Arrow McLaren has announced that it is giving Nolan Siegel control of the team’s #6 entry for the remainder of the 2024 IndyCar season and beyond.
Siegel will contest the 10 races remaining on the calendar, beginning with this weekend’s race from Laguna Seca, and has a multi-year contract with his new team.
The young California-native was a last-minute replacement at Juncos Hollinger Racing for Agustin Canapino during the Road America weekend, abandoning his IndyNXT ride for the weekend. He will now also forego the rest of his season in the feeder series in order to fulfill his new duties in the top series.
The move to promote Siegel into Arrow McLaren comes at the expense of Theo Pourchaire, who has been with the team for five races this season and was planning to race in the car for the remainder of the year.
“Stability and sustained growth are key to our long-term game plan here, and this is a significant step in that mission,” said team principal Gavin Ward.
“First, I want to thank Theo for his time filling in on the No. 6 car with us in recent weeks. We’ve been working through musical chairs all season, and ultimately, making this change to Nolan now that he’s available gives us the chance to build a foundation for the future.
“He is a young, talented driver with an immense amount of experience at this stage of his career and we’re excited to continue on the upward journey together.”
The #6 entry had been in flux since David Malukas was injured before the start of the season, with Callum Ilott and Pourchaire each taking on a couple races.
Shortly before the Indy 500, Arrow McLaren announced that Pourchaire had earned a place in the car for the remainder of the season, but that no longer appears to be the case.
Malukas was let go after missing four races due to his injury, but there does not appear to be a clear reason for Pourchaire’s departure following his first five IndyCar races apart from making room for Siegel to come in with immediate effect.
“I’m looking forward to jumping right in with the Arrow McLaren team this week and confirming my place in the NTT IndyCar Series in papaya moving forward,” said Siegel.
“This is an unexpected jump, but I’m thrilled to be in this position after a rewarding run in the Indy NXT by Firestone series with HMD Motorsports. I am looking forward to this new journey and learning alongside the entire team starting this weekend in my home state.”
Siegel, who is only 19 years old, has been climbing through the ranks quickly in the past couple years.
He finished fourth in the USF Pro 2000 series in 2022, then advanced to IndyNXT in 2023 and earned third place in the championship as a rookie.
This year, he has been competing in IndyNXT while also racing in the Dale Coyne Racing #51 on weekends where IndyNXT does not have a concurrent event. He dramatically was bumped out of this year’s Indy 500, and was not able to make his first race start in the prestigious event.
Siegel has also been continuing his advancement in the sportscar world, running with Sean Creech Motorsports in the team’s LMP2 endurance campaign and winning the class victory in last weekend’s 24 Hours of LeMans.
This promotion effectively ends his run in IndyNXT, where he sat fourth in the points after nearly half of the season completed with HMD Motorsports, and also ends his part-time IndyCar arrangement with Dale Coyne.
