IndyCar Weekly: New faces in new places
- Dan Jones
- 34 minutes ago
- 6 min read
For the first time in weeks, it has been a quiet week for IndyCar in the news, as teams begin to slow down for the winter months and post-season testing starts to come to an end. Although there weren't any major headlines, there continued to be interesting personnel changes, traditions fulfilled and more with IndyCar weekly providing your round-up for all IndyCar and Indy NXT news for the last seven days.
Palou added to Borg-Warner Trophy
Just shy of six months after winning the 109th Running of the Indianapolis 500, Álex Palou unveiled his likeness on the Borg-Warner Trophy this week, as one of the most important Indy 500 traditions was celebrated once again.
Palou won 'the Greatest Spectacle in Racing' for the first time on May 25th amidst a historic season where the Spaniard celebrated eight victories in a way to a dominant fourth IndyCar championship. Palou took home the honours after a late race pass on Marcus Ericsson and stated exclusively to DIVEBOMB that he "almost passed out" in post-race celebrations due to his excitement at winning IndyCar's most significant race.
“This is one of those days that I knew I wanted to be part of at some point in my career,” Palou said. “I knew it was going take a lot of work, and finally to be here and to get to see the trophy for the first time, it’s amazing.
“I know that it's always going to be there forever, if I race one more year or if I race 50 more years. And whatever the history of IndyCar is going to be, it's always going to be there. So, it's great to be part of all those amazing drivers. And, yeah, I feel that now. I want to get that face again on that trophy. Try and be part again of the history of our sport.”
The Borg-Warner Trophy has been a feature of the race since 1936, with each winning driver receiving a smaller version, nicknamed a 'Baby Borg'. Palou is set to receive his at some point early next year.
Palou's sculpture is the 112th face to be added onto the trophy for the 109 Indianapolis 500s. 1924 and 1941 saw two drivers co-win hence two sculptures on the trophy whilst Tony Holman is also features as a nod to his work bringing the race back after World War 2.
Will Behrends created Palou's likeness on the trophy as he has done for every Indianapolis 500 winner since 1990. Behrends produces a new sculpture every year, even for drivers who have won the race on multiple occasions.
Behrends' starts the process by studying various 360-degree photos before constructing a full-scale clay model of the drivers' face when they visit his studio in North Carolina. The life-size version is worked on for Behrends' to make the smaller version for the trophy which is made out of oil-based clay. The smaller clay is made into a mould and cast in a wax before being transferred to a jeweller. Behrends' will finalise the process by polishing and buffing the face before it is added onto the trophy.
“I’m honoured to continue one of the greatest traditions in all of sports and unveil the latest addition to the iconic Borg-Warner Trophy,” said Michelle Collins, global director, Marketing and Public Relations, BorgWarner. “Alex’s victory exemplifies that tenacity and constant commitment to excellence will result in success, on and off the track. On behalf of everyone at BorgWarner, congratulations to Alex and the team at Chip Ganassi Racing.”
It is now almost exactly six months until we find out who will be added to the Borg-Warner this time next year.
Ward joins RLL in advisory role
Just over 12 months after his shock departure from Arrow McLaren, Gavin Ward has found a new home in IndyCar after being announced this week to join Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.
Ward started his engineering career at Red Bull Racing in Formula One where he oversaw Sebastian Vettel's four world championships before moving to IndyCar in 2018 with Team Penske, where he won the championship with Josef Newgarden in 2019.
Ward stayed with Penske until the end of 2021, before joining Arrow McLaren mid-season the following year. He was promoted to team principal at the conclusion of 2022 until October last year, where Zak Brown and Tony Kanaan opted for a change of leadership. Ward joins RLL after completing his non-compete clause with McLaren.
RLL's signing of Ward only adds to a growing number of significant hires in team personnel positions over the last 12 months. After his departure as IndyCar President, the team hired Jay Frye as team principal and made further signings from Arrow McLaren in recent weeks, with Brian Barnhart joining as Senior Vice-President of Operations and Kyle Sagan joining as Pitstop Manager.
Frye has confirmed that Ward has joined in a "special advisory role" where Ward will report to Frye but the Canadian does not currently have a confirmed role within the organisation for the time being.
Penske announce management re-shuffle
Team Penske have announced further changes in their management and engineering departments as they continue to re-organise their IndyCar operations after key personnel were sacked mid-season due to a second cheating scandal in 18 months.
Penske's three most senior leadership figures were removed after they were found to have illegal filler in their attenuator during qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 this year, just over a year after race winner and third-place finisher Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin were disqualified from the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg after illegally using push-to-pass on starts and re-starts.
Team President Tim Cindric, Managing Director Ron Ruzewski and General Manager Kyle Moyer (who has since joined Arrow McLaren) were all removed from their positions after the scandal. Jonathan Diuguid took the helm as the lead of Penske's IndyCar operations alongside his IMSA commitments to the team, with Travis Law serving as competition director - with the team continuing to organise it's key leadership figures.
David Faustino has been appointed as Technical Director, stepping up from the race engineering role he served on the No.12 stand which saw Will Power win two IndyCar championships and the 2018 Indianapolis 500. Faustino will oversee the teams' research and development programmes and liaise with key technical partners as part of his role.
Ben Bretzman has also received a promotion as the Engineering Manager of Competition, which will see Bretzman be the lead of the teams race and performance engineers to maximise engineering execution in the team. Bretzman, who won the IndyCar title and Indy 500 with Simon Pagenaud, will step away from the No.3 stand where he has worked with Scott McLaughlin for several years.
Matt Jonsson now steps up to assembly manager within the team whilst Robbie Atkinson moves to team manager after serving as a senior assistant race engineer. Diuguid has stated that Atkinson will be taking up the majority of personnel management whilst Atkinson will be focused primarily on car builds. Andrew Miller will also move to a new role as Engineering Manager, Development. Miller will be shop-based with 15 years experience at the team.
Diuguid has decided to share the workload that Cindric, Ruzewski and Moyer held between them to seven people in Faustino, Bretzman, Jonsson, Atkinson and Miller with Diuguid and Law "filling in the gaps" in the rest of Penske's operations.
Penske have not confirmed updated engineering plans for the individual entries, but state they will do so at a later date.
Java House to title sponsor Grand Prix of Arlington
This week saw sponsorship news for the series, as coffee company Java House was formally announced as the title sponsor for the inaugural Grand Prix of Arlington, which will be hosted in March next year.
Java House have signed a multi-year agreement with the race promoters, becoming the second race they title sponsor following the Grand Prix of Monterey at Laguna Seca. The company have also sponsored both of Ed Carpenter Racing's entries throughout the course of 2025 through Ted Gelov, Heartland Food Products Group CEO.
“We’re thrilled to have Java House join us as the title sponsor of the Grand Prix of Arlington,” said Bill Miller, president of the IndyCar Grand Prix of Arlington. “Their deep connection to INDYCAR and passion for innovation make them the perfect partner to help introduce this event to fans in North Texas. Together, we’re creating a world-class racing experience that will unite the community and set the tone for years to come.”
IndyCar will return to the Texas market for the first time in three years, when a street circuit surrounding the AT&T Stadium and Globe Life Field will play host to 27 Indy cars battling it out on track. The sponsorship will also see Java House beverages in hospitality suites and fan zones throughout the weekend.
“This collaboration represents the next step in expanding Java House’s footprint in motorsports and beyond, and we’re proud to help bring this exciting new race to life in an incredibly engaged market,” Gelov said.
Arlington's race will take place on March 15th, playing host to the third race of the 2026 season, ending a trend of large gaps in the calendar after the season opener.
