Bob Pockrass
FOX Motorsports Insider
The NASCAR Cup Series has already had its first, first-time winner this season.
What about the NTT INDYCAR Series?
There are thirteen drivers who have not won. Here they are in order of career starts:
— Conor Daly, Juncos Hollinger Racing (117 career starts)
— Santino Ferrucci, A.J. Foyt Racing (79)
— David Malukas, A.J. Foty Racing (46)
— Callum Ilott, Prema Racing (40)
— Devlin DeFrancesco, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (36)
— Sting Ray Robb, Juncos Hollinger Racing (36)
— Marcus Armstrong, Meyer Shank Racing (31)
— Kyffin Simpson, Chip Ganassi Racing (19)
— Christian Rasmussen, Ed Carpenter Racing (16)
— Nolan Siegel, Arrow McLaren Racing (14)
— Jacob Abel, Dale Coyne Racing (2)
— Louis Foster, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (2)
— Robert Shwartzman, Prema Racing (2)
Who has the best chance to win? Here are six drivers to watch, from sixth to first:
6. Robert Shwartzman
Shwartzman had no INDYCAR experience before this year. Prema is a new team with no INDYCAR track record. So how does Shwartzman make this list? Word on the street is that he is an incredible talent. Shwartzman was a Ferrari reserve driver, after all. He started the year with finishes of 20th and 22nd.
5. Christian Rasmussen
Rasmussen was solid on road courses last year and is now in his first full season for Ed Carpenter Racing. He won the USF2000 title in 2020, the USF Pro 2000 title in 2021 and the INDY NXT Series title in 2023, so he is used to being up front. He opened the year with finishes of 15th and 12th.
4. Nolan Siegel
Driving for Arrow McLaren, Siegel has had inconsistent results in his first 14 races for the organization. But if he develops quickly, he has a strong organization to help get him across the finish line first. He started the year with finishes of 25th and 19th.
3. David Malukas
Malukas finished second at WWTR Gateway in 2022 and has three career top-five finishes. With the Foyt relationship with Penske, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him win. He started the season with finishes of 13th and 18th.
2. Santino Ferrucci
With a career-best third in the 2023 Indianapolis 500, Ferrucci has seven top-five finishes — so he’s certainly been close. He had 11 top 10s last year in the first season of the Foyt-Penske relationship, as he posted top 10s in each of the final four races in 2024. The 2025 season hasn’t been great for him so far, with his pair of 14th-place finishes.
1. Marcus Armstrong
Armstrong finished third at Detroit last year, one of four top-five finishes for him last season. He finished seventh at Thermal, giving him a top 10 already this year. Although he is in his first year with Meyer Shank Racing, many of the people on his team came with him from Chip Ganassi Racing as part of the new alliance between the two teams.
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.
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