Here is the real question dominating the Ntt IndyCar Series paddock right now: what actually counts as the most significant development of the off-season? A panel of experts weighed in with wildly different answers, pointing to everything from garage shake-ups to quiet consistency.
Curt Cavin is looking squarely at the supporting cast of Alex Palou's No. 10 car. So much has changed recently within Chip Ganassi Racing, including the retirement of Julian Robertson, who engineered all five of Palou's Ntt IndyCar Series championships and has been an integral part of the organization since 1993. Palou also won't have the expertise of several other key personnel when the green flag drops in St. Petersburg, and it's not inconsequential that he will be sharing information with Christian Lundgaard instead of Scott Dixon. Palou still will have strategist Barry Wanser, which is a big plus, but how all of this change comes together will be fascinating to watch.
Meanwhile, Eric Smith went outside the box to look at the moves not made. Chip Ganassi Racing and Arrow McLaren are amid a reshuffle of drivers and engineering lineups, but their biggest two threats for wins and championships—Team Penske, featuring drivers David Malukas, Scott McLaughlin, and Josef Newgarden, alongside Andretti Global—are simply running it back in 2027. With two major organizations bringing back each of their driver trios and keeping their pit stands status quo, silence now could create noise later.
Arni Sribhen points to the full-time return of Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. Many thought the Ntt IndyCar Series was a closed club with no way for any potential team to join after the advent of the charter system, but the Indianapolis 500 stalwarts have done just that by purchasing a charter from Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. Dreyer & Reinbold is back full time for 2027 with Conor Daly as its driver and a relationship with RLL as a Honda team, aiming to finish the job started by the team's late owner, Dennis Reinbold. Core players like team principal Chase Selman have remained throughout, and the Reinbold family, especially Dennis and now his son Derek, keep the legacy alive.
Finally, Paul Kelly weighed the return of Ntt IndyCar Series racing to Europe with the Barcelona race in July 2027 against the continued testing of the IR-28 chassis, ultimately choosing the new machine. Alex Palou and Alexander Rossi have put the IR-28 through its paces on the smooth-as-glass Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval and the teeth-rattling bumps of the Sebring International Raceway short road course—about the two most diabolically opposite circuits one can imagine. Both tests went remarkably well with ample laps and few to no problems, a stunning feat for a brand-new piece of technology working this well out of the box ahead of its 2028 debut.
