Arrow McLaren IndyCar Team announced that Scott Dixon, six-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion and 2008 Indianapolis 500 winner, and Felix Rosenqvist, reigning Indy 500 winner, will join the team in the 2027 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season on multi-year agreements.

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio

Calculating risk vs. reward at 200-plus mph, Tony Kanaan won the INDYCAR championship in 2004 and the 97th Indianapolis 500 in 2013.

Tony Kanaan celebrates by hugging Pato O’Ward on Sunday after O’Ward won the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio. O’Ward will be a part of a Arrow McLaren lineup of drivers in 2027 that will also include six-time NTT IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon and Felix Rosenqvist, the reigning Indyy 500 champion. Photo by  Chris Owens

Seventeen months into his role as Team Principal at Arrow McLaren and with the blessing of McLaren CEO Zak Brown, Kanaan has revamped the team’s fulltime driver lineup around ace Pato O’Ward for 2027. Sir Scott Dixon, a six-time NTT IndyCar Series champion and 2008 Indy 500 winner, and Felix Rosenqvist, reigning Indy 500 champ, will join Team Pato in ‘27 on multi-year agreements.

Dixon and Rosenqvist will replace rising star Christian Lundgaard and an underperforming Nolan Siegel in fulltime rides. In addition, Ryan Hunter-Reay, the 2012 INDYCAR and 2014 Indy 500 champion, will return to the cockpit in May in the team’s fourth entry for the 111th Indianapolis 500.

By the numbers, three Indy 500 winners and one of the most competitive oval racers in the series will complete Arrow McLaren’s lineup for “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” in 2027.

Beyond the chase for open-wheel racing’s biggest prize, Kanaan is hedging his bet on a “future is now” strategy. “TK” believes the combined experiences of Dixon, who will turn 47 on July 22, and the 34-year-old Rosenqvist will complement the considerable race craft of O’Ward, a 27-year-old native of Mexico with family ties to San Antonio, Texas. O’Ward is fifth in the current driver standings after finishing a career-best second in 2025 to four-time/reigning champion Alex Palou of Spain and Chip Ganassi Racing.

Cast as odd-man out in the shakeup is Lundgaard, a 24-year-old native of Denmark. A proven road-course specialist and two-time winner this season with huge upside, Lundgaard easily could haunt Kanaan with his next INDYCAR team.   

“If I have to take a gamble, I’ll take a gamble, and if I need to take a hit, I’ll take a hit,” Kanaan said at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on July 5, after O’Ward and Lundgaard had given the team its first series 1-2 finish. “I’m here to win races. That’s what Zak put me here for. That’s why I wake up every morning and I’m working on that team for 13, 14 hours a day since I retired. For me, nothing is changing. Bring it on. Bring the distractions.”

The revamping also underscores McLaren Racing’s pursuit of the prestigious Triple Crown of Motorsport _ victories in the Indianapolis 500, sport car’s 24 Hours of Le Mans and Formula One’s Monaco Grand Prix.

Dixon will exit the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda after completing 25 seasons featuring series titles in 2003, 2008, 2013, 2015, 2018 and 2020, as well as the 2008 Indy 500. The native New Zealander ranks second all-time in series victories with 59. “Dixie” also holds the INDYCAR record for career starts and has earned victories in 23 different seasons, underscoring an unprecedented level of fitness, consistency and longevity.

Beyond his success in INDYCAR, Dixon is a three-time overall winner of IMSA’s Rolex 24 at Daytona, was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2024 and most recently into the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum Hall of Fame this past May.

“Joining Arrow McLaren in 2027 is an exciting next step in my career,” said Dixon, currently ninth in the driver standings with an average finish of 12.1. “It was a big decision for myself, for my family and I’m looking forward to contributing to what the team, Zak and Tony are building there. As a New Zealander, being part of Bruce McLaren’s legacy will be special; his spirit and grit are still very much rooted in that team, and I’m excited to carry that on.”

Dixon will make his record 368th consecutive series start Sunday at the 1.33-mile Nashville Superspeedway.

Rosenqvist will return to Arrow McLaren, having raced with the team from 2021 through 2023. The native of Sweden won the 2026 Indianapolis 500 in the No. 60 SiriusXM Honda fielded by Meyer Shank Racing in the closest finish in the race’s history. In 2023, Rosenqvist delivered Arrow McLaren its first front row start in the Indianapolis 500 since Johnny Rutherford of Fort Worth, Texas, secured pole position in 1976 in the No. 2 Hy-Gain McLaren/Offy en route to his second victory at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Rosenqvist, who has two series race wins and seven poles, was named Rookie of the Year in 2019.

