The Season Finale - IndyCar 2026 Round 18 Recap

The championship may have already been decided, but second place was still wide open going into the season finale, and the Leader's Circle payout was still in play at the bottom of the championship standings. As we come to the historic track of Laguna Seca, let's go over some of the final big stories of the 2026 IndyCar season.

Bookends

Back in March, Scott McLaughlin started off the season with a pole at St. Pete. He finished off the season the same way at Laguna Seca, this time converting it into his first win of the season. The speed is clearly there, but the lack of consistency has been the big killer for Penske in general and McLaughlin in particular. He's got some things to clean up in 2027, but strong showings at both of the races last week at Milwaukee, along with the win this weekend, will hopefully go a long way for his confidence.

Best of the Rest

Kyle Kirkwood had a shot at the win, but 25 laps was a long stint to make work on the softer alternate tires, and he would have to settle for 2nd. That was enough to take the 2nd spot in the final championship standings. Kirkwood's shown potential, but 2026 has been a breakout year for him. We'll see if he can keep the momentum going once we get to 2027.

Andretti Global

Back in D.C., Andretti was supposed to announce a shift from Honda to Chevy. Due to the headlines being made by Mark Walter, the "W" in TWG, the announcement was postponed. Apparently, Chevy decided they wanted nothing to do with those headlines and have pulled the plug on the deal. Chevy doesn't have to scrounge up three engines, Honda gets to keep one of the Big Four teams, Ganassi doesn't get to monopolize Honda resources, and we all get to keep making fun of Mark Walter. Everyone wins.

Rookie of the Year

In what may have been his final start in the IndyCar season, Sting Ray Robb punted the Rookie of the Year leader Dennis Hauger on lap 1. It opened the door for both Mick Schumacher and Caio Collet to have a shot, but neither could close the deal. Hauger managed to hang on to the bottom of the Leader's Circle as well as the Rookie of the Year title. Hauger has some things to clean up, but the speed is definitely there, so hopefully he finds a ride for 2027 to take the next step.

Meyer Shank Racing

Mick Schumacher said he had a landing spot for 2027. As rumored, that spot is Meyer Shank Racing. A 22nd-place finish doesn't give me much confidence in the decision. He's had one breakout qualifying and one breakout result in the series and has nothing else to really show for his rookie year. We'll see how the sophomore season plays out for him.

Dreyer & Reinbold Racing

When DRR announced that it had purchased a charter from RLL, Conor Daly was the main name to run the 2027 season. Another poorly kept rumor has been confirmed, and Daly will be back full-time in the series. DRR is also going to have a technical alliance with RLL, which seems like one of the worst teams to have a technical alliance with if you look at their results over the past few years, but we'll see what comes of the new time in the new season.

An IndyCar Super License?

IndyCar is making a change to the rulebook for 2027, adding what fans are affectionately referring to as the "Josh Pierson Rule". To be eligible for an IndyCar license, drivers must now compete in at least 12 Indy NXT races and either finish top-3 in the championship or pick up two or more wins over the course of 24 months. Anyone who doesn't meet those requirements will need to be reviewed and cleared by IndyCar before being granted their license.

There's a lot to unpack with this, but the first is the good: underqualified drivers now have a harsher path to make it into the top-level IndyCar series. Josh Pierson is the current poster child for this, of course, but it's also important to note that none of the championship protagonists in the Indy NXT series seem to have any kind of landing spot in the top level for 2027. Weeding out the bad drivers could potentially create open spots for the more deserving.

The biggest issue is that this new metric is centered entirely around the Indy NXT series. It's understandable that IndyCar would want to emphasize their own development ladder, but a lot of IndyCar's most influential drivers, including champion Alex Palou, have come from the European ladder. I doubt IndyCar would turn away a sufficiently impressive prospect, even if they don't have Indy NXT experience, but it does still leave the door open. It's reminiscent of my issues with the FIA's Super License system, with such oddities as IMSA GTP earning fewer Super License points than WEC, despite them being literally the exact same cars and, in some cases, the exact same drivers. Then again, with how much the FIA seems determined to screw over the North American ladder, I guess fair is fair.

Regardless, it puts Josh Pierson and AJ Foyt in an awkward situation. His win this weekend certainly helps his case, guaranteeing him a test session from IndyCar to evaluate his performance, but we'll have to see what the sanctioning body ultimately decides. As for Foyt, $25 million is a lot of money for them to lose, so they're at the mercy of Roger Penske to determine if they can afford to continue to operate for the next two seasons. Play stupid games, or whatever.

Open Questions

The season may be over, but silly season still has a few remaining openings. The replacement for Scott Dixon still hasn't been officially revealed. Rumors say that the contract with Christian Lundgaard has already been inked, but we have to wait for Chip Ganassi to announce it if that's true.

The lineup for Dale Coyne Racing is also in question. The futures of Romain Grosjean and Denis Hauger are both still in question, and it's not clear whether DCR is planning to retain one or both of their drivers. Neither brings substantial funding, so keeping both would need some major sponsorship involvement.

The future of Juncos Hollinger Racing is also very muddy. Brad Hollinger is apparently still in the process of buying out Ricardo Juncos, and he's interested in rekindling the relationship with McLaren. McLaren has its eye on Caio Collet, and Hollinger could be a way to keep him in the McLaren family if everything works out. Collet also brings sponsors with him, but it's still not clear if he'll have a landing spot in the series in 2027. It also hasn't been confirmed if the team will exercise their option on Rinus VeeKay, who's had an incredible season in 2026.

Regardless, the 2026 season comes to a close. 2027 is the final season for the current IR-18 car, so we'll see if anyone has anything for Alex Palou in 2027 or if the focus shifts to preparing for the IR-28.