IndyCar and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway have released the entry list for next week’s Indianapolis 500, confirming the final two entries following a three-month delay for the race.
With 2011 Indy runner-up JR Hildebrand at Dreyer & Reinbold Racing again, alongside Sage Karam, and one of last year’s underdog stars DragonSpeed USA running Ben Hanley once more, the door appears closed on any chances that Oriol Servia or Stefan Wilson might have had.
Further Indy 500 one-off entries include two-time Formula 1 world champion Fernando Alonso, who will race for Arrow McLaren SP to atone for his failure to qualify last year.
Three-time IndyCar victor Helio Castroneves is entered as Penske’s fourth car, and will be his last IndyCar race for the team.
James Davison will be racing for a Dale Coyne Racing-prepared car, run in conjunction with NASCAR team Rick Ware Racing, while Dalton Kellett will pilot a third AJ Foyt entry alongside Charlie Kimball and Tony Kanaan.
Conor Daly will drive a third Ed Carpenter Racing car while Max Chilton takes control of the Carlin that the duo has shared this season for his sole oval race of the year.
Spencer Pigot and James Hinchcliffe also return to the field, as part of their continued programs for the Rahal Letterman Lanigan-affiliated Citrone-Buhl team and Andretti Autosport respectively.
Late last week, Top Gun Racing – which was in the process of buying DragonSpeed’s equipment to run RC Enerson – decided not to pursue this endeavour having lost its title sponsor and following the drop in prize money.
With just 33 entries and 33 grid slots, there will be no Bump Day.
This is good news for rookies and refreshers who, more than most, will suffer from an unusually compressed timetable by Indy 500 standards and may be hampered still further by the forecast poor weather for the remainder of this week.
Entry list for the 2020 Indianapolis 500
1 Josef Newgarden – Team Penske – Chevrolet
3 Helio Castroneves – Team Penske – Chevrolet
4 Charlie Kimball – A.J. Foyt Enterprises – Chevrolet
5 Pato O’Ward – Arrow McLaren SP – Chevrolet
7 Oliver Askew – Arrow McLaren SP – Chevrolet
8 Marcus Ericsson – Chip Ganassi Racing – Honda
9 Scott Dixon – Chip Ganassi Racing – Honda
10 Felix Rosenqvist – Chip Ganassi Racing – Honda
12 Will Power – Team Penske – Chevrolet
14 Tony Kanaan – A.J. Foyt Enterprises – Chevrolet
15 Graham Rahal – Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing – Honda
18 Santino Ferrucci – Dale Coyne Racing w/ Vasser Sullivan – Honda
20 Ed Carpenter – Ed Carpenter Racing – Chevrolet
21 Rinus VeeKay – Ed Carpenter Racing – Chevrolet
22 Simon Pagenaud – Team Penske – Chevrolet
24 Sage Karam – Dreyer & Reinbold Racing – Chevrolet
26 Zach Veach – Andretti Autosport – Honda
27 Alexander Rossi – Andretti Autosport – Honda
28 Ryan Hunter-Reay – Andretti Autosport – Honda
29 James Hinchcliffe – Andretti Autosport – Honda
30 Takuma Sato – Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing – Honda
41 Dalton Kellett – A.J. Foyt Enterprises – Chevrolet
45 Spencer Pigot – RLL w/ Citrone/Buhl Autosport – Honda
47 Conor Daly – Ed Carpenter Racing – Chevrolet
51 James Davison – Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing, Byrd & Belardi – Honda
55 Alex Palou – Dale Coyne Racing w/ Team Goh – Honda
59 Max Chilton – Carlin – Chevrolet
60 Jack Harvey – Meyer Shank Racing – Honda
66 Fernando Alonso – Arrow McLaren SP – Chevrolet
67 J.R. Hildebrand – Dreyer & Reinbold Racing – Chevrolet
81 Ben Hanley – DragonSpeed USA – Chevrolet
88 Colton Herta – Andretti Harding Steinbrenner Autosport – Honda
98 Marco Andretti – Andretti Herta Autosport w/ Marco & Curb-Agajanian – Honda