Drivers to Look Out for in 2024

[@FelineStorm]

All jokes aside, I am curious to see if Foyt will see the same performance bump up at the 500 that they did last year. To rephrase: I am curious to see if BOTH Foyt teams will see the bump up in performance at Indy that the team had last year. Seriously, welcome back. You have a knack for humor that always makes me laugh. Legend.

[@CountyLineFilms]

Happy to be back!

[@extragoogleaccount6061]

Also…”a bar so low a tardigrade could hit its head on it.” Is A+ level banter

[@extragoogleaccount6061]

Ok wow. Your knowledge of American open wheel is pretty astounding dude! I’ve only recently started following Indycar the last two years and I’ve been pretty satisfied with the quality of racing compared to another famous open wheel series lol. But I look forward to your commentary this season.

[@CountyLineFilms]

Thank you for the kind words! As someone who's followed both IndyCar and F1 for over a decade, I can assure you IndyCar is leaps and bounds better than F1 in terms of the excitement

[@vince065us.2]

The other racing dentist was F1 driver,Tony Brooks.He raced.in the 1950's.He was known as "The Flying Dentist."

[@bennyfactor]

Was probably faster than Jack Miller!

[@vince065us.2]

@@bennyfactor He was.He raced during a dangerous era.

[@point20-ny3xq]

You'd better not jinx Sebastian Wheldon!

[@CountyLineFilms]

No promises

[@jacobandmore3915]

Personally, Will Power is my guy but I also have my eyes on David Malukis.

[@KellieLeigh48]

Welcome back, GOAT ❤

[@CountyLineFilms]

Happy to be back!!

[@wendigockel]

I'm pretty curious about the satellite-team ordeals with Foyt, Juncos and Shank. Will the junior-team mentality as it exists in F1 and used to exist in DTM grow some roots in Indycar too? Or will it just be Foyt drivers blocking Newgarden's rivals on each short oval? As for the Veekay-to-Penske-speculation: I would hate it if Veekay had to ditch the beard. Lol

[@CountyLineFilms]

Roger Penske not wanting his drivers to have beards explains why IndyCar refuses to do anything bold or boundary pushing

[@vince065us.2]

What about Scott Dixon? Auto week magazine predicts that he'll win the 500 and the championship.

[@CountyLineFilms]

Dixon is doing better than Power for sure, however time is running out to get that 7th. For that record tie-ing championship it's either now or never.

[@vince065us.2]

@@CountyLineFilms I agree.

[@TheGAMWolferz]

Alex is winning the Indy500, I’m basing this out of Helio in 09’. (Yeah, the lawsuits are very different but serious.) If this race was double points it would be a good cushion for him to win his 3rd championship. His only challenge will be the hybrid component that’s coming later this season (If it happens). Sidenote: I really wish Nick Cassidy had a ride from an IndyCar top team, he and Palou were beast in Super Formula.

[@bennyfactor]

I think if Evagoras Papasavvas makes it to Indycar, we should call him "Triple V"

[@vince065us.2]

Young Weldon needs to keep his poise.

[@TheEmm4lpha]

