Nolan Siegel Cleared To Race; Linus Lundqvist Remains As Standby Driver

Bob Pockrass

FOX Motorsports Insider

Linus Lundqvist, the 2024 INDYCAR Rookie of the Year who has been without a ride in 2025, will serve as the standby driver for Nolan Siegel this weekend at Toronto as Siegel has been cleared to race.

Linus Lundqvist looks on during practice for the INDYCAR Series Bommarito Automotive Group 500 on August 16, 2024

Siegel missed the second race of the Iowa doubleheader weekend Sunday after suffering a mild concussion in a hard crash Saturday. He met with doctors on Thursday to determine if he can race, and he was cleared and on his way to Toronto as of late Thursday morning.

“There are some protocols,” team principal Tony Kanaan said Sunday. “He needs to rest. We need to keep an eye if he’s sleeping more than usual. Mild workout and sim. We can put him on the sim.”

Lundqvist traveled with the team on Thursday morning and will remain in Toronto as a standby.

The 26-year-old Lundqvist had two top fives and four top 10s last year, as he finished 16th in the standings as a rookie for Chip Ganassi Racing. Without sponsorship, he lost his ride when Ganassi downsized its INDYCAR program from five to three teams.

The 20-year-old Siegel is 21st in the standings in his first full INDYCAR season.

Nolan Siegel at Iowa 2025

Speaking after exiting the care center Saturday, Siegel said the car was handling differently at that point late in the race.

“It was a little weird from the time I left pit lane and hadn’t had a lot of oversteer up until then,” Siegel said. “And then I just lost it in the middle of [turns] 3 and 4. I was pushing hard. … There’s not much more to it.”

Kanaan, a wildly popular former driver with 17 career wins who was the backup driver for Kyle Larson for the Indy 500, said he didn’t want to drive the car.

“I truly, truly, truly love what I’m doing now,” Kanaan said. “I always want to drive an INDYCAR, but I have no desire going against these guys and get beat.”

Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.