The NTT IndyCar Series faces a critical shortage of proven race engineers heading into 2025, despite having 27 full-time cars and plenty of talented drivers. This scarcity has particularly impacted Chip Ganassi Racing and Juncos Hollinger Racing, who are actively searching for engineering talent.

Teams typically follow a hierarchical approach to find race engineers:

• First looking within the IndyCar paddock
• Then searching other racing series like IMSA, Formula 1, NASCAR, or FIA WEC
• Promoting internal assistant or performance engineers
• As a last resort, recruiting from junior formulas like Indy NXT and Formula 2

Chip Ganassi Racing's situation stems from unexpected departures of two senior engineers, complicated by their restructuring to three full-time entries and new technical support commitments to Meyer Shank Racing. Mike Hull, Ganassi's managing director, emphasizes the need for engineers with both IndyCar experience and racing background.

Juncos Hollinger Racing faces different challenges as a smaller team. Team principal Dave O'Neill notes they often recruit from universities, balancing young talent's enthusiasm with the need for experienced guidance. The unique demands of oval racing make it particularly challenging to bring in engineers from other racing series.

The engineering shortage becomes even more critical with a new car on the horizon, as teams need stable engineering programs to develop and maximize performance. This situation highlights the growing need for experienced race engineers who can handle IndyCar's diverse racing formats, from various oval configurations to road and street courses.

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