Personally, I'd also keep an eye on the other two prominent Brazilians in the feeder series: -Caio Collet, coming to NXT from F3. Always fast, always aggressive, but too inconsistent to make a championship charge in a series as chaotic as F3, still he's up against strong competitors, so two years in the series are likely. -Vinicius Tessaro, last year's Brazilian F4 champion, but the only returning driver in the top 3, who is moving to USF Juniors with DEForce hoping to repeat what Giaffone did, who he beat in their season together in 2022. Also, probably worth keeping an eye on the other two Canadians which look like they have a shot at reaching Indycar: -Patrick Woods-Toth, who impressed in FROC (which seems to be turning into the series where Road to Indy and European feeder series drivers regularly face each other) after winning US F4 in dominant fashion. -Kevin Foster, who similarly impressed in French F4, being 3rd in the championship in his first year racing outside Canada, behind a (honestly really good) returning driver (Enzo Peugeot), and one of the most hyped French talents (Evan Giltaire), after winning multiple scholarships and becoming a protégé of Jacques Villeneuve. Worth noting both are on the older side for people who just started in cars, in both cases because of budget issues (and Foster specifically racing dirt bikes before switching to karts in his teens). Neither have revealed their plans for 2024, but Woods-Toth is likely to go for the Road to Indy as an US F4 champion, and Foster mentioned it as a possibility thanks to the sponsors he could pick up racing closer to home (and previously mentioned his goal is Super Formula or Indycar rather than F1). Also may be worth looking out for the two Kiwis switching from Formula Regional to the Road to Indy: -Callum Hedge, who comes from a background in Formula Ford, where he was somewhat of a star in the native New Zealand scene, and last year debuted in cars with a solid season in FROC, before dominating Formula Regional Americas and winning the Australian Carrera Cup, and is switching to Indy NXT, although like Collet, I expect him to only become a contender next year. -Liam Sceats, who after racing with good results, but no championships, in New Zealand and Japan in Formula Regional is heading for USF Pro 2000, although with a contract for only the first two races, right now, and the rest pending. Finally, some random mixed drivers who are notable for one reason or another: -Adam Fitzgerald, who was involved in the accident that claimed Dilano Van't Hoffs life, and after months of rehabilitation is heading towards USF Pro 2000 to resume his racing career, where he's shown decent results in testing. -Nolan Allaer, who is going from Formula Ford and Club Racing Formula Continental (where, to be fair to him, he was quite good and beat Simon Sikes) all the way to Indy NXT, which is a hell of a jump. Could be a disaster, could end up being a surprise if he gets used to the cars (and is expressly planning to be at least two years in the series, anyway). -Ayrton Houk and Thomas Schrage, recipients of the Team USA Scholarship, making the switch from Formula Ford, where they were quite strong, both beating the aforementioned Allaer, to USF2000, after finally finding the budget to do so. -Nico Christodulu: the other Canadian on the Road to Indy, and single most experienced driver in the USF2000 field, closely linked to VRD and their expansion to Europe, where he cut his teeth in GB3, and is heading back to the US for USF2000 for what is his 7th full year of car racing. It's likely championship or bust for him. -VRD in general, they're quickly expanding and are very ambitious, trying to bring european ways of driver preparation to the Indy ladder (and being one of the few operations with teams on both sides of the Atlantic, which they put to good use) and picking up protégés from Karting, and trying to get them all the way to the top. They also apparently almost expanded to F2 and F3, buying Charouz before the deal fell through and the similarly ambitious PHM bought it. And apparently still have ambitions of forming a team there. -Prema, the European feeder series giant is allagedly looking to debut in Indycar, after already having a presence in the US in IMSA via their sportscars division Iron Lynx and are apparently eyeing a debut in 2025 or 26 already. They probably wouldn't be a contender right away, but definitely have to potential to become a top team within 2/3 years, especially as they seem to have very deep pockets (they formed an Equestrian Sports branch for their Iron Dames program, for crying out loud). Sorry for the long comment, I really like looking for things that pass somewhat under the radar.

[@shredofmalarchi]

No David Malukas? WTF? My guy. First season without Dad's sponsorship. A top 4 team. Starting the season with a broken wrist and his ability to recover. Young and charismatic and goofy. Midwest driver. So many story lines and TONS of pressure.

[@CountyLineFilms]

There is a list of drivers I wanted to talk about, but just couldn't because of time. I finished editing this video less than an hour before it's release. David is definitely a driver I'm keeping an eye out for, it's just I couldn't talk about him in this video.

[@shredofmalarchi]

@@CountyLineFilms understandable

[@cjmsacomments4389]

This aged really well now

[@AnarRamazanov-po5le]

22:19 Well, FRO looks to have a better season at MSR than he ever had in Mclaren

[@CountyLineFilms]

This weekend has been a great start, I wasn't expecting it honestly. Let's see how his race pace is today!

[@IanTheMotorsportsMan_YT]

23:04-23:12 LOL, I was NOT expecting this! I thought GRID Network's clip about Will Power was crazy! (mainly thanks to Ben Schneider almost walking away from the stream and the rest of the guys going crazy). Honestly, I am expecting Will to have some podiums and a couple of wins. I do not think he will go for another title fight (yet I said the same thing in 2021, and look what happened). But yeah, I am expecting some wins before he hangs it up.

[@CountyLineFilms]

It's honestly a bit hard to say how Power will do this season. It's racing, anything can happen.

[@Kyleconley59]

Nikita is going to Europe full time next year.

[@nickjasperse9903]

Veekay 2024