INDYCAR: Blackstock targeting 2017 Indy 500

Mazda Road To Indy veteran Shelby Blackstock is set on making his Indy 500 debut in 2017. A late starter in motor racing, the 26-year-old native of Nashville has spent the last five years learning in US F2000, Pro Mazda and Indy Lights with Andretti Autosport, and would like to take part in the 101st edition of the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing."

"The only thing that I can definitely guarantee is I want to be in next year's 500," Blackstock told RACER. "I don't know who with or where but that is definitely one hopeful thing ... That is what we are doing with all the meetings is just trying to get a gauge on what we can do and see where we go from there."

After missing out on the typical karting upbringing in his early teens, the lively Tennessean has made steady progress with each Mazda Road To Indy season. It means Blackstock's road to IndyCar racing will take a bit longer than some of his friends and rivals, and he's fine with putting in the extra time to catch up on all he missed.

"I started racing when I was 20 years old, so I have only really been racing for just over six years," he said. "My goal right now is I am looking at doing a third Indy Lights season. Even when people say, 'well you are 26 years old ...' that doesn't really mean anything to me. I would rather be fully prepared and ready to go than leave before I'm ready.

"I don't feel there is a rush to get into IndyCar. The Indy Lights field keeps getting stronger and stronger, and it is definitely more kind to make more mistakes there than it is at the big show."

Pitted against the deepest pool of Indy Lights talent in recent memory, Blackstock has gone from learning from the rear during his first season in 2015 to becoming a regular member of a fierce mid-pack group this year. He spent most of his rookie year learning on his own without a teammate, but with the inclusion of Dean Stoneman and Dalton Kellett for 2016, he's grown in every capacity.

With six top-six finishes heading into this weekend's doubleheader finale at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, he making the kind of advancements that should put him in contention for his first win and some podiums in 2017.

"As progression goes, I definitely think I have grown a lot as a driver, especially since last year, mentally more than just driving ability, and that is the biggest thing that I took from the first year," he said. "The first year was a huge hurdle, and this year the team is still a little bit behind, just everybody has almost had a full year on us and that makes it really, really tough.

"The team has had some good moments here and there with Dean; it just has to be the right circumstances really. Sometimes all the stars align but most of the time we are always, the team is working outrageously hard every week and to try to be one step ahead of everybody else. As my progression goes, I feel really well, just need to continue to progress and see where we can go."

The personable southerner has also enlisted the help of more experienced drivers in top racing series to offer advice and wisdom to accelerate his move up the ladder.

"The good news about the IndyCar Series is I live in Charlotte, North Carolina and I am around most IndyCar and NASCAR guys," he said. "The good thing with the IndyCar Series, the veteran drivers, they are always open for a phone call where you can ask them questions and gauge how to get advice from them. I think they almost take a little bit of joy in it because they go, 'hey, I did this, this, and this, and it really killed me. So it is better if you do this, this, and this.' It's better for both parties because the senior guys are so open to giving advice and feedback.

"They all want you to succeed until you are their main competition then they get really quiet. But when you're a young driver trying to make it, and have no clue...this is a very weird and different business from the rest of the world. Especially, the driving part is the easy part but then it gets into all the business deals, and thank God that I have had the pleasure of working with [former IndyCar driver] Darren Manning, and he has definitely opened my eyes to the commercial and the true part of the motorsports business, which is the business side."

With his target set on the 101st Indy 500 to open his IndyCar account, Blackstock looks to four-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon as the driver with the perfect career he'd like to emulate.

"You definitely realize to be successful you have to be there the whole time," he said. "Someone like Scott Dixon, he's been in IndyCar for a long, long, long time and has been dedicated to it the whole time. That is a successful career – over all the wins and stuff he has had, he's been able to have a long career and that's more important than anything."