“I’m excited to return to Arrow McLaren next season and reunite with Pato, of course, and also Tony, Zak and the crew and engineers I worked with previously,” said Rosenqvist, currently seventh in the driver standings. “There are a lot of familiar faces, and we’ve got an incredible lineup with Scott joining and Ryan returning for the 500. I think our collective experience will be a huge benefit. I’ve still got work to do to finish this season strong, but I’m looking forward to what’s to come at Arrow McLaren.”

Hunter-Reay, who was appointed the team’s Sporting Director last month, offers the experience of his  296 career INDYCAR starts, 18 victories and 47 podium finishes. A 45-year-old resident of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., RHR is the only American to record victories in INDYCAR, CART, Champ Car, American Le Mans Series and Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series.

“I have unfinished business with the 500, and so does this team,” said “Captain America,” who finished 32nd in last May’s event. “Our focus is on Indy; learn from the past, and our No. 1 goal is to win the Indy 500. We have ample amount of time to be fully prepared in working toward a big Month of May in 2027 racing alongside Pato, Scott and Felix. The four of us certainly know our way around the Speedway.

“In the meantime, working with the team fulltime as Sporting Director offers a unique opportunity to have a direct impact on our ambitious development plans for the 2027 season, the Indy 500 and beyond.”

O’Ward figures to remain in the Papaya Orange No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. Additional details regarding assignments in the No. 7 VELO Arrow McLaren Chevrolet and the No. 6 NTT DATA Arrow McLaren Chevrolet will be announced at a later date.

“Our INDYCAR team has shown fantastic momentum and this lineup of Pato, Scott, Felix and Ryan will strengthen every aspect of our program,” said Brown, 54, the native Californian who was appointed McLaren CEO in April 2018. “We’ve got our eyes firmly set on the championship as well as winning the Indianapolis 500 to secure the Triple Crown in the Papaya Era. These four drivers bring a wealth of experience as well as great chemistry and will no doubt have a positive impact across our entire team.

“Christian’s and Nolan’s contributions have helped shape the progress we’re building on today, and I appreciate the energy and drive they have brought to the team since they joined.”

Arrow McLaren’s blockbuster, mid-summer announcement clearly will shape the remainder of domestic open-wheel racing’s Silly Season.

“It’s never an easy decision, but when you have the opportunity to bring drivers of this caliber into your team, you take it seriously,” said Kanaan, the popular 51-year-old native of Brazil. “Scott’s accomplishments speak for themselves, Felix is this year’s Indy 500 winner and consistently fast and competitive and Ryan has the experience and capability to win the 500 again, without a doubt. Add that talent to what we have with Pato, who’s knocking on the door of his own 500 win, and we’re the threat we’ve been building up to be in the championship and the 500.”

O’Ward is a two-time Indy 500 runnerup. Pato finished second to Sweden’s Marcus Ericsson, then of Chip Ganassi Racing, in 2022 and second to Josef Newgarden of Team Penske in 2024.

“We’ll keep our focus on Christian and Pato’s championship fight and Nolan’s work toward top-10 finishes for the remainder of the year,” Kanaan said. “Christian and Nolan have been awesome teammates and they’ve given a lot to help us build up this team the past two years.”

At Mid-Ohio, Kanaan reiterated that as Team Principal he is responsible for running the operation “as best as I can.” That included wading through a weekend of “noise” at Mid-Ohio, days after Chip Ganassi Racing confirmed Dixon’s impending exit at season’s end as well as his move to Arrow McLaren with Rosenqvist.

“Hey, they make noise, we’ll make a bigger noise. That’s how we work,” Kanaan said after the 1-2 finish by O’Ward and Lundgaard. “I think this is a statement of what it is. There is a lot of things going on, a lot of distraction, and we’re able to keep this team on-track with what we came here to do. We came here to win the race. We came here to finish 1-2-3, and we finished 1-2. We’re trying to win this championship.

“I kept the team tight. I kept the team at truth. Rest assured that the decision is going to come with a lot of certainty and not taking for granted that 130 people are putting their life and their faith towards me, towards this guy that has a lot of responsibility, and I feel responsible for all of them.”

On another level, confirmation of the 2027 lineup at Arrow McLaren figures to negate any complacency, especially as it relates to the free-agent status of Lundgaard and 21-year-old Californian Siegel.

“It says a lot about how much work we’ve been doing,” Kanaan said. “Look at this team three years ago and look at this team now. It’s not the same team. We’ve been changing. We’ve been adding personnel. We’ve been adding a lot of the culture that we’ve been trying to achieve. We’ve been adding the Hunter-Reays and the Kyle Moyers and also working with the drivers with what we need and what they need to be able to perform.

