INDYCAR: Carlin edging closer to race program

"If I can win today that gives me more credibility and I will feel even more confident," Carlin told RACER prior to the Lights season finale. "Plus, Ed will have a million bucks, and that's a million bucks closer to me having an IndyCar team."

Related Stories

The renowned UK-based team has been a powerhouse in European open-wheel racing for 20 years and has produced championships for everyone from Takuma Sato to Daniel Ricciardo to Felipe Nasr to Mikhail Aleshin. Carlin made his North American debut in 2015 when he established an offshoot in New York and nearly won the Indy Lights championship with Jones, who finished third after opening his account with three consecutive wins. On the team's return, Jones scored two wins on the way to the 2016 championship, and teammate Felix Serralles added two more wins for Carlin as the program demonstrated its strength throughout the season.

In addition to speaking to various drivers like Jones about moving into IndyCar, Carlin has also been linked to a current IndyCar team that has expressed an interest in moving from Indianapolis to the new Carlin Racing compound in Delray Beach, Fla. With the possibility of having Indy cars and all of the equipment necessary to field an IndyCar program under his own roof, some interesting developments could be on the horizon.

"I'm the sort of person that tries every possible way to achieve a goal," he said. "I've got probably four real strong leads into making it happen. They're all different ways of doing it. Maybe one of them will come off this time.

"The way the IndyCar market is going at the minute, I see there being more drivers than seats. So now is my time. Whether those drivers have got 4, 5, $6 million to do it, I don't know. I have spoken to [IndyCar competition president] Jay Frye recently, he's been very supportive in trying to help me with my path."

Carlin also expressed his need to win the Indy Lights championship before feeling qualified to add an IndyCar program to his roster of series and offerings for the team's customers. With that item crossed off the list, he's also looking to add some options below Indy Lights. In time, Carlin Racing could have a direct path from USF2000 to IndyCar.

"There are so many people that want to do IndyCar right now," he said. "It's ridiculous. I've never seen anything like it. They've got more faith in us than I have, because I'm conservative and worried about what we do. We are always working hard and will keep pushing.

"To do all that, I want to work to bring more guys into the team, I want to promote some of my current guys, so I need to start expanding the business. That is the priority. Because if drivers want to do USF2000 or Pro Mazda in a year's time, I will have a complete ladder to the top. We've a lot to do in the months that follow."