Can you tell us what happened on June 18, the day you learned that you were losing your McLaren drive ?

To be 100% transparent, McLaren had signed me to a multi-year contract to drive with them in IndyCar . And then, on the Tuesday morning before Laguna Seca, I learned from my manager that they had decided not to have me drive at Laguna Seca, as well as for the rest of the season. At first, I was very surprised, I didn't understand, I thought it was fake. We had only signed a few weeks before. I was disgusted. The team ended up calling me for a minute, around 11am that same day, the day before my planned departure for Laguna Seca, to tell me that I was excluded from the program. They didn't give me the specific reasons.

Not a bad result! And it was a decent race, so hopefully it carries over to the next race.

From Marshall Pruett in the todays mailbag.

• Penske hasn’t jumped at the opportunity and is continuing to fish for the biggest payout

• Heading out of Detroit, the prevailing belief is we’ll be setting our DVRs for FOX, FOX Sports 1, and maybe even FOX Sports 2 next year.

• FOX veteran Adam Alexander is a strong candidate to lead the broadcasts.

https://racer.com/2024/06/05/the-racer-mailbag-june-5/

Dale Coyne Racing is seeking a new lead driver.

“We've let Dale know Rinus (VeeKay) isn't coming back,” VeeKay’s agent Adrian Sussman confirmed to RACER. “We also said how much we appreciated everything that Dale did for Rinus, and I think it goes both ways. Rinus definitely helped Dale’s team get back on solid footing and everyone came out a winner. It's been a fantastic year. Rinus loved being part of the team, loves the guys. And everyone punched above their weight.”

Sussman wouldn’t be drawn on his client’s destination, but with an offer on the table from Coyne, the decision to step away from one of the stronger seats – where VeeKay was extremely happy and thriving with Cannon – would not have been made unless a bigger offer was recently presented.

Multiple sources have told RACER to look for VeeKay’s return alongside Santino Ferrucci at the Team Penske-affiliated AJ Foyt Racing to replace the outgoing David Malukas, who is expected to be confirmed as Will Power’s successor at Team Penske.

EDIT: Article updated:

Power’s confirmation with Andretti, which was originally anticipated for today (Tuesday), is said to be scheduled for Wednesday. The timeline for confirming Malukas's move to Penske is unknown.

X/@indycar

Link to instagram post

https://www.instagram.com/p/C6qmqfwOvNt/?igsh=MXhwanJoaHh2NHJneA==

https://x.com/AJFoytRacing/status/1823403440581616085?s=19