New entrant in IndyCar silly season as axed Chip Ganassi Racing driver eyes 2026 comeback

There is a new entrant in the IndyCar driver market for 2026. Axed Chip Ganassi Racing driver Linus Lundqvist has revealed that he is having positive conversations with team bosses regarding a comeback to the series next season.

IndyCar's silly season will begin once Will Power completes his contract talks with Team Penske. The two-time champion holds the cards for a 2026 driver market shuffle in his hands. In July, he revealed that he would reconvene with team owner Roger Penske to continue contract negotiations in August.

However, he did highlight that the talks could spill into the offseason, well past the season finale at Nashville on August 31. Several drivers are waiting on the outcome of his Team Penske talks to plan their next moves, including Dale Coyne Racing's Rinus Veekay, who is having a phenomenal season.

Linus Lundqvist, who was axed by Chip Ganassi Racing before the 2025 season despite being on a multi-year contract, recently opened up on his 2026 comeback efforts.

"I've been keeping my face in the IndyCar paddock and reminding team bosses again that I am here and what we did last year. Obviously, now as you progress into the later half of this season, talk starts to happen about 2026. I'm happy to say that there are conversations going," Lundqvist admitted on the Divebomb IndyCar podcast. [3:00 onwards] "At least, they are not turning down my calls and don't want to hear from me anymore, which again, keeps me at the races, because I know that it looks like I could have a future here," he added.

Lundqvist was the 2024 Rookie of the Year in the premier American open-wheel racing series. He secured five Top 10 finishes last year, including two podium finishes at Barber and Gateway. However, the rest of his year wasn't as impressive.

In 2025, since teams couldn't run more than three cars because of the charter system, Lundqvist lost his ride. Kyffin Simpson was retained and took his place in the No. 8 Honda.

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Linus Lundqvist shares fortuitous IndyCar encounter that seemingly helped him get one-off Arrow McLaren role

Linus Lundqvist NTT INDYCAR Series Gallagher Grand Prix - Source: Getty

Linus Lundqvist earned a temporary spot on the 2025 IndyCar grid at the Indy Toronto. Arrow McLaren signed him in a reserve driver capacity, in case Nolan Siegel, who suffered a mild concussion the week before in Iowa, was not cleared by the series' medical before Toronto.

Going into that weekend, the 2022 Indy Lights (now Indy NXT) champion spoke about how his consistent drive of showing up in the paddock despite not having a seat helped his chances. Lundqvist revealed bumping into Arrow McLaren Team Principal Tony Kanaan a week before Siegel's Iowa incident.

While speaking with Frontstretch during the Indy Toronto weekend, Lundqvist said [0:50 onwards]:

"I've been at basically every single race within driving range from Indy... Things like that help. I ran into TK (Tony Kanaan) like at Mid-Ohio, the weekend before Iowa. Just happened to step outside of his trailer. I said, 'Hey, I'm here. Ready to go if something were to happen.' He was just like 'That's great.' Then obviously, I was still at Iowa in front of all the teams. Thing like that, I'd like to think, helps."

IndyCar eventually cleared Siegel to race in Toronto, but Lundqvist stayed on with the team as a reserve driver. His presence proved to be lucky as Pato O'Ward took an unexpected victory for Arrow McLaren.

Edited by Luke Koshi