For a season that ended only five days ago, IndyCar has been rather visible, more than most weeks during the season. It might be 177 days until the next race, but IndyCar had its loudest week since Team Penske was found with technical infractions in Indianapolis 500 qualifying.
At the start of August, it felt like we were set for a rather quiet silly season. It felt like mostly minor players were going to fill out some of the more minor spots on the grid with one major flip likely to occur. Instead, September opened with a seismic shift that has altered the landscape of IndyCar.
With so much time until the next race, we are probably going to be chasing silly season news for the next two or three months, and it might be warranted to have a weekly roundup of where things stand, and we are going to try and cover these in chronological order, though that might be hard to do.
Will Power Out at Team Penske
It was confirmed on Tuesday morning Will Power would be leaving Team Penske after 17 seasons with the organization. We had long believed Power would end up out at Team Penske after months of speculation his predecessor has already been decided. It may have been decided, but the new driver of the #12 Chevrolet was not announced with the departure of Power. That news will come at a later date, though we know who that driver will likely be.
Rinus VeeKay Leaves Dale Coyne Racing
If the Power news was expected on Tuesday, the announcement from Rinus VeeKay that he would be leaving Dale Coyne Racing was a rather earth-shattering development. Again, at the start of August, it felt like VeeKay was somewhat stuck at Dale Coyne Racing. The same way he had no other options in January and February when the only available seat was at Coyne, the potential openings from the 2026 season did not appear to be better than where VeeKay was already located. It also felt like a good decision for this partnership to remain together.
Instead, VeeKay made it known he would leaving the team, and no one is that forward with their decision to leave if they didn't have something already lined up, and if it wasn't an upgrade. A location was not announced with VeeKay, but all arrows point to one location.
Will Power In at Andretti Global/Colton Herta Hired as Cadillac F1 Test/Development Driver
Will Power was not on the streets for long.
In an organizational shakeup, Power was hired to take over the #26 Honda at Andretti Global as Herta was shifted to Cadillac's F1 program to be a test/development driver behind Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Pérez as an internal move under the TWG Motorsports umbrella.
For Power, he remains at a larger team that is a regular race-winning organization.
For Herta, this is a chance for him to focus on his potential move to Formula One and be firmly in an organization at all the grand prix and learn the lay of the land.
The pieces could not have fallen better for Andretti Global. Herta's Formula One prospects has been rumored for five years now. His exit was going to create a large opening on the IndyCar grid. Enter one of the greatest drivers in IndyCar history, and what could have been an uncomfortable shakeup became a rather unmistakeable move for the team to make.
Colton Herta to Formula Two?
Though Herta will not be full-time in IndyCar in 2026, there is a good chance he will be competing somewhere along with his development role at Cadillac. The expectation is Herta will compete in Formula Two next season as a way to learn the circuits on the Formula One schedule while also learning the Pirelli tires.
No official announcement has been made that Herta will be on the Formula Two grid, though it was highly suggested.
IndyCar's Canadian Race Moves to Markham
Driver market aside, IndyCar and Green Savoree Race Promotions announced the Toronto race will move to Markham, Ontario, located about 20 miles north of downtown Toronto. The race will take place on Sunday August 16.
Green Savoree reached a five-year agreement with the city of Markham to host IndyCar's annual trip to Ontario. The 12-turn course will be 2.19 miles in length and feature a double-sided pit lane like we see at the Detroit street course, which was first run three years ago. The course is located in Markham Centre, and it will go around the York University Markham Campus and the Markham Pan Am Centre, which hosted the aquatic events for the 2015 Pan American Games, which famously moved the IndyCar race in Toronto to June from its usual July date due to the scheduling conflict.
Toronto was in a tight spot for 2026 as the FIFA World Cup will be taking place in the United States, Mexico and Canada, and BMO Field, which is located in Exhibition Place, will host six matches. Though Toronto's final game is scheduled for July 2, track construction would likely not be able to begin until the end of the month.
However, IndyCar will not be leaving Exhibition Place for a one-year detour. The agreement with Markham is in place for the next five years, suggesting an exit from downtown Toronto will be rather permanent.
How Do We Feel About This Week?
The writing was on the wall for Will Power at Team Penske for quite some time, and it became apparent after Power's victory at Portland that it was already over. The decisions had been made, and it was Power who played a role in moving on once it was clear there was no way he was going to retain his seat in the #12 Chevrolet for an 18th season. Of course, the question was about where he could go.
Things could not have fallen nicer for Power. With Cadillac's Formula One team set and TWG Motorsports eager to have Colton Herta a member of that program with hopes of being on the Formula One grid in the near-future, it created a significant opening on the IndyCar grid. Andretti Global could not have had a better driver fall in their lap. Of course, if Herta was not as highly thought of within the TWG family or if Herta had no interest in attempting Formula One, this would have put Power in a box as the quality of available rides is much less enticing than a spot within the Andretti organization.
