Six-time IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon and reigning Indianapolis 500 winner Felix Rosenqvist are joining the Arrow McLaren racing team next season after agreeing to multiyear deals.
They will be part of the team's three-car full-season lineup that also includes Pato O’Ward.
And Ryan Hunter-Reay, the 2014 Indy 500 winner, will be in the driver’s seat again in its fourth entry in the 111th running of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” the team also announced Monday.
That means three former winners and one of the most competitive oval racers in the series will make up Arrow McLaren’s Indy 500 lineup next May. The team is seeking its first Indy 500 victory since Johnny Rutherford's 1976 win.
“Our IndyCar team has shown fantastic momentum, and this lineup of Pato, Scott, Felix and Ryan will strengthen every aspect of our program," McLaren CEO Zak Brown said in a news release. "We’ve got our eyes firmly set on the Championship as well as winning the Indianapolis 500 to secure the Triple Crown in the Papaya era. These four drivers bring a wealth of experience as well as great chemistry and will no doubt have a positive impact across our entire team.”
The 45-year-old Dixon won IndyCar championships in 2003, 2008, 2013, 2015, 2018 and 2020 and is second all-time in series victories with 59. He won the 2008 Indianapolis 500.
Chip Ganassi Racing announced Thursday that Dixon had informed the team he would not return in 2027.
Dixon called joining Arrow McLaren an “exciting next step in my career.”
“It was a big decision for myself, for my family, and I’m looking forward to contributing to what the team, Zak and Tony are building there,” Dixon said in the news release. "As a New Zealander, being part of Bruce McLaren’s legacy will be special; his spirit and grit are still very much rooted in that team, and I’m excited to carry that on.”
Rosenqvist announced last month he was leaving Meyer Shank Racing at the end of the IndyCar season.
The 34-year-old from Sweden has been with the team for the past three seasons, earning his biggest win when he drove the No. 60 car past David Malukas to win the Indy 500 in the closest finish in the race’s century-plus history.
Rosenqvist returns to Arrow McLaren, where raced from 2021 through 2023. He won the Indy 500 pole in 2023 for McLaren.
“There are a lot of familiar faces, and we’ve got an incredible lineup with Scott joining and Ryan returning for the 500,” Rosenqvist said. "I think our collective experience will be a huge benefit.”
AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
FILE - Felix Rosenqvist, center, of Sweden, celebrates after winning the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)
FILE - Scott Dixon, left, stands next to Chip Ganassi before the start an IndyCar auto race at World Wide Technology Raceway on Aug. 21, 2021, in Madison, Ill. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File)
PROVO, Utah (AP) — A former campus police officer testified Monday that he found an apparent “sniper pad” on a rooftop near where Charlie Kirk was assassinated, as prosecutors sought to convince a state judge they have enough evidence to put a Utah man on trial for murder.
Former Utah Valley University Officer Christopher Bagley said he witnessed Kirk's shooting as the conservative activist spoke to a crowd of thousands last year. Soon after, he went to a nearby gravel rooftop, where it appeared someone had been lying prone with a clear sightline to Kirk's location, Bagley said.
“It looks like a sniper pad,” Bagley said, adding, "you’ve got markings of elbows, knees and feet.”
The testimony came as Kirk’s parents, Kathryn and Robert, and widow, Erika, were in the courtroom for the first time since the case began, along with Donald Trump Jr., President Donald Trump’s son.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for defendant Tyler Robinson. A five-day preliminary hearing that began Monday marks the most significant presentation of evidence to date in the case.
Robinson's parents also were present, sitting a few rows behind the Kirks as the hearing began. The 23-year-old defendant is charged with aggravated murder in the Sept. 10 assassination of Kirk, a conservative activist and ally of President Donald Trump, at Utah Valley University. Robinson turned himself in the day after the shooting.
Prosecutors allege he confessed in a note left for his roommate, who was also his romantic partner, that read: “I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I’m going to take it.”
Robinson has not yet entered a plea, and his attorneys have not commented on his guilt or innocence. They have, however, sought to get the death penalty taken off the table, so far unsuccessfully.
