IndyCar’s Chevrolet teams vie for 2028 manufacturer deal

Chevrolet has five full-time partner teams in the IndyCar Series, and with significant planning well under way for the 2028 season where new cars, new engines and new manufacturer charter entries will debut, Team Chevy’s options to field its single-car factory entry are coming into focus.

Based on the rules contained within Penske Entertainment’s charter doctrine, no team is permitted to field more than three full-time entries, which removes the three-car programs at Team Penske and Arrow McLaren as options to onboard the Chevy factory car. That leaves the two-car efforts at AJ Foyt Racing, ECR and Juncos Hollinger Racing to consider as candidates for the placement of its manufacturer entry. 

“It’s definitely of interest,” ECR co-owner/driver Ed Carpenter told RACER. “I don’t have the answers necessarily. I don’t know if a decision’s been made one way or the other. If so, it hasn’t been communicated to me. But it’s definitely something that we’re open to – but you know, would also like to get moving on if it is gonna be something we’re a part of.”

In a conversation with RACER last season, JHR co-owner Brad Hollinger, who is closing in on taking sole ownership of the team, affirmed his desire to become a three-car team for Chevy in 2028.

“I believe strongly in IndyCar and where they’re headed,” Hollinger said. “I think we’re just seeing the tip of the iceberg right now. And so I’m in it for the long haul, and I do think we have a team that would do Chevrolet proud, I really do. And we know what they want. They want to line up where every driver can win. We get that. So I think it would be foolish of us not to also be... not aggressive, but certainly be in front of the powers that be at Chevrolet to say, ‘Here’s what we think we bring to the table, and here’s how we believe you benefit.’”

Asked to provide an update on how it’s progressing with the selection process, a Team Chevy representative said, “We don’t comment on agreements or discussions with our partner teams.”

Connections between Arrow McLaren and JHR could play a key role in landing the coveted manufacturer deal. Michael Levitt/Lumen via Getty Images

RACER understands that part of the talks with teams have involved funding for the manufacturer car where the team that agrees to run the program would also be responsible for covering some of the operational budget. As a result, Arrow McLaren could end up being a key player in how the Chevy program is placed. Although it’s unable to run the car on its own, a strong link between McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown and Hollinger exists that would make engaging in a collaborative arrangement involving Chevy, Arrow McLaren and Hollinger Racing a powerful initiative. 

With Rinus VeeKay as Hollinger’s lead driver, and ex-Arrow McLaren driver Nolan Siegel expected to take over the second seat, the team has the ability to run a third car on its own. But the more likely scenario could be for Arrow McLaren to form a partnership and help facilitate the manufacturer car through a technical alliance with Hollinger.

“It’s not done until it’s signed, but we are very interested,” Arrow McLaren team principal Tony Kanaan told RACER. “Hollinger, obviously, is good friends with Zak and we’ve talked many times about doing something together. Hollinger already has the facility and everything else. We’re with Chevy on a new long-time deal, and we signed the deal to help them as much as we possibly can in every way. But we’re waiting like everybody else to see what is going to happen.” 

The Foyt team sits in an interesting place where it’s engaged in a technical alliance with Team Penske which, like the potential link-up between Arrow McLaren and Hollinger, would present itself as a strong option for Chevy. 

But would Roger Penske’s direct business relationship with Ilmor Engineering, the company behind Chevy’s IndyCar motors which he co-founded and co-owns, stand as a conflict of interest if the contract went to a Penske-aligned team?  The answers vary depending on who you speak to about the matter, and at least from team principal Larry Foyt’s perspective, there’s nothing to stop the Bowtie from nominating IndyCar’s most tenured team.

“I can’t really discuss my discussions with Chevrolet, but also we haven’t made a big push,” he said. “We’re just trying to build our program to a place where we can support something like that. That’s what we’re trying to do, and we’d be honored to be in consideration for that.”

Chevy’s rivals at Honda are well ahead in the process, having confirmed Meyer Shank Racing as its partner for its manufacturer car back in February. HRC US has also identified three drivers who are in contention for the seat with 2024 IndyCar Rookie of the Year Linus Lundqvist, Honda-affiliated Formula 1 driver Yuki Tsunoda and Honda’s Kakunoshin Ohta, who leads the Japanese Super Formula championship by a wide margin with one event left to go.