Graham Rahal recently signed a multi-year extension with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, ensuring he’ll stay as a driver in IndyCar for at least a couple more seasons.

The veteran of 17 years waited until well after this past season was complete to finalize his new contract extension.

Rahal spent a lot of that time evaluating his situation, his desire to keep racing, and even his position within his family’s team before committing to more seasons behind the wheel.

Tipped as the person who will likely take over management of the team from his father Bobby Rahal, and showing a natural inclination towards business dealings, the decision of when to move onto the next phase of his racing career is not always an obvious one.

Rahal spoke to IndyCar.com about the thoughts that went into his recent contract signing, and what he found while evaluating his and the team’s options ahead of the announcement.

“What I found is what I kind of expected, which is that my desire is to remain racing – my love and my heart and everything else is in this game,” said Rahal.

“I wasn’t ready [to retire]; I’m not ready to just give up. I felt frustrated that I hadn’t won more. I felt frustrated that I haven’t helped, in reflection, make this team into a winner the last couple of years like I would have liked to.

“Because at the end of the day, as a driver, you can sit and go, ‘OK, Scott Dixon has won a ton of races because Scott Dixon is with Ganassi.’

“That is an accurate statement. But what is also accurate is that Scott Dixon helps that team more. And so, for me, you sit and look at it and say, ‘OK, well, what have I not done to make sure that RLL is a race winning organization?’

“There are certain restrictions to that. I mean, I do a lot of things within the organization. But there are things I think I could have done better and in reflection, it’s like, ‘Well, I’m not ready to just move along yet.’

“I’m not ready to give up on that dream of winning many races, not just Indy, but many, many races. And the [Gallagher Grand Prix] proved to me — not that I needed it – but that race, among others, proved to me again that I know how to win, that I can win and that I’m a driver capable of being up front. End of story.

“So that’s my focus is to get back in the seat and to get myself back into a place that we’re winning again.”

RLL collected one win last season when Christian Lundgaard snagged his first career win in Toronto, the team’s first since Takuma Sato’s Indy 500 victory in 2020.

The Gallagher Grand Prix was Rahal’s best chance at his own win, with the veteran scoring pole and leading 36 laps around the IMS road course.

He was chasing down Dixon for the lead in the final laps of the race, but ran out of time to make the pass and ended up finishing less than half of a second behind in second place.

Despite missing out on his first win since the 2017 Detroit Grand Prix, Rahal feels it is those types of performances that can keep fueling his motivation as he enters the later stages of his racing career.

“I wouldn’t say there was more pressure to finish this career off on a positive note, but the desire is more than ever before, and that’s actually been the case the last couple of years.

“That’s why the frustration has mounted a little bit the last couple of years [since] we haven’t been able to win.

“I mean, the [Gallagher Grand Prix] loss was kind of a fluky deal that we didn’t win. And that’s OK. But it was nice to feel that and have that heartbeat again, you know, to know you’re in the hunt.

“And so yes, for me right now, that is a huge part of this deal. That’s why it took so long for this [contract] to come together.”

Rahal will partner Christian Lundgaard and Pietro Fittipaldi for the 2024 season, which kicks off March 10 on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida.

Following speculation concerning the number of cars Andretti Global plans to field for the 2024 IndyCar season, the team has confirmed that it will indeed be shrinking from four full time entries down to three.

The confirmation, first reported by The Race, means that the team’s announced lineup is complete with Colton Herta, Kyle Kirkwood, and Marcus Ericsson filling the seats of the #26, #27, and #28 respectively.

The team’s fourth entry has traditionally been the car that Andretti reserves for paying drivers who bring their own funding to the table.

Devlin DeFrancesco filled that role for the past two seasons, but that option is no longer available to him if he intends to continue his career in the series.

“There will be just the three [entries next year],” said Andretti COO Rob Edwards, speaking to RACER. “We’re definitely trying to focus our efforts and with a view to more race wins and championships and Indy 500s.

“We look at what Penske did when they went from four to three, and in their case, they had four strong drivers, not ride buyers, but they still felt operationally that it was an advantage for them to do three and we see some similar advantages.

“And so we’re going to tread down that path and focus on Colton, Kyle, and Marcus.”

