The 2025 IndyCar championship was a snoozer, as Álex Palou clinched the title with several rounds remaining. The most compelling storyline in the closing weeks of the season was whether Will Power would remain with Team Penske or move elsewhere after a 17-year tenure with American motor sport’s most historic and successful organisation.
The IndyCar championship is closer this year, and the silly season exploded to life much earlier. Felix Rosenqvist was on the brink of having to look for a job until his thrilling victory in the Indy 500 dramatically increased his market value. Suddenly, Rosenqvist’s manager Stefan Johansson was taking calls instead of making them.
The bombshells came thick and fast. First Rosenqvist announced he would depart Meyer Shank Racing at the end of the season. Then rumours started percolating that Scott Dixon – also represented by ex-F1 driver Johansson – was exploring his options after 25 years (and six IndyCar championships) with Chip Ganassi Racing.
The news was made official on July 6: Rosenqvist and Dixon will both join Arrow McLaren for 2027, replacing Nolan Siegel (which was expected) and Christian Lundgaard, a two-time winner for McLaren this year who ranked third in the IndyCar standings at the time of writing. Casting aside a 25-year-old rising star who is arguably Álex Palou’s biggest threat is a bold move, but then Zak Brown is a bold team boss.
“Scott Dixon will bring good stuff to McLaren. It should be fun”
Brown is obsessed with a ‘Triple Crown of motor sport’ comprising the Indianapolis 500, Formula 1 World Championship and Le Mans 24 Hours. McLaren drivers have won the F1 title 13 times, most recently Lando Norris in 2025; well before Brown’s tenure, McLaren took a surprise 1995 Le Mans win and claimed victory at Indianapolis on three occasions in the 1970s. It’s the latter trophies that Brown is desperate to chase; McLaren’s Hypercar programme is in the development phase prior to a 2027 FIA World Endurance Championship debut, while the signing of Dixon and Rosenqvist to join incumbent Pato O’Ward demonstrates how serious Brown is about securing a modern-era triumph at The Brickyard.
“We’ve got our eyes firmly set on the championship as well as winning the Indianapolis 500 to secure the Triple Crown in the Papaya era,” Brown stated.
Dixon’s last title came in 2020, but he’s finished lower than fourth in the standings only once since then. The problem is the strongest competition has come from within what was for so long his own team in the form of Palou, who has stormed to four championships in the last five years. No matter how canny he may still be, Dixon just turned 46; Palou, 29, clearly represents the long-term future of Ganassi Racing.
So, Dixon turned down a multi-year contract offer from Chip Ganassi in favour of a new future with McLaren. He’ll no doubt be well-compensated but will also be joining an organisation that offers a path to his own dream of an overall win at Le Mans, where he has finished third in class and fourth overall in six starts. He’ll also likely be able to keep competing at Indianapolis long after his full-time IndyCar career comes to an end, should he choose to.
“I’ve spent as much time around Chip and his team as I have with my own family, so they are family,” Dixon said. “It was just time for a change.”
Dixon therefore follows in the footsteps of veteran IndyCar stars Hélio Castroneves and Power by leaving his long-time home in what is perceived to be the twilight of his career. Castroneves was farmed out to sports cars for the final three seasons of his 21 years with Penske; he won an IMSA championship in 2020 but was keen to return to open-wheel cars. Hélio won the 2021 Indianapolis 500 for Meyer Shank Racing, but two subsequent full-time seasons were unsuccessful, and he has returned to Indy-only status.
