By alley - Sep 7, 2017, 1:35 PM ET

Third car for Rahal Letterman Lanigan in 2018?

Vacancies at the House of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing are filling up faster than expected. With Takuma Sato set to join Graham Rahal as the Honda-powered team expands to two cars next season, co-owner Bobby Rahal says the concept of going to three cars is also on the table, provided the right driver and budget arrive.

French-Canadian Indy Lights driver Zachary Claman DeMelo

will partner with RLLR at Sonoma

to make his IndyCar debut, and based on the Montreal native's comments, the possibility of staying with the team exists in 2018.

"It's highly likely we'll have two cars, and this event for Zach and us is a one-off; let's see what happens, have a good, solid weekend, and then let's talk," he told RACER. "Would we entertain a third car? It would depend on a lot of things. I've said before that a two-car team is ideal, but again, a third car is a thought. It's farther away than doing the second, though."

As a former driver, Rahal says he understands the desire to be associated with an IndyCar team as early as possible.

"Any young guy getting his first IndyCar chance should think the best about what's in store for his future, but I also know it's not as easy as it looks," he added.

"Especially at Sonoma. With Zach, it's one step after the next one and then we can see if we want to keep working together. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. We'll do as good a job as we can and then turn the page to 2018 and discuss what might be there with him."