Andretti has fielded four or more full time entries in IndyCar virtually every year since 2004, with 2012 and 2015 being the only two exceptions.

It is unknown at this time if the slimmer program will continue for more than one season, and will largely depend on the team’s performance in the upcoming year.

There will still likely be four Andretti cars in the Indianapolis 500, however, with the tradition of an extra entry for the famous race set to continue.

“The plan is certainly to be four at the 500,” Edwards confirmed. “There’s no anticipated plan to run more than that.

“Obviously, the 500 is super important and so that same drive to focus on the three cars for season would lead us to only add the one car for the 500.”

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing has announced a contract extension with Graham Rahal, ensuring the veteran will continue to race in IndyCar for at least a couple more years.

There was little doubt the 34-year-old would re-sign with his family team, but the official announcement was a bit later than expected as details of the contract were sorted out.

Rahal first drove for RLL in the 2013 season, and has earned five wins in the eleven years since then.

He and the team hit a rough patch at the start of this past year, with the low point being when Rahal was bumped out of the Indianapolis 500.

He filled in for an injured Stef Wilson in the DRR Chevy and was able to compete in his 16th Indy 500, but the event still affected his and his team’s morale.

As the season continued, Rahal rebounded and earned two poles and a podium in the final few races of the season.

His extension gives him a chance to build on that momentum next year, and possibly get his first race win since 2017.

“I’m extremely excited to get a new multi-year agreement in place and hopefully continue to build and improve the team,” said Rahal.

“At the end of the season, we saw some glimpses of what we can and should be. Obviously, there is a lot of work still to be done to ensure that we continue to grow and get ourselves in a place for continuous success but I’m excited about the signs that I saw.

“I’m also excited to continue working with the tremendous partners that we have. It was important to me to continue to represent them and hopefully do a great job for them as we go forward.

“I’m glad that we were able to come together with Mike [Lanigan], my dad, David [Letterman] and everyone at the organization to continue together.”

Rahal will partner with Pietro Fittipaldi and Christian Lundgaard for the 2024 season, and will once again have the #15 on his car.

Motorsport Games, which owns the license to exclusively produce video games featuring the NTT IndyCar Series, announced on Tuesday that it has suspended development of the upcoming title.

The news came via the company’s third quarter earnings call, during which management at the company briefed investors on the state of the business.

Executives outlined the status of Motorsport Games’ ongoing cost reduction plan, highlighting the ‘strategic sale’ of its NASCAR license to iRacing that was announced a month prior.

The most consequential part of the earnings call was the confirmation of reports that the company was reducing its size through layoffs and a closure of one of its major development studios in Australia.

That studio had been working on the planned IndyCar game, but development of that title has now been suspended for the time being.

“This quarter has continued to be one of business transformation,” said Stephen Hood, Chief Executive Officer of Motorsport Games. “We have continued to reduce costs under the previously announced 2022 Restructuring Program with the first signs of forward momentum starting to become apparent.

“This includes our recent announcement on the strategic sale of our NASCAR license, which we believe improves the business outlook by reducing our financial commitments and allowing the company to focus its limited resources on near-term projects that are anticipated to come to market.

“Additional cost-saving measures have included the recent closure of our Australian development studio, with corresponding global headcount reductions, and the suspension of the development of our previously planned IndyCar game, to decrease operating expenses whilst also removing projects that are underperforming or are unlikely to generate revenue.”

The original announcement that IndyCar would have its first sanctioned video game in nearly two decades came in July 2021, with an expected release date of 2023.

Since then, Motorsport Games has been through rough times, with its stock falling from $130 to just under $3 per share in the past two years despite a 1-for-10 reverse stock split.

A continued lack of updates about the IndyCar title suggested that the game would either be launched late or would be cancelled outright, but today was the first time the company has admitted that it is no longer making progress on the game.

Motorsport Games currently still holds the license for IndyCar, with the racing series seemingly waiting until the game company fails to deliver on previously agreed deadlines in order to force a breach of contract.

For its part, Motorsport Games is still officially planning on resuming development of the title in the future, as highlighted on the earnings call.

