Indy 500 entry update: Stuck on 32

With the confirmation of JR Hildebrand on the ovals in the No. 11 A.J. Foyt Racing Chevy, the 106th running of the Indianapolis 500 has 32 drivers in position for its field of 33.

One month after RACER published its first look at the entry list for the May 29 race, the biggest news to report since mid-February is the lack of movement on filling the grid. Getting to 33 cars has been anything but easy as all the players who want to join in are missing at least one key element required to participate in the event. For a 33rd car to happen, some extraordinary changes will need to take place in a hurry.

Outside of Hildebrand’s seat in the third Foyt car, there’s no progress to report on fielding extra Indy 500 entries from the other veteran teams. Of the few that are still rumored to be entertaining the idea of adding another car for the race, such notions were swiftly quashed earlier this week.

Starting with a text to Michael Andretti Monday morning, he confirmed once more that his Honda-powered team will not grow to six entries; it will stick with five. Larry Foyt provided an update and says his team remains locked in at three. Dale Coyne Racing says it’s set at two, and despite constant inquiries from drivers and interested co-entrants, Ricardo Juncos and Brad Hollinger won’t budge on running more than one Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevy. However the leverage might be applied, IndyCar’s life would become much easier if one or two of its regular teams volunteered to cover off a 33rd and a 34th entry just to be safe.

Chevy has 15 cars on its current roster and Honda has 17. Both engine manufacturers continue to say they are capable of supporting 18 apiece, provided they are presented with quality teams and drivers to power. The "quality" part will certainly play a part in the manufacturers’ final decisions. Nonetheless, one brand or the other will make certain IndyCar has its 33rd entry to ensure the traditional 11 rows of three will be maintained. Chevy is the leading candidate to handle the 33rd car.

WHY ARE WE STUCK ON 32?

Indy has gone from 35 entries last year and a recent peak of 36 in 2019 to holding firm at 32. Two factors are mentioned when the topic is raised within the paddock, with the general reduction in Indy 500 entries by a number of teams as the first reason, and second, the expansion of IndyCar’s full-time grid is where the blame is often laid.

With growth among some teams for the complete 17-race calendar, the available staff and cars they once used to run an extra entry at Indy have been elevated to full-season status, and the knock-on effect is a lack of resources to add another car for the Speedway. The full-time growth is a great thing, but it has come at the expense of the Indy-only entrants. Factor in the lack of desire by some who have cars -- that will go unused in May -- to help by leasing them to the Indy-only crowd, and we have the reasons behind the current situation.

AS OF TODAY

Among the drivers and co-entrants on the outside looking in, there’s been regression in some areas and modest gains in others. If there were a betting line on which young team will pull everything together and take the 33rd entry, the best odds recently shifted to Beth Paretta and her Paretta Autosport Chevy effort for Simona De Silvestro. However, before we pencil her in as the de facto solution to the problem, there’s more to consider.

In 2021, Paretta had the full technical and infrastructure support of Team Penske though Penske’s Race For Equality & Change program. In 2022, she’s been left to assemble all aspects of the team on her own, and so far, she’s made great headway. Paretta’s got ongoing support from Team Chevy on the engine side, a nearly complete budget, a partial crew, and continues to work on finding a suitable chassis for her Swiss driver to wield. With the better part of three of the four pillars required to go racing at Indy, Paretta’s been chasing an all-elusive Dallara DW12 and senior technical personnel to complete her program and file an entry. More on Paretta Autosport in a moment.

De Silvestro and Paretta Autosport look to be best-placed among the current Indy hopefuls, but key elements still need to come together. Motorsport Images

Next -- and a distant P2 on the 33rd-car depth chart -- is Stefan Wilson and Cusick Motorsports, who have full funding to offer. But with nobody offering a competitive seat for Cusick to secure or a proven car to lease, they only have one of the four pillars. Granted, possessing a budget is crucial, but so far, Don Cusick’s desire to enter his second consecutive Indy 500 with Wilson, and to develop the effort into a bigger program next year with a partner team, has been rebuffed.

They’re needing a car, team, and engine partner, although the latter is something that would be the easiest to take care of once the team and car fell into place. Even so, the prospects are somewhat slim for the three-time Indy 500 starter to hit the track in May.

Returning to Paretta, she and Wilson/Cusick face shared difficulties in reaching the Indy 500 grid, and together, they have looming internal deadlines to consider. Although IndyCar will work with all teams to try and get to 33 or more entries -- beyond the official entry deadline if needed -- the two top contenders for the 33rd spot aren’t too far away from making hard decisions.

Would it be smarter to abandon their Indy 500 plans and shift to running a few races later in the year when veteran teams might be more willing to provide turnkey solutions? Like the manufacturers’ insistence on supporting quality efforts, Paretta and Wilson/Cusick are known to be holding themselves to the same high level of expectations for what they’re trying to assemble.