“There is no excuses when you have a name like McLaren and a boss like Zak. I just said, this was our first 1-2 (finish) and my text to him (Brown) says, ‘And it won’t be the last.’ Proud of them, proud of the drivers with the distraction and everything that has been going on. I’m trying to be as mindful and as fair as possible using my own experiences. I’ve been through some ups and downs in my career, if I can help them out. But the focus is we always leave it all at the racetrack because at the end of the day the results will speak for themselves.

“As much as you win and you put yourself in a position to do so, I think your life will become easier one way or the other. Proud of them. Proud of Pato. There is a lot of talk, and I’m not going to debate on it, and I think he has me handling that quite well. So is Christian, and then Nolan with his best last four races, he’s stepped it up pretty much every race.”

McLaren’s INDYCAR investment was put on full public display in early February, when the McLaren Racing Center in Indianapolis opened and redefined the term “Garage Majal.”

Arrow McLaren acquired the building in June 2025. A six-month renovation significantly expanded the facility’s footprint, adding an immersive lobby, extended the second-floor mezzanine and introduced a state-of-the-art fitness and recovery center.

“The McLaren Racing Center reflects the legacy our racing teams have built since Bruce (McLaren) paved the way in 1963,” Team President Kevin Thimjon said. “We wanted the design to scream McLaren and be a state-of-the-art home for the organization in North America.”

Nearly tripling the team’s previous operational footprint, the McLaren Racing Center is, indeed, the organization’s North American headquarters.

“I mean, if you look at our last, what, I would say 16 months, we got the shop up last July, I think,” Kanaan said. “We had six months to turn it around. We spent two months with the cars parked and the entire team was building chairs, desks…patching walls and stuff to make it our home.

“I remember when Zak presented this challenge…I asked him where he wants to be. I knew the answer, right? To set a standard like that, we need a facility that we’re able to compete with Penske and Ganassi and to provide the opportunity of just anything, manufacturer things that we couldn’t do in the old shop because it was too small but also the work environment, the culture.”

Kanaan competed in INDYCAR for 27 seasons, beginning his top-tier open-wheel career in the Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) series with Tasman Motorsports in 1998. Kanaan won the 2004 series championship driving for Andretti Green Racing and the 2013 Indy 500 with KV Racing Technology. Fittingly, Kanaan made his final series start with Arrow McLaren in the 2023 Indy 500. Over a career spanning more than two decades, Kanaan made 388 starts that produced 17 victories.

“You know from my previous career I love to have fun and I think we can still win and have fun,” said Kanaan, whose resume includes stints with Forsythe Racing, CGR and Waller, Texas-based A.J. Foyt Racing. “I don’t want to run like other teams. I want to be different. I want to be the guy that you walk into my office and I have to remind you, maybe I’m busy, but if you are comfortable to just walk in.

“Our home is awesome. I love it. I spend more time there than at my house. If I ask my wife that, since we build that, it’s an excuse for me to be there all the time.”

Brown and Kanaan view the combined personnel/property upgrades as the only way to end the championship domination shared by rival owners Roger S. Penske and Chip Ganassi.

“If you look at the past 20 years, only two teams have won the championship,” said Kanaan, referring to Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing. “When I got the responsibility and everyone else put McLaren with those guys, we have to step it up, and we did, and we are. We’re getting there with the shop and everything else.

“I can’t really run a team and be compared to legends, which is Chip and Roger, that have had so much success for the last 30 years. I can’t go to a fight without the proper guns, the same guns that they have. Obviously made a huge difference. We’re proud of it, and hopefully we’ll get there.”

Arrow McLaren INDYCAR Team continues the tradition of native New Zealander Bruce McLaren, who founded Bruce McLaren Motor Racing Ltd. in 1963. A race-winning driver, McLaren also was known for his hands-on engineering as he designed and built championship winning cars for Formula One and Can-Am competition.

Within INDYCAR, the team’s legacy includes three McLaren Indianapolis 500 victories _ 1972 with Mark Donohue in the No. 66 Sunoco McLaren fielded by Team Penske, and factory entries in 1974 in the No. 3 McLaren/Offy and 1976 with Rutherford, aka “Lone Star J.R.” McLaren Racing’s INDYCAR resume features a total of 30 victories.

Following a dominant run in the 1970s, McLaren Racing re-entered INDYCAR 40 years later with Indianapolis 500 entries in 2017 and 2019 for two-time (2005-2006) F1 World Driving Champion Fernando Alonso of Spain. In 2020, McLaren Racing solidified its full-season return through a partnership with Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports before securing majority ownership in 2021 and full ownership at the end of 2024.