“Company’s plans to identify opportunities to resume development of its IndyCar title elsewhere within the business following the closing of its Australian studio.”

iRacing continues to have digital versions of the Dallara IR-18 chassis available within its platform, but has been forbidden from hosting digital versions of real events, such as the Indianapolis 500, since Motorsport Games acquired the exclusive license.

Jacob Abel, a two-year veteran of the Indy NXT series, got his first taste of IndyCar machinery on Monday with Dale Coyne Racing.

The 22-year-old drove around Sebring Raceway as long as the sunlight held out, getting as many laps in as he could on the bumpy circuit.

Abel called on his experiences climbing through the IndyCar feeder series ladder, and specifically referenced his past two seasons in Indy NXT as what made the transition into the top-level machinery a seamless one.

“Jacob Abel here, Indy NXT driver,” said Abel in a video on social media. “But today, driver of the #18 Dale Coyne Honda here at Sebring. Had a really good day today. Learned a ton. Had a very successful day.

“We used all of the sunlight that Florida gave us today. Got tons of laps in, with tons of sets of tires. Bunch of experience. I learned a ton today.

“I felt really prepared with all the experience that I had before this, all the different cars that I’ve driven. The GT3 car compared with the Indy NXT car and a few other things.

“I was able to leverage all that, all of the experience I’ve gained with Honda and with HPD to have a very successful day today.

“The transition between this and the Indy NXT car was very seamless, now especially with the new Firestone tires. They have many of the same characteristics.

“Definitely felt very well prepared after a couple years of Indy NXT for this test today, and I’m really excited to see what the future holds.”

Sitting one step below IndyCar, Indy NXT recently switched to using Firestone tires to match what the premiere series uses.

The similarities of the tire performance is just one of the many ways that drivers are able to properly prepare when they advance through the feeder series program.

Abel earned four podiums and finished fifth in last year’s Indy NXT championship, but his plans for the 2024 season have not yet been announced.

Romain Grosjean is switching teams for the 2024 IndyCar season, moving from the well-established Andretti squad to the still fledgling Juncos Hollinger Racing.

He will have quite a few new challenges ahead of him, including switching to Chevrolet engines and fitting in at a team that has a wildly different atmosphere.

The 37-year-old veteran driver is not at a point in his career where he is likely to stray too far in the way he approaches race weekends, and he has shown that he is quick to voice his displeasure when things go wrong.

Grosjean was asked if his passionate demeanor behind the wheel would clash with the management culture at JHR, which can be rigid in its decisions during a race weekend, and he played down the issue.

“Well, I try to avoid explosion as much as I can,” joked Grosjean. “We’ll see. I think time will tell. I’m aware of all the questions. I think that’s a big talking point right now. We may be surprised in good, we may be surprised in bad. I think we’ll see.

“I’ll do my best on my end for sure. I’ll try to improve. I think you can always improve in life. Thanks God I’m not perfect.

“I also feel like it could be a different atmosphere and feeling, ongoing relationship with Juncos. So far I’ve really enjoyed the time I spent with [team co-owner Ricardo Juncos]. I got lucky to spend quite a bit of time with him in Austin during the Formula 1 weekend, which was nice. I think we’re aware of that potential situation, so we’ll do our best on each end.”

One of the reported reasons for Grosjean leaving Andretti was his disagreements with both team-mates and his crew.

Some of those incidents played out in the public eye, with more likely taking place behind the doors of the team’s haulers, which has earned him a bit of a reputation as a driver that is difficult to work with.

That does not seem to bother Juncos’ management, however, with Ricardo Juncos getting along well with the Frenchman in their talks leading up to the deal for next year.

Grosjean is also not bothered by the environment which he is entering.

A passionate Argentinian fan-base closely follows JHR and their fellow countryman Agustin Canapino, who pilots the #78 entry and will be Grosjean’s team-mate next season.

That passion spilled over into abusive online messages against Callum Ilott following relatively minor on-track incidents last season, and helped lead to his exit from the team.

Ricardo Juncos has largely played down the incidents, effectively saying that a thick skin is all that’s needed once social media kicks into high gear.

Grosjean touted his ability to tune out hurtful messages, and is confident he won’t be bothered by similar online attacks if they are directed towards him.

