Ward joins RLL as head of engineering

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing has hired Gavin Ward as its new VP of Engineering.

The Canadian will focus primarily on RLL’s IndyCar program, but will also have oversight of its IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship effort with McLaren that’s run by Grant Weaver and John Hennik.

Ward joined the team on a part-time basis in 2025 as special advisor, providing engineering input and competitive insights to RLL’s leadership. With his new appointment, Ward makes his full-time return to the series.

“We did a yearlong consulting deal with Gavin to get to know each other, and that went really well,” RLL president Jay Frye told RACER. “We’re thrilled that he’s decided to come on full-time. He’s an elite talent. That there’s only so many engineers in the world that have had all the experiences he’s had, and we’re just we’re excited to have him part of the program for now and into the future.”

Ward made his name as a Formula 1 race engineer with Red Bull before moving back to North America to join Team Penske as Josef Newgarden’s race engineer. Together, they won the 2019 IndyCar Series championship and challenged for more titles with runner-up finishes before Ward left to join Arrow McLaren shortly after its purchase by McLaren Racing.

Although Ward was meant to step into an engineering leadership role, the departure of team principal Taylor Kiel for Chip Ganassi Racing came with an unanticipated shift of Ward into Kiel’s former role. The experiment was somewhat short-lived as Ward was released while sporting director Tony Kanaan was promoted to team principal during the offseason of 2024.

Having spent most of 2025 away from the sport, Ward accepted the invitation from Frye to strengthen the team. RLL had stretches of promise last season as Graham Rahal earned three podiums in the first half of the championship and teammate Louis Foster found a groove late in the year and placed 16th and 18th in the championship, respectively.

RLL sold its third charter to Dreyer & Reinbold Racing at the conclusion of the season, and under the arrangement, RLL and DRR will work together through a technical alliance that falls under Ward’s domain.