INDIANAPOLIS -- The Alexander Rossi saga may be over, but IndyCar Silly Season is just getting started and a familiar name is fanning the flames of the hot stove: McLaren.

McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown has engaged in significant discussions about forging an alliance with an existing IndyCar team, according to three paddock sources. IndyStar had learned that Brown has spoken with several programs but the prevailing thought in the paddock is that he has made the most progress on a potential deal with Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports.

Rumors of a potential pairing of these two teams surfaced in May and gained steam when SPM team title sponsor, Arrow, announced a partnership with McLaren’s Formula One program. During the month, Fernando Alonso drove the papaya orange McLaren No. 66 with the black Arrow logo on the tub.

Still, team co-owner Sam Schmidt denied he and Ric Peterson were looking to sell any part of their program.

This weekend at Mid-Ohio, Schmidt offered “no comment” when asked about renewed discussions with McLaren, while a McLaren spokesperson said the team “continues to evaluate IndyCar but won’t comment on rumors or speculation.”

However, while Brown remains in contact with other teams, paddock sources believe McLaren and Arrow SPM are close to forging an alliance that would see the joint team run a two-car effort in 2020, according to two sources close to the team. Furthermore, paddock sources have told IndyStar that McLaren has made a lucrative offer to the top available talent: Colton Herta.

McLaren was among the many teams that attempted to sign Rossi, but when it couldn’t make that happen, it turned to the 19-year-old, second-generation phenom, who in March at Circuit of the Americas became the youngest winner in IndyCar history.

When asked about Herta’s future, current team co-owner at Harding Steinbrenner Racing, George Steinbrenner IV, confirmed that his longtime friend is generating plenty of buzz.

“Now that Alex is all buttoned up at Andretti, it’s like, ‘OK, who else is out there?'” Steinbrenner said at Mid-Ohio. “He’s the obvious choice there. … The better he’s gotten, the more eyes are on him, and the more contracts are coming his way.”

With his team still struggling to secure funding, Steinbrenner could not guarantee what the future will hold for HSR. He remained confident that he would be in the paddock in some form or fashion next year but, "What that looks like, I don't really know."

The team currently shares an alliance with Andretti, and Andretti COO Rob Edwards said that while he can't comment on the future of HSR, "Andretti is very much trying to keep Colton part of the family, but we realize there's a finite timeline to make that happen."

Arrow SPM has one driver under contract for 2020: James Hinchcliffe. Rookie Formula One export Marcus Ericsson’s contract is set to expire at the end of the season.

IndyStar sources confirmed what Brown told European media during the F1 weekend in Germany -- that Alonso has not shown interest in running the full IndyCar schedule and that the team’s arrival in IndyCar would in no way be tied to him.

IndyStar also learned that McLaren remains intrigued with the idea of teaming up with Scott Dixon. Last season, the five-time IndyCar champion listened to envoys from McLaren before ultimately signing a multi-year extension with Chip Ganassi Racing. The 39-year-old legend and Sunday's Honda Indy Mid-Ohio winner is believed to be a free agent at the end of the 2020 season.

Those who have followed the McLaren saga for the past couple of years probably know there is a hiccup in a potential alliance with SPM or any other Honda-powered team. The Japanese manufacturer still isn’t willing to forgive and forget the way McLaren severed its ties a few years ago in Formula One. The mandate from headquarters in Japan remains that it will not do business with McLaren.

Andretti Autosport tried to mend those fences to make a McLaren alliance work but ultimately could not make it happen.

“There were some conversations about running a McLaren car,” Edwards said, “but very loose. The issue is still the Honda-McLaren issue. Those McLaren conversations, it was not to be McLaren-Chevy. We were trying to find a way for Honda and McLaren to play together. I think it’s too soon. But never say never.”

IndyStar confirmed that Arrow SPM has another year remaining on its contract with Honda, which means the team would likely be forging an alliance with McLaren without Honda’s blessing.

Obviously, a situation like that could get complicated but would ultimately force Honda to make a decision about McLaren -- either make peace for at least the remaining year of the contract or figure out how each party could go its separate way.

Regardless, it’s looking more and more likely McLaren has found its long-anticipated path into the IndyCar paddock. Oddly, a few months ago, McLaren’s arrival seemed like a foregone conclusion.

At Long Beach, Brown laid out in extensive detail what an ideal McLaren IndyCar program might look like.

However, after the team’s disastrous failure to qualify for the 2019 Indianapolis 500, the whispers about McLaren’s eventual arrival grew faint. But though the chatter has died down, the team’s IndyCar desire never wavered. Now it appears the team is on the verge of making its full-time IndyCar debut in 2020.

Follow IndyStar Motorsports Insider Jim Ayello on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram: @jimayello.