“Yeah, pretty late in the year,” said Grosjean, referencing when he started talking to Juncos in earnest. “I think the first discussion was Portland, then Laguna Seca, then post Laguna with Ricardo. [Then] got to a point where we found an agreement.

“I’m excited about the opportunity to grow our fan base, both to Juncos Hollinger and myself. I’m excited to discover a new culture: Argentinian.

“I’m starting to learn Spanish just because I wanted to do it anyway in Miami, but also know there’s even more reason to do it.

“If you go on my social media, you can see that I’m far in hate resistance. It is what it is. Some people don’t like me. Fine by me. I think you lose time coming in my social if you don’t like me anyway.

“Hopefully everything goes well, but I’m aware of what happened with Callum. It wasn’t ideal. I felt for him. If it happens to me, yeah, I just don’t go on social, keep doing my stuff.”

Grosjean begins his fourth season in IndyCar this upcoming March at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, when he will drive the #77 and attempt to match the pace that earned him pole at last year’s season opener.

Juncos Hollinger Racing has announced that Romain Grosjean will be joining the team for the 2024 IndyCar season.

The Frenchman will race alongside Argentinian driver Agustin Canapino, with the 37-year-old becoming the veteran driver in the two car outfit.

Grosjean joined IndyCar in the 2021 season after a lengthy career in Formula 1, and thoroughly enjoyed the change in atmosphere while racing for Dale Coyne Racing.

He stepped up to a full time schedule for the 2022 season when he joined Andretti Autosport, and stayed with the team for two seasons driving in the iconic yellow and red DHL car.

Grosjean and Andretti had a falling out of sorts last year, with a contract not being renewed despite significant progress being made on a new deal.

Grosjean will try to earn his first IndyCar win with JHR next season, having earned six podiums but no victories in the three seasons he’s contested so far.

“I’ve been closely following JHR’s ascension in the past few seasons,” said Grosjean in the press release. “The team has showcased significant growth and I am eager to contribute my experience as we aim for a strong 2024 season.”

JHR announced that it was parting ways with Callum Ilott last week, with the two mutually agreeing to end their contract early.

That left availability in the #77 entry that Grosjean will now fill, but also left Ilott without a confirmed ride for next year and very few options still available.

The vacancies at JHR are now officially taken, however, and the fledgling team can concentrate on making preparations for next season.

The first race of the 2024 season takes place on March 10 on the streets of St. Petersburg, although Grosjean will be testing with the team before then.

The Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, which hosts IndyCar, its feeder series, and a variety of other racing events, has completed a full track repaving project.

Green Savoree Racing Promotions, which owns and operates the track, announced the completion of the project just as events were wrapped up for the winter season.

The two-week project needed nearly 100 people to complete, and utilized 30 semi-trucks to replace 6,000 tons of asphalt along the 2.258-mile course.

The old track material will be repurposed to create additional paved paddock and parking areas behind the iconic media tower that sits next to pit lane.

“We were blessed with outstanding weather last week for the crews to complete this major project in a relatively short amount of time,” said Kevin Savoree, co-owner, president COO of Green Savoree Racing Promotions.

“It was a tremendous accomplishment and collaboration between Kokosing Construction, Kokosing Materials, Advanced Materials Services and our own track operations team to make it happen. We look forward to getting race cars on it for the first time next spring!”

Plans for the repaving project began in 2022, and the new surface laid down in Turn 1 for the 2023 season served as a test of the durability of the asphalt mixture ahead of the larger project.

The last time the track received a new surface was ahead of the 2006 season.

Green Savoree has been putting effort and funding into Mid-Ohio’s ageing infrastructure in recent years, with new grandstands and camping ground upgrades helping make a better fan experience.

Even before the recent upgrades, the rural track has consistently been a fan-favorite for its camping atmosphere and the close racing its elevation changes help to create.

The new track surface should help to decrease lap times for next season, with Simon Pagenaud’s 2016 IndyCar qualifying record of 1:03.8700 potentially in danger.

A few other tracks on the IndyCar calendar have received repaving recently, notably Road America and Laguna Seca, with events run on the fresh tarmac putting drivers’ strength to the test on account of the grippy surface.

