IndyCar silly season is well underway as we approach the end of the 2017 season. Which drivers are going to end up with which teams in the 2018 season?
This IndyCar silly season has already been a crazy one. Seeing as how there are only 10 drivers whose seats in the series are secure for next season, this silly season looks poised to get even crazier, as more than a dozen other drivers are looking to secure full-time rides in 2018.
This season, the series had 21 full-time cars and started out with 20 full-time drivers, although that 20 became 18 with the injury to Sebastien Bourdais at Dale Coyne Racing and the departure of Mikhail Aleshin from Schmidt Peterson Motorsports.
The only planned full-time car without a full-time driver this season was the #20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet, which has been driven by Spencer Pigot on the road and street courses and by team owner Ed Carpenter on the ovals.
Will we see more than 21 full-time cars in 2018?
Let’s start off with what we know about next year’s full-time driver lineup. Right now, it isn’t much; as referenced above, only 10 drivers have full-time rides for next season, while over a dozen more are still looking to secure one. But what we have is a definite start on the road to setting the field for the 2018 IndyCar Series season.
What We Know
Dale Coyne Racing, Honda
Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Honda
Andretti Autosport, Honda
Team Penske, Chevrolet
That’s it. Only 10 drivers are 100% solidified in seats for next season, which will likely end up being less than half of the full-time field. Who will end up in the remaining seats? And with which teams will seats be added, if any? Better yet, which new teams will become full-time teams next season?
Let’s start off speculating with which drivers will be driving for teams currently not in the series full-time.
Harding Racing, Chevrolet
Gabby Chaves drove the #88 Harding Racing Chevrolet in the three superspeedway races this season, and he did a solid job driving for the new-one car Harding Racing team, finishing in the top 15 all three times with two finishes in the top 9, including a 5th place finish at Texas. Chaves has one full-time season of IndyCar experience as well as races in two other seasons as a part-time driver under his belt. In 26 career races, he has never crashed, and his lone DNF came at Pocono in the first race he ever led laps at, and that DNF was due to a late engine failure. Chaves knows how to keep it clean, and that’s what a new underfunded team like Harding Racing needs in a driver.
Carlin Motorsport, Chevrolet
It’s pretty clear that Max Chilton will not be returning to Chip Ganassi Racing for his third career IndyCar season. When he was parked at Pocono simply because the team felt he could not make up any positions, he made it clear that he “could not wait for next year”. That’s probably because he is looking forward to having a ride with the team he had success with in Indy Lights in 2015, and that is Carlin Motorsport, a team that many believe will make the move to IndyCar next season. Carlin may end up being Chilton’s only hope for a full-time ride in 2018.
Charlie Kimball, like Max Chilton, currently drives for Chip Ganassi Racing, but he likely won’t be back with the team in the 2018 season thanks to a sponsorship reduction as well as the fact that he hasn’t won a race in over four years and is in the midst of arguably his worst season since he was a rookie back in 2011. However, he isn’t completed losing his Novo Nordisk sponsorship. It is just getting reduced. A reduction of sponsorship from a sponsor that helped him maintain his ride with Chip Ganassi Racing for seven seasons will likely mean he has enough money to secure a ride with a team like Carlin Motorsport.
Juncos Racing, Chevrolet
Juncos Racing appears to be set to make the move to becoming a full-time IndyCar team after running two cars in this year’s Indianapolis 500 and winning this year’s Indy Lights championship with Kyle Kaiser. Seeing as how Kaiser won the $1 million Indy Lights prize, it would only make sense that he will make the move to IndyCar in 2018, just as the past few Indy Lights champions have done shortly after winning their titles. With the number of seats on top-tier teams limited, Kaiser would make perfect sense for Juncos Racing if they indeed come to IndyCar full-time next year.
With Tony Kanaan likely taking Carlos Munoz’s ride at AJ Foyt Enterprises, Munoz will be looking for another full-time ride. Given his talent, he should definitely get one. Even driving for the slowest team in the sport, he has had a solid string of races to end the season, as he is on a streak of three straight top 10 finishes. He has done the most to make the most out of the poor equipment he has had this season, especially lately. He may have to continue doing that if he wants to stay in IndyCar, however, as the seats available with the top-tier teams are filling up fast. Getting a ride with Juncos Racing if the team decides to come to IndyCar full-time would not be a bad idea for him.