Robinson sat quietly between his attorneys on Monday, looking at the prosecution’s exhibits on a monitor and occasionally taking notes. He wore a gray suit, and his wrists were shackled to a chain around his waist.
Charlie Kirk's parents and widow walked out of the courtroom when a police officer started testifying about Kirk’s arrival on campus the day he was shot. They later returned.
The proceeding resembles a minitrial, but prosecutors need only demonstrate that there are reasonable grounds to believe Robinson killed Kirk. The standard is lower than for a trial, where prosecutors must prove guilt “beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Prosecutors as a result should have little trouble advancing their case, said Mark Kouris, a former prosecutor and state judge in Salt Lake City.
“This standard is extremely low and the chances of them not getting through it are, quite frankly, almost nothing," said Kouris, now an adjunct professor at the University of Utah’s S.J. Quinney College of Law. “
Bagley, the prosecution's first witness, said he could see the right side of Charlie Kirk’s body as Kirk spoke on campus. Kirk was answering a question when Bagley heard a gunshot.
“I saw him go to the left ... I could no longer see the right side of his body,” Bagley said. “Then everybody started getting up and started to run, more of a chaos situation.”
Defense attorney Kathryn Nester asked Bagley about finding an empty pistol holster on the ground after the crowd fled. Bagley acknowledged he never took custody of the holster and didn't know if it was fingerprinted.
Nester repeatedly objected to evidence introduced by prosecutors, but was overruled by the judge. Any evidence from this week’s hearing would have to be reintroduced again to be used at trial.
Prosecutors can use secondhand information, or hearsay, to help present their case. They expect to present between 40 and 50 exhibits during this week's hearing.
Chief Deputy Utah County Attorney Chad Grunander told state District Judge Tony Graf that the exhibits will include several videos of the Sept. 10 shooting, which occurred as Kirk was addressing a crowd of thousands at Utah Valley University. The videos will be shown on a courtroom monitor that is being set up so that it won’t be captured by the press videographer in the courtroom, said Graf.
Prosecutors have said they plan to present DNA evidence linking Robinson to the suspected murder weapon, autopsy findings, witness statements and video of Kirk’s killing. They are also expected to argue the shooting endangered others at Kirk's campus event — an aggravating circumstance that could make the crime punishable by death under Utah law.
Once the hearing is finished, Graf must determine whether there is enough evidence for the case to proceed to trial.
Robinson's roommate is not expected to testify in person during the hearing. Still, the roommate's recorded testimony could be a focal point for prosecutors.
In addition to the alleged confession note, Robinson reportedly texted his roommate that he targeted Kirk because he “had enough of his hatred,” prosecutors have said.
Before his death, Kirk and the organization he co-founded, Turning Point USA, galvanized the conservative youth vote to help Trump win a second term.
The Republican president has said he hopes Robinson receives the death penalty.
Erika Kirk said during his memorial service that she forgives Robinson.
Ahead of Monday's hearing, she thanked supporters in a statement for their kindness and prayers.
“Every court proceeding serves as a painful reminder of his death,” she wrote, “and the loss that has irrevocably impacted our lives and the lives of his children.”
She added that the public outpouring “has sustained us during the darkest days of our lives.”
Brown reported from Billings, Montana.
Charlie Kirk's parents, Robert and Kathryn Kirk, arrive at the Fourth District Courthouse for a hearing for Tyler Robinson, accused in the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, Monday, July 6, 2026, in Provo, Utah. (AP Photo/Marielle Scott)
Media reporters wait outside the Fourth District Courthouse, ahead of a hearing for Tyler Robinson, accused in the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, Monday, July 6, 2026, in Provo, Utah. (AP Photo/Marielle Scott)
People stand by a door at the Fourth District Courthouse ahead of a hearing for Tyler Robinson, accused in the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, Monday, July 6, 2026, in Provo, Utah. (AP Photo/Marielle Scott)
Attorney Kathryn Nester, left, arrives at the Fourth District Courthouse for a hearing for Tyler Robinson, accused in the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk, Monday, July 6, 2026, in Provo, Utah. (AP Photo/Marielle Scott)
FILE - A well-wisher places flowers at a makeshift memorial set up for Charlie Kirk at Turning Point USA headquarters, Sept. 11, 2025, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)
