How is the 2024 IndyCar grid shaping up?

IndyCar's primary silly season protagonists seem to have found their homes for next season. Some key free agents sit unsigned, and the places for spaces are running thin.

What does the IndyCar grid look like for next season at this stage? It only appears that two to three full time grid positions are open, and those may not be as open as they appear.

Some exciting rumors have popped up over the last month over potential entries, and the healthy IndyCar grid looks like it will once again reach the maximum capacity for the Chevrolet and Honda engine programs, putting entries around 27-28 for each race outside of the Indianapolis 500.

Credit to Marshall Pruett, Nathan Brown, and Bruce Martin with Racer.com, The Indianapolis Star, and NBC Sports, respectively, where much of this reporting comes from.

A.J. Foyt Racing
Car 14: TBD
Car 55: TBD

Nothing has been confirmed with A.J. Foyt's team for 2024. Consensus seems to point to Santino Ferrucci returning to Car 14, and Benjamin Pederson returning to Car 55. The biggest news for Foyt's team comes with a new alliance with Team Penske. Foyt will receive front dampers and technical support, and Penske will hope to use Foyt to develop drivers in the future — and certainly wouldn't complain about combining efforts to go faster at Indianapolis, something both teams were great at last season.

Andretti Global
Car 26: Colton Herta
Car 27: Kyle Kirkwood
Car 28: Marcus Ericsson
Car 29: TBD

The Andretti team continues to undergo a series of changes as the outfit grows at a rapid pace, hoping to land a Formula One team based in Fishers, Indiana, at a massive new facility under construction. Part of that includes the name change from Andretti Autosport to Andretti Global.

Two changes will happen on the driver's side this season. Marcus Ericsson will join the team from Chip Ganassi Racing. One of the two biggest pieces of the IndyCar silly season puzzle was solved when that deal was signed. As a result, former driver Romain Grosjean — currently unsigned for 2024 — has explored legal options against Andretti due to the change, but it doesn't appear it will have any impact on either's 2024 plans at present.

Car 29 will not have Devlin DeFrancesco in it, that's for certain. Racer.com's Marshall Pruett reported rumors that Andretti might either shutter the team to contract to three cars, or foster a partnership with Bryan Herta Autosport and Paretta Autosport to field a car with Tatiana Calderon as the driver, with sponsorship lined up. Calderon drove for Foyt in 2021, but was cut due to funding issues midseason, just as she was coming to grips with the IndyCar.

Arrow McLaren
Car 5: Pato O'Ward
Car 6: David Malukas
Car 7: Alexander Rossi
Car 17: Kyle Larson (R, 500 only)

McLaren ended up busier than expected this silly season, but seem to have emerged in a great position. Caught up in the Álex Palou saga, the team signed David Malukas from Dale Coyne Racing after a strong finish to the 2023 season. Malukas should be a podium contender more regularly in better equipment, and could steal a race or two on ovals this season, including Indianapolis.

Kyle Larson, 2021 NASCAR cup champion, joins the team for a one-off effort in the Indianapolis 500. Reports say this deal is for two years, and Larson seems to win in just about every type of car he drives. Adapting to the IndyCar from heavier stock cars and dirt sprint cars is difficult, but with plenty of oval experience and weeks of practice for the 500, Larson should be just fine.

Chip Ganassi Racing
Car 8: Linus Lundqvist (R)
Car 9: Scott Dixon
Car 10: Álex Palou
Car 11: Marcus Armstrong
TBD: Kyffin Simpson (R)

Ganassi knew there would be a headache solving the Ericsson and Palou situations in 2023. Considering the options, perhaps no team emerged stronger than CGR.

Palou staying is a huge deal. His 2023 season was the most dominating IndyCar season performance in more than a decade, and keeping that team together should yield similar results.

Dixon and Palou will keep mentoring Marcus Armstrong, who moves to a full-time gig in the 11 car. They'll also help Linus Lundqvist, the 2021 Indy Lights champion, and Kyffin Simpson, Ganassi's development driver in 2022 and 2023, join the team in full time roles. Lundqvist ran a few races last season for Meyer Shank Racing, and Simpson has IndyCar testing experience. The test of a full 17-race IndyCar slate can only be aided by some of the best equipment in the field with Ganassi.

Dale Coyne Racing
Car 18: TBD
Car 51: TBD

Consider this one a mystery. There really hasn't been much reporting on Coyne's 2024 plans. Malukas is out, and it seems that Sting Ray Robb isn't returning.

Whatever happens here, expect Coyne to be a major factor among free agents like Grosjean and DeFrancesco.

