Christian Lundgaard

Through a tick more than three years with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Christian Lundgaard showed the talent to be competitive in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES for years to come.

Yet, when it came time to make plans for the 2025 season, the 23-year-old Danish driver felt he needed to display it with a team other than the only one he has known in this series.

“When things are working, never change them, obviously,” Lundgaard said. “But it was time for a change, and we were all up for the challenge – race engineer, the entire team, me, everybody behind me.”

So, after 52 races with RLL, Lundgaard made the switch to drive for Arrow McLaren starting this season. It is the first team switch he has experienced in any series in his career.

It’s not that things were amiss for Lundgaard at RLL -- quite the contrary. In 2023, Lundgaard won the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto from the pole, the second time that season he started a race from the top position (the other was the GMR Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course). Last year, he contended for the race win in the Sonsio Grand Prix at IMS, finishing third, and he reached the Firestone Fast Six qualifying round four times in 10 opportunities.

But generally, Lundgaard felt there was still more to gain in his career, particularly in the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge, where RLL’s cars have struggled to find raw pace. Two years ago, Graham Rahal failed to qualify for “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” a year when the team had four cars among the event’s slowest five in qualifying. Lundgaard started 30th in that year’s race, and his average qualifying position in three “500s” was 29.7.

When Arrow McLaren offered the No. 7 Chevrolet driven by Alexander Rossi the past two years, Lundgaard saw it as a reset.

“It's how life goes, man -- there's always changes,” he said, adding, “I think change is good at times.”

Lundgaard’s change has many elements. He has switched from Honda to Chevrolet, and the new “500” winner he now consults with is 2013 winner Tony Kanaan rather than 1986 winner Bobby Rahal. Lundgaard’s veteran teammate is now Pato O’Ward rather than Graham Rahal.

The transition began with the IMS oval test in October. Lundgaard got his first 88 laps with Arrow McLaren.

“It was exciting for me to try to feel the car on an oval, obviously, going into (next month’s test at Sebring International Raceway), as well,” he said. “I'm just excited to feel (the car) in different circumstances.

“But the transition with everybody has been very, very smooth. A lot of familiar faces, a lot of new faces, as well, and I think really that's the challenge.”

Maybe the biggest change is the colors Lundgaard is now flying. The papaya of Arrow McLaren is more recognizable – globally, even – than anything he has worn previously.

Arrow McLaren also figures to offer Lundgaard a better opportunity in the “500.” The team has consistently delivered strong cars in the 500-mile affair, with O’Ward finishing second and Rossi fourth in last year’s race. Since 2021, Arrow McLaren has had six cars finish in the top four, and there would have been a seventh had O’Ward not crashed challenging for second place with seven laps left in 2023. O’Ward finished second in two of the past three “500s,” with the No. 7 that Lundgaard will use finishing fourth in both instances (with Felix Rosenqvist and Rossi).

For all of Lundgaard’s low starting positions at Indy, he has raced well. He has completed all but two of a possible 600 laps and gained a combined 39 positions, including 15 in last year’s race, when he led twice for five laps. He hopes that experience allows him to more consistently challenge in the upper half of this year’s field.

“Fortunately (or) unfortunately, I've had the pleasure of coming from the back,” he said of his Indy runs. “In a way, I take that as a positive now because I've learned to race from the back with the most turbulent air. Obviously, I don't necessarily have the benefit of the more clean air, but I think from a race craft standpoint, I feel very confident in that.

“The one thing I do believe is at the end of the day, the cars (of the two teams) feel very similar but yet very different. I think it's going to come easier in that sense, but I think the drivers that you race against are going to be battling harder for each position, which is going to be the challenge.”

A new challenge is what Lundgaard felt he needed. It will be the theme of his season that awaits.