Regular listeners to Trackside may recognize the title as being a variation of what Curt Cavin and Kevin Lee have been saying about available seats for the Indianapolis 500. For the last couple of years, seats have been filling up by late February or early March. When that has happened, the co-hosts on Trackside frequently say “It’s getting late, early”; implying that seats are filling up quicker that normal.
It seems this year, we have the opposite problem for a couple of unique reasons. We are now in the second week of April and there are currently only 31 confirmed entries for the Indianapolis 500. Many insiders, including Marshall Pruett of Racer.com, are reporting that Abel Motorsports has secured an engine from Chevy and that they will run Jacob Abel, who failed to qualify as a rookie with Dale Coyne Racing for last year’s Indianapolis 500.
That gets us up to 32 – one short of the all-important 33 that Tony George told us years ago was “…just a number”.
We were all assuming 33 would not be a problem, because we were also assuming that Andretti Global would be running a fourth car for Colton Herta, who is running in F2 this season. A couple of months ago that was a good assumption because the F2 calendar was completely clear of any conflicts in the Month of May. Now that things have heated up in the Middle East, a couple of F1 races have been canceled there – resulting in some F2 support races being lost as well. Rumor has it that one, maybe two of those F2 races may be run in North America. One of those is probably with the Canadian Grand Prix, to be run the same weekend as the Indianapolis 500. Nothing has been confirmed yet, but it is looking as if Herta will now have May conflicts that could hinder his availability to run the 500.
If Herta is unavailable for this May, will Andretti Global find another driver or simply run their three fulltime drivers? You would think since they hold a coveted engine lease from Honda to run a fourth car, they would do so – but they don’t have to.
Let’s assume for a moment that they do run a fourth car – who would get it? Some say Callum Ilott would. He is probably the best available driver out there with the most recent experience. But he is still under contract with PREMA, who still holds at least one Chevy lease. Would Chevy allow it? Would PREMA allow it? If those hurdles could be managed, I think he would be my choice.
Others say Stefan Wilson has almost a full budget put together. For the past few years, Andretti Global has operated under a business model that supports hiring drivers for pay, rather than seeking out those that bring budget. This would certainly go against that model, but I suppose if the driver is bringing enough money, anything could be amended – especially for a one-off Indy-only effort.
Is Wilson worth amending that model? This will be an unpopular opinion with many, but I’ve always felt that while Stefan Wilson is one of the nicest drivers in the paddock; he is also one of the most overrated. In his four Indianapolis 500 starts, his best start and finish was 23rd and 15th. Both of those came in 2018. His last start (2022) saw him qualify 33rd and finish 27th. Does Dan Towriss want an excellent ambassador in the Month of May for TWG? Then by all means, bring in Wilson. Does he want a driver that will give him a shot at winning the Indianapolis 500? Go get someone else, especially if your business model supports paying drivers. There is not a shortage of available drivers.
You Tuber David Land has put together an excellent video that goes very deep into an analysis of how decisions are made regarding drivers and more importantly – the availability of engine leases. Just a few years ago, some in the IndyCar media centers were scoffing at David Land and didn’t take him seriously. They aren’t scoffing anymore. You Tubers have opened up a whole new avenue for content, that has far surpassed those of us dinosaurs that write all of our content. Few people read these days, when they can watch a video instead. If I was trying to make a living with this site, I would probably be mad and/or jealous of those that were succeeding with video content. Since this is only a hobby of mine – my hat’s off to him.
I’m not bragging or name-dropping, but I know David personally. He is the real deal. He knows his stuff, and he does a good job delivering the content on his site. Subscribe to his videos. He posts frequently, and they are usually in the 20-minute range. Watching the video below is what got me thinking about this topic, although he goes into much more detail with his research than I ever could. Watch this video after you are done reading. He has good stuff.
In the video, Land also mentions the possibility of a 34th car in this year’s field. He believes that Katherine Legge could run in a third car at Foyt. It makes sense as he lays it out. We know that with the agreement that keeps Chevy and Honda for the foreseeable future, the two manufacturers were granted one charter each starting in 2028. Honda has already said that they will use their charter for a third car at Meyer Shank Racing, who has a technical alliance with Chip Ganassi Racing. Chevy has yet to announce plans for their charter; but it would make sense to use it at Foyt, who has a similar technical alliance with Team Penske.
Connecting some dots, Legge had Larry Foyt on her podcast a week or two ago. Does that mean she is their driver for the 500? Maybe. Maybe not. Katherine Legge has a strong relationship with Honda, and Land says that Chevy would love to lure her away. If Chevy is unsuccessful, I think it would be more palatable for all parties involved to see Leegge in the fourth Andretti car, and Ilott in the third Foyt car. I don’t know if Chevy considers Ilott one of their own, but I’m not sure he has ever driven a Honda since he has been in IndyCar. Likewise, when was the last time we saw Legge in a Chevy? I’ll save you the trouble of looking it up – it was 2012 in a partial season with Jay Penske’s Dragon Racing.
I miss the days when we had real bumping, when it took a real effort to make it into the field. If we get to 34 entries, with a fourth Andretti car and a third Foyt car – what are the chances of Jacob Abel making the field? He failed to make it last year with an established team. Abel Motorsports have fielded a car once in the Indianapolis 500 – in 2023, when RC Enerson qualified on the inside of the tenth row and finished 32. That was a really impressive effort, but it was three years ago. If Jacob Abel is able to put his car in the field against any of the other 33 – that would be a job well done.
I also miss the days of it getting late, early. While it would be nice to have a lot more entries, and I’m pretty confident that we will end up with 34 – it’s a little unnerving to be sitting here in the second week of April and only have 31 confirmed entries. When the new engine deal goes into effect, I hope they can work something out where the engine manufacturers don’t have such a low ceiling on available engine deals. I am hopeful that the IndyCar and IMS leadership can get creative and come up with a way to get more cars entered. Maybe loosen the rulebook the way CART did and have allowances for the 500 that don’t exist for the rest of the year. Is that too crazy? Probably so.
George Phillips
