The biggest disappointment of 2025 was undoubtedly Team Penske. A team expected to fight for championships struggled to keep its drivers inside the top ten of the standings. Only at the end of the season did the tide begin to turn, with two late year victories. In 2026, Penske hopes to continue that momentum and once again challenge Alex Palou for the title.

Josef Newgarden endured the toughest year of his career in 2025. Missing pace, making uncharacteristic mistakes and getting caught in others’ incidents left the two time IndyCar champion as low as 18th in points with two rounds remaining. A win in the finale salvaged 12th place, but far from his standards.

“We just can’t have as many bad results as 2025,” Newgarden said. “If we don’t want to finish 12th, we’ve got to finish more races. We’ve made a lot of changes, but the core of Team Penske remains. Change can be good if it helps us improve. We just need to be better versions of ourselves. I’ve got a pothole detector – if we fall into fewer potholes, we’ll be fine.”

Scott McLaughlin also had a tough 2025, committing costly errors such as crashing during the Indy 500 parade laps. Like his teammates, he lacked pace for much of the season – at one point finishing inside the top 20 only three times in eight races. He ended the year without a single victory.

“I guess you could call it redemption,” McLaughlin said. “It was a terrible year on my part. There’s things I’ve got to clean up and the team too, but we’ve had a great off season. Morale is super high right now. Everybody’s hungry to get back to where we belong and there’s a refreshed focus throughout the shop. All the pieces came together late last year – we found our mojo again. Now I just need to be better.”

For David Malukas, 2026 marks his debut in the #12 car – the seat vacated by Will Power, a two time champion and Indy 500 winner. Replacing Power is no easy task, but Malukas arrives well prepared after racing with Penske technical setups through AJ Foyt Racing’s alliance. While his qualifying pace was strong last year, his race pace often faded – something he knows must change within Penske’s high standards environment.

“It’s been fantastic driving for Team Penske; I’ve been loving it,” Malukas said. “This is the most prepared I’ve ever felt going into a season. Everything’s aligned – physically, mentally, with the team. Consistency really matters in IndyCar and I finally feel 100% healthy. Everything’s timed perfectly. I can’t wait to get started and see what we can do together.”