Neither can afford to scrape into the field and have two consecutive 500s with poor showings. Wilson was the first driver out last year in P33 with an effort led by Andretti Autosport, and after struggling all month for speed and being relegated to the Last Chance Qualifying session, Paretta’s Penske-run car for De Silvestro came home an unfulfilling P31. As both continue to be stuck with late, compromised, or sub-optimal situations to choose from for the 500, do not underestimate how close they are to pulling the plug on their entries.

Of the remaining teams that have previously entered the Indy 500 on their own or as a co-entrant, Top Gun Racing is trying to find a budget and driver to return to Gasoline Alley. In our first entry list update, the small team of vintage IndyCar racers and restorers appeared to hold the keys to a lot of potential moves among the Indy-only entrants and was listed as Chevy’s 16th lease. That’s changed, which has brought us back to 15 for the Bowtie.

TGR attempted to qualify for the 2021 race in the new and stock No. 75 Dallara DW12-Chevy chassis driven by RC Enerson that was paid for his father Neil Enerson. A great effort was made to get Enerson into the field, but the program’s late start and thrash to build the car came at the expense of entering a competitive chassis, as it was missing the body fit and mechanical polishing needed to unleash all of the necessary speed to make the show. With mechanical and aerodynamic drag costing teams a few miles per hour, vast amounts of time and money are spent to transform stock DW12s into Speedway specials that erase as much of the aero and mechanical drag as possible. In light of the fact that the No. 75 is just as stock as it was 10 months ago, the Parettas and Cusicks have shied away from trying to lease the car or partner with the team.

Nonetheless, TGR owners Bill and Stephanie Throckmorton remain bullish about their chances to find a driver and to complete its budget to run in May. Enerson reconfirmed he will not drive for the team, nor does he expect to race for anyone else at Indy this year.

The nuts-and-bolts aspect of a potential Indy run has a literal connotation for Top Gun Racing. Motorsport Images

Beyond the need for most of a budget, there’s a question as to where the No. 75 and the spare DW12 Enerson paid for (that awaits assembly) will reside in May. Will the cars stay with Top Gun, or will they head to Enerson’s shop in Florida? Although both sides declined to speak on the record, they are known to hold opposing views on who owns and controls the cars.

If the cars go back to the Enersons, who are rumored to be looking at doing a road course race or two with their own team in the summer ahead of a full-time 2023 campaign, Top Gun would need to acquire another car to carry its colors. Whether it’s the No. 75 from 2021 or a new chassis they might buy from Dallara (which says it needs about a month to fill the order), the Throckmortons are hellbent on being at Indy if the money can be raised and a driver can be signed.

After Paretta, Wilson/Cusick and TGR, there are rumors of NASCAR entrant Team Stange -- which partnered with Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsport in 2018 to field a car for Oriol Servia -- trying to put something together for the 500. An effort to find Katherine Legge a ride is also in motion, and on Wednesday, I received a call from a new entrant who has a chassis and engine in position to use if the sponsorship comes through.

NEXT STEPS

So who will become the 33rd entry for the Indy 500? Your guess is as good as mine. Depending on who keeps pushing to find their missing pieces, who hits the pause button and defers to running later in the year, and whether IndyCar can twist a few arms this weekend in Texas and get one or two full-time teams to cover off a 33rd and 34th entry, we’ll continue to wait and see how the problem of filling the field of 33 gets resolved. With a couple of doors opened by IndyCar, Paretta and Wilson/Cusick are ready to roll. And if we’re being greedy, let’s hope that Kyle Larson’s name is on someone’s car...

CHEVY (15 entries at present)

3: A.J. Foyt Racing: Kyle Kirkwood, Dalton Kellett, JR Hildebrand

3: Arrow McLaren SP: Pato O’Ward, Felix Rosenqvist, Juan Pablo Montoya

3: Ed Carpenter: Conor Daly, Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter

3: Team Penske: Will Power, Josef Newgarden, Scott McLaughlin

2: Dreyer & Reinbold Racing: Sage Karam, Santino Ferrucci

1: Juncos Hollinger Racing: Callum Ilott

HONDA (17 entries at present)

5: Andretti Autosport: Alexander Rossi, Colton Herta, Marco Andretti, Romain Grosjean, Devlin DeFrancesco

5: Chip Ganassi Racing: Scott Dixon, Alex Palou, Tony Kanaan, Marcus Ericsson, Jimmie Johnson

3: Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing: Graham Rahal, Jack Harvey, Christian Lundgaard

2: Meyer Shank Racing: Helio Castroneves, Simon Pagenaud

2: Dale Coyne Racing: Takuma Sato, David Malukas