Ed Carpenter Racing
Car 20: Ed Carpenter (ovals), Christian Rasmussen (road and street courses)
Car 21: Rinus VeeKay
TBD: Christian Rasmussen (500)

Carpenter set off an unexpected silly season domino effect last season, cutting Conor Daly shortly after the Detroit Grand Prix in June. For 2024, Carpenter will return to the 20 for ovals, and newly signed Christian Rasmussen, last season's Indy NXT champion, will drive the car for road and street courses in a deal announced today. They'll field a third car for Rasmussen in the Indianapolis 500. Rinus VeeKay will look to build on a stronger finish to 2023 in car 21 again.

Juncos Hollinger Racing
Car 77: TBD
Car 78: Agustin Canapino

JHR ended up with a chaotic offseason after both their drivers tangled at Laguna Seca, leading to social media abuse aimed at Callum Illot, last year's pilot of car 77. Before the race, both drivers expected to return to the team in 2024. Ricardo Juncos expressed skepticism with that idea, saying funding needed to be secured for either to return. Canapino was announced last week to return to car 78, but doubt still remains over whether Illot will return to the 77.

If Illot returns, it could come as a part of the partnership with McLaren. If he doesn't, McLaren might have a say in who fills that spot, which only clouds the picture further.

Meyer Shank Racing
Car 06: Tom Blomqvist (R)
Car 60: Felix Rosenqvist
TBD: Hélio Castroneves (500)

MSR cleaned house this offseason. Outside of IndyCar, the team paused their IMSA prototype program, leaving its drivers to find new homes across the sport and allowing the team to focus on improving its IndyCar efforts. Tom Blomqvist, one of MSR's prototype aces, will drive the 06 car in IndyCar this season after some testing and a couple races last season.

Felix Rosenqvist joins from McLaren, replacing Simon Pagenaud. Rosenqvist brings in some fresh air and IndyCar experience. Pagenaud, meanwhile, is still recovering from post concussion syndrome effects stemming from his spectacular crash during a practice session at Mid-Ohio last season.

Castroneves returns in a 500-only effort, still trying to become the first driver to ever win five Indianapolis 500s.

Rahal Letterman Lanigan
Car 15: Graham Rahal
Car 30: Pietro Fittipaldi
Car 45: Christian Lundgaard

RLL will retain Graham Rahal — something that wasn't a done deal for much of the 2023 season. Pietro Fittipaldi, a 2021 IndyCar starter with Dale Coyne Racing and current Haas F1 test driver, will drive the 30 car full time in 2024. Lundgaard remains in car 45, and rumors at Racer.com say the team is exploring a fourth car for former Formula 2 driver Jüri Vips, who drove car 30 a few times at the end of last season.

Team Penske
Car 2: Josef Newgarden
Car 3: Scott McLaughlin
Car 12: Will Power

Penske is unchanged for 2024. The Foyt partnership seems to point to future changes, and a development driver from Foyt could fill either a fourth car or replace Power when he decides to retire or move on from the sport — whenever that may come.

Power told NBC Sports at Laguna Seca that he consider retiring last season to tend to his wife, Liz, who underwent a series of serious medical challenges. She recovered tremendously through the season, and eventually was healthy enough to attend the month of May and Laguna Seca with Power's family. The family emerging the 2023 season with life and health was most important.

That situation likely led to his regression in performance in 2023 as defending series champion, and who could blame him. Hopefully all are well and healthy entering 2024, and Power can challenge for his third series title.

Free Agents
Romain Grosjean, Devlin DeFrancesco, Conor Daly, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Jack Harvey, Takuma Sato, Sting Ray Robb

The group above doesn't have any 2024 IndyCar plans at the moment — at least publicly. With multiple Indy NXT drivers and old faces that found funding returning to the series, expect many of these drivers to return in very diminished roles for 2024, if they return at all.

Grosjean's legal action against Andretti probably means he's not going to enter into any one-off efforts with them. He will be a part of Lamborghini's IMSA prototype efforts regardless of what happens with his IndyCar aspirations, but he could reunite with Coyne in some fashion.

Daly seems to be enjoying his free range experiences across a variety of motorsports disciplines, but there haven't been any indications he'll return to a full time IndyCar role.

RHR filled in admirably at ECR last year after Daly left, but could return for a Dreyer & Reinbold-type outfit for the 500 come May. Same goes for Sato (and likely Stefan Wilson, who has funding but missed last year's 500 after injuries sustained during a practice session).

Nothing to report with Jack Harvey, either. He travelled to multiple IndyCar events after he and RLL parted ways, but there's no public indication a full time role is imminent.

Robb's name has been floated for a few rides, but nothing is signed at this point.