Andretti Global is not a perfect organization, and it ended 2025 on a rather down note after winning three of the first eight races, but it was a more competitive option than all the ones that looked to be available for Power a month ago. Things have fallen his way and Power should be contending for race victories and possibly even a championship next season.
As for Herta, this does feel like he is leaving IndyCar with unfinished business and moving to a situation where success has slim odds of happening.
If in 2018 you were told Herta would spend seven seasons in IndyCar before getting a chance with a Formula One organization, you probably would have thought Herta won nearly two-dozen times including at least one Indianapolis 500 with a handful of championships. Instead, Herta is leaving IndyCar with nine victories over his seven full seasons. While he was second in the championship in 2024 and third in 2020, he finished seventh or worse in the championship four times. In two seasons, he was ranked tenth. Herta is also making this move after his second winless season in three years, and he won only twice in his final 63 starts.
I cannot imagine Herta will spend all of 2026 on the sideline and only be in a race car for the occasional test and Friday practice, especially since he will be six points shy of an FIA Super License. While he could earn all those points simply through running a free practice session during a Formula One weekend, Cadillac is not going to put Herta in the car for six practice sessions when it is still developing its new car. He will be guaranteed two opportunities as each team must run a reserve driver in two practice sessions with each of its race drivers having to sit out once during a season. The remaining four points will have to come from else where.
Enter Formula Two. Herta will need to finish at least eighth in the 2026 Formula Two championship to earn the final six points needed to hit 40 Super License points. If he runs two practice sessions, all he will need is to finish ninth in the championship.
TWG feels it is easier and more productive for Herta to qualify for a Super License through Formula Two than another year in IndyCar. After all, Herta would need to finish sixth in the IndyCar championship next year to score the points necessary for a Super License, and we have seen how tough it is for him to finish in the top six.
There is no guarantee this plan will work. Formula Two is a new beast for Herta to learn, and the Pirelli tires are rather challenging. It was something Patricio O'Ward noted as being an obstacle in his lone Formula Two weekend at the Red Bull Ring in 2019.
Formula Two is not easier than IndyCar. Christian Lundgaard was seventh and 12th in his two seasons in the championship. Marcus Armstrong was 13th in the championship in all three of his Formula Two seasons. Herta was 59 points behind Lundgaard and only eight points ahead of Armstrong in the IndyCar championship this year. Herta is not going to waltz into Formula Two and just finish fourth or fifth in the championship without even trying. He will have to fight just to finish eighth. Everyone is worried about the worst case scenario and that is Herta failing to earn those final Super License points in Formula Two. That is a legitimate concern.
No announcement has been made regarding a spot on the Formula Two grid other than it is being investigated, it seems obvious that Herta will not be in IndyCar next year. However, I have a feeling he will be seen during the month of May at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The 2026 Formula Two schedule is out, and the series will not race between the Saudi Arabia round over the weekend of April 19 and the Monaco round over the weekend of June 7. That is prime real estate for Herta to run the Indianapolis 500 test day, likely held at the end of April, and even qualify for the Indianapolis 500 without any concerns. And if you are worried about his Formula One reserve/test driver responsibilities, Formula One will be in Miami on May 3 and then have two weeks off before the Canadian Grand Prix is the same day as the Indianapolis 500.
Even if all attention is on a future in Formula One, I believe Herta and TWG will feel a detour to compete in the Indianapolis 500 is manageable.
When it comes to Rinus VeeKay, he is penciled in to be at A.J. Foyt Racing to take over the seat that will be vacated when David Malukas heads to Team Penske to replace Will Power. Someone was going to have to take that second Foyt seat, which could have set off another few dominoes. Someone will have to fill that seat at Coyne, as well as maybe the second one as well.
As for the move to Markham for IndyCar's trip to Canada, we have been writing about how IndyCar has been getting squeezed out of Toronto for the last decade. Now it is fully out of downtown, and let's face it, Exhibition Place is never coming back. Baltimore was teased as a one-year hiatus because in 2014 M&T Bank Stadium was hosting a Navy-Ohio State game. How has Baltimore been doing since it returned to the IndyCar schedule?
Markham might be a nice city with a good population. It isn't Toronto. This is like if IndyCar ran a race in Central Park only for it to move to Roselle Park, New Jersey. Sure, they are relatively close, one is significantly more notable. Toronto is the fourth-most populous city in North America. Markham isn't even one of the 15 largest cities in Ontario. IndyCar once races in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal all in the same season. Now it is racing once in Markham, Ontario.
It keeps the event going and IndyCar in Canada, but this isn't a major victory.
What is to Come?
Besides confirmation on what we expect at Penske and now Foyt?
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing has at least one seat to settle, which was once believed to be a possible landing spot for Will Power.
Dale Coyne Racing has two seats it will likely need to fill, as will Juncos Hollinger Racing.
Then there is the rest of the schedule. There is plenty left unknown as we are still in the final days of summer.
