IndyCar: Top 5 replacement candidates for Mikhail Aleshin

Schmidt Peterson Motorsports recently announced that they have parted ways with IndyCar driver Mikhail Aleshin. Who are some possible replacement candidates?

With four races to go in the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports decided that it was time to part ways with the struggling Mikhail Aleshin. This leaves the seat of the #7 Honda empty as of now, as the team has yet to announce a replacement driver or replacement drivers for those four races.

While letting Aleshin, 30, go was probably the right move, as he hasn’t finished in the top 5 yet this season and the team had to bench him at Toronto, the fact remains that there is still about one-quarter of this season left. Thus, the #7 Honda will likely have to be put to use, especially since the next race is at Pocono, a track where Aleshin took pole and almost won at last season.

Races at Pocono, Watkins Glen, Gateway and Sonoma remain on this season’s 17-race schedule. Who will the team put in the car? Will they stick to one driver, or will they use different drivers at different venues? Will they go with one oval driver and one road course driver? There is still a lot we don’t know. Here are five possible candidates to drive the #7 Honda at some point over the course of the next four races.

NOTE: This article is not necessarily predicting the replacement driver for Aleshin at a certain track or even for every track, as the drivers that Schmidt Peterson Motorsports uses in the #7 Honda may vary. These are simply five drivers who have the best chance at driving Aleshin’s car at any point over the course of the final four races of the 2017 season. If applicable, certain drivers will be linked with certain tracks.

With that in mind, let’s get on with the list.