A full racing schedule for Mid-Ohio has not been announced yet for 2024, but IndyCar is locked into the July 7 date, when the series will visit for the 41st time.

Callum Ilott and Juncos Hollinger Racing have agreed to part ways with immediate effect, leaving uncertainty for both about the 2024 IndyCar season.

Ilott joined IndyCar for the final few races of the 2021 season, after having driven in Formula 2 and served as a test driver for the Ferrari F1 team.

He headed up JHR’s return to the top level of IndyCar by running without a team-mate for a season, then by helping Agustin Canapino get acclimated to the series this past year.

That relationship is coming to an end, however, as Ilott and JHR have mutually agreed to part ways just one year into a multi-year contract.

“I want to extend my gratitude to Juncos Hollinger Racing for the opportunity to be part of their team,” said Ilott in a press release.

“I have immense respect for the organization, and our time together has been a valuable experience. I look forward to exploring new opportunities and challenges in my racing career.”

Ilott’s relationship with JHR has been less than perfect, with multiple instances of a breakdown in driver-team trust making their way out into the public eye.

There were also multiple incidents of fan abuse against Ilott from his team-mate’s fan base, with the passionate Argentinian fans threatening him over social media in response to on-track incidents.

The team is thought to be courting Romain Grosjean to fill the #77 seat, but an announcement has not yet been made for next season.

Similarly, no announcements have been made regarding Ilott’s future, although he has expressed desire to stay in the IndyCar paddock despite the dwindling number of available seats.

“While it is with mixed emotions that we bid farewell to Callum Ilott,” said Ricardo Juncos, co-owner of JHR. “I would like to express my gratitude to Callum for all of his efforts during his time with our team, and we deeply appreciate his contributions.

“We wish him the very best in his future endeavors. Callum has shown immense talent, and we have no doubt that he will continue to make his mark in the world of motorsport.”

Ed Carpenter has cited competition for engineers and other team personnel as part of the reason for his team scaling back to two full time IndyCar entries in 2024.

For the 2022 season, ECR effectively expanded from a two-car team to a two-and-a-half car team. Conor Daly and Rinus VeeKay were each given full season rides, along with Carpenter himself still running the oval rounds in a third car.

That arrangement persisted for the 2023 season, but will return to one full entry for VeeKay paired with a single entry shared between Carpenter and incoming rookie Christian Rasmussen.

Part of the reason for the arrangement is likely funding limitations on Rasmussen’s part, who is using scholarship money earned from his Indy NXT championship last year to help fund his entry into IndyCar.

But Carpenter outlined that there are other reasons he will be taking over the #20 for all oval rounds bar the Indianapolis 500, and a big one is the difficulty he’s had luring talented individuals away from other teams on the grid.

“Yeah, really a lot of it was just taking an assessment of where we were and how the year went, what went well and what didn’t, how do we take a step forward,” said Carpenter about his team scaling back.

“The series is so competitive now from top to bottom. For us, it was as much as anything about making sure we’re using the resources that we have with all of our personnel and cars and preparation and putting our best foot forward.

“We staffed up more last year for the third car than we had in the past, but that’s still probably less than what other two-car teams would average.

“As much as anything, we weren’t happy with how we performed last year overall. Doing the same exact thing again wasn’t going to be the ultimate fix.

“If we could have got enough additions into the team on all sides of things from engineering down through the mechanics, maybe we could have come to a different conclusion. The competition just isn’t on track, it’s off track as well. Very hard to get new people into the building and away from other teams.

“This is a solution that allows us to be more focused and hopefully come back stronger in 2024, which is the plan.”

The team’s plan leaves Rasmussen to run only the road and street courses, plus the Indy 500, for his rookie season.

Carpenter related that he would not be willing to let the young driver join another team for the oval rounds, but there is a small chance resources can be found to get him in his team’s car for more races in 2024.

“I would say it’s early enough that there’s always potential to add to the program that we have if the situation presents itself over time and we’re able to do that.

“Certainly the long-term goal is to have [Rasmussen] running a full-time schedule, so we’ll see how that develops. Right now, this is the plan.”