IndyCar: Andretti To Run Four Cars, But Who Will Drive The Fourth?

Andretti Autosport has confirmed it will run four cars in the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season, but still doesn’t know who will drive its fourth entry.

Andretti Autosport confirmed Friday that it will remain a four-car team in the next IndyCar season, but that doesn’t answer the team’s burning question: Who’s going to drive that fourth entry?

The team’s driver line-up has been mostly set for awhile now. Ryan Hunter-Reay signed a new contract in September, Marco Andretti found a new sponsor before that, and Alexander Rossi made clear at the start of October that he’s sticking around for at least one more year.

All Friday’s announcement really did was reaffirm that Andretti still lacks any idea who will run the No. 26 Honda.

The incumbent driver, Carlos Munoz, has been open about his issues securing sponsorship since before the 2016 season ended. Andretti says it would like to have Munoz back, but let’s take that with a grain of salt – KVSH Racing said the same thing about Sebastien Bourdais before Bourdais left for Dale Coyne Racing this week.

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So is Andretti really going to bring back Munoz? Or might they be eyeing up a more high-profile driver on the free agent market?

Munoz should be the team’s first choice. As we’ve discussed previously, there’s nothing wrong with holding on to him if the finances allow the team to do so. He was Andretti’s top driver in 2016, could have won the Indianapolis 500 if Rossi’s fuel gamble hadn’t paid off, and with it being less than a month into the offseason it’s within reason that he could still find another sponsor.

Andretti is under no pressure to make a major roster move. The team already accomplished one of the biggest gets by securing Rossi for another season, and while Ryan Hunter-Reay struggled in 2016, he’s still a league champion and Indy 500 winner who should get back to form next year. Marco Andretti has had his difficulties, but there’s no reason that the team can’t be competitive with its current lineup, especially with the engineering personnel who’ve recently joined the ranks.

There’s no denying that the organization had a major down year this season but they’ve made the right moves to put themselves back on course. Chasing a new driver just because they can doesn’t make sense.

The only reason Andretti should move off of Munoz is if he honestly can’t put together the money to make it work. In that case, the best current option on the table is someone like Juan Pablo Montoya. Like the Andretti organization Montoya didn’t have a great 2016 but it will not be that way in 2017. He wants to come back for at least one more charge at the Astor Cup.

And if money is the issue he brings a more marketable resume than Munoz, given his extra experience, two Indianapolis 500 victories, and the fact that he’s driven in all three major motorsports leagues (IndyCar, NASCAR and Formula One).

What we’re looking at right now is something of an arms race between the Big Three IndyCar teams. All three had multiple seats open a month ago. Penske filled theirs – or at least one of theirs – when it nabbed Josef Newgarden. Andretti signed Rossi and Chip Ganassi Racing kept Tony Kanaan.

Next: Sebastien Bourdais Reaches Deal With Dale Coyne Racing

That means the biggest opportunities left for drivers are the No. 8 at Ganassi that currently belongs to Max Chilton, the No. 3 at Penske if Helio Castroneves somehow inexplicably doesn’t come back, and the No. 26 at Andretti.

Who to put in that fourth seat is an important choice for Michael Andretti and his team.

But let’s also not rush to make a big move because of that – let’s make sure it’s the right one. A fourth car won’t do Andretti Autosport any good if they don’t have a driver who can handle it.