During a week where the 2026 schedule was released, silly season effectively came to a close.
David Malukas Confirmed at Team Penske
On Thursday morning, Team Penske announced David Malukas would take over the #12 Chevrolet for the organization.
Malukas takes over the seat left vacant after the departure of Will Power, who spend 17 seasons at Team Penske. Malukas had spent the 2024 season with A.J. Foyt Racing, and he was classified as second in the Indianapolis 500 after the disqualification of Marcus Ericsson. While Malukas would finish fourth in the second Iowa race, he had only five top ten finishes from 17 races, but he did finish a career-best 11th in the championship.
Rinus VeeKay’s Best Laid Plans Cometh Undone
Two weeks ago, Rinus VeeKay announced he would not return to Dale Coyne Racing for the 2026 season, and it was believed VeeKay had his seat decided for next season. It was rumored VeeKay would move to A.J. Foyt Racing to fill the void with David Malukas moving to Team Penske.
However, it sounds like that might not be the case, and VeeKay will be running somewhere else. The new rumor is VeeKay could be set to join Juncos Hollinger Racing to team with Sting Ray Robb. Juncos Hollinger Racing has Robb under contract for the 2026 season.
VeeKay spent the 2018 and 2019 seasons competing for the Juncos organization. He won the 2018 Pro Mazda championship, and he was second in the 2019 Indy Lights season to Oliver Askew.
How Do We Feel About This Week?
I think we should be satisfied because all the big stuff is over. We know the schedule. We know who will be driving for Team Penske. Silly season is over, let’s just head to St. Petersburg for the first race!
IndyCar’s biggest two bench-racing topics are solved before summer has even ended. These will not drag into October or possibly even later.
For Malukas, we knew this was coming. The pressure is on to succeed, and probably succeed fast.
Team Penske does not hire many drivers with zero career wins to their name. The most recent was Scott McLaughlin, who transitioned from Team Penske’s Supercars program in Australia to Team Penske’s IndyCar IndyCar based in the United States. Prior to that, Penske had not a winless drive since Hélio Castroneves.
Those are two mighty acts to follow for Malukas, Good luck!
The more intriguing thing is where does VeeKay go. Moving to A.J. Foyt Racing would have been a clear upgrade. In each of the last two seasons, Foyt has had at least one driver battling for a championship top ten finish. Last year, both drivers were on the cusp, and the team has been closer to winning a racer than at almost any point since Takuma Sato won the team’s most recent race at Long Beach in 2013. Juncos Hollinger Racing is at best a lateral move from Dale Coyne Racing.
VeeKay was just 14th in the championship. The best championship finish for a JHR driver was 16th with Callum Ilott in 2023. JHR has had some strong days with Conor Daly on ovals, but there is an overall lack of speed. VeeKay did a lot with a little at Coyne. JHR is a little more, but we have yet to see that team string together consistent results take makes it feel like it has made a step forward.
Of course, there is one other team that could have an open seat, but I don’t think Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing is the direction VeeKay is heading.
What is to Come?
Where does VeeKay land?
Who goes to A.J. Foyt Racing?
Does Devlin DeFrancesco’s money continue to satisfy Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing?
Is Dale Coyne Racing going to confirm Dennis Hauger and could we see the return of Romain Grosjean in what would be a pretty respectable pairing?
If VeeKay does go to JHR, where does that leave Conor Daly?
If Coyne has two new drivers, where does that leave Jacob Abel?
If RLLR moves on from DeFrancesco, who will fill that third seat?
Silly season has moved rather quickly. It isn’t that it will be over soon, but it certainly will not be as hectic as the last few weeks.
