know more on that in the next month.”