Dreyer & Reinbold Kingdom Racing, Chevrolet
Dreyer & Reinbold Kingdom Racing is still looking to make the move to IndyCar as a full-time team in the near future. If that ends up happening in the 2018 season, there is no reason to believe the driver they put in the team’s car would not be Sage Karam, who has driven for the team in the last two Indianapolis 500 races. Even a superspeedway-only deal like the one Harding Racing had this season with Gabby Chaves could play to the advantage of both the team and Karam, as he has shown that he has great speed on those types of tracks, including at last year’s Indianapolis 500 with the team.
AJ Foyt Enterprises, Chevrolet
The problem with AJ Foyt Enterprises over the last few seasons isn’t the drivers. It’s the lack of overall speed the team has given the drivers. However, both of the team’s current drivers, one of whom being Conor Daly, have had a solid string of races to end the season. This team has no reason to “clean house” like they did after last season, and they certainly have no reason to let Daly go, as he has done the most to make the most out of the small amount of resources he has had this season, especially lately.
Tony Kanaan is rumored to be going to AJ Foyt Enterprises on a two-year deal, so that’s where he is in this projected driver lineup. He has also said that driving for IndyCar legend AJ Foyt would be cool, so actually getting the opportunity to do it will be a neat experience, especially since many people initially thought he may be forced into retirement following the conclusion of the 2017 season without a ride in 2018. Even though the team has not had great equipment recently and he may not be a regular contender for race wins at the front of the field, he will definitely know this before he signs with the team if he does, indeed, end up doing so. At the very least, he can use this potential opportunity as a way to help mentor the promising Conor Daly, who will likely be back with the team for the second season.
Ed Carpenter Racing, Chevrolet
As long as Ed Carpenter wants to drive the ovals, he will do so, as he is the owner of Ed Carpenter Racing. Seeing as how next year will make it four years since his most recent win at Texas in 2014, there is no reason to believe that he will want to relinquish the oval driving duties of the #20 Chevrolet to another driver. Carpenter’s return to the #20 car in the oval races is pretty much a sure thing.
While he has the talent to be a full-time driver somewhere, it may be in Spencer Pigot’s best interest to drive part-time in the #20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet on the road and street courses for the third straight season. He has shown speed at many tracks, but his results just have not been good enough to warrant a full-time ride with another team. And as long as team owner Ed Carpenter wants to drive the ovals, there will likely be a road and street course-only driver of the #20 car. Pigot would be smart to stay, and Carpenter has an interest in him staying as well.
JR Hildebrand’s return to IndyCar as a full-time driver this season has been quite interesting. As expected, he has struggled on the road and street courses, finishing no higher than 11th place in 10 attempts. However, he was a consistent front-runner at most of the six oval races. If not for a penalty and three unfortunate crashes, he very well could have had four or five top 5 finishes this season. Even with that constant misfortune, he still managed two podium finishes. However, aside of those podium finishes, he never finished in the top 10. But with almost a full return season under his belt, he will certainly be able to take what he has learned this season and apply it to next season if given the chance. Team owner Ed Carpenter would be smart to continue to invest in Hildebrand.
Dale Coyne Racing, Honda
Ed Jones has made it clear that he wants to stay with Dale Coyne Racing in the 2018 season, and that will likely end up being the case. Jones started off his rookie season hot, and he even finished in 3rd place in the Indianapolis 500. However, his production really started to decline after his teammate, four-time Champ Car champion Sebastien Bourdais, was sidelined with an injury. Those struggles showed that he could still use some experience with a veteran teammate like Bourdais driving for a smaller team like Dale Coyne Racing before he pursues a top-tier ride. He definitely has the potential for a top-tier ride in the future.
Andretti Autosport, Honda
With Takuma Sato making his return to Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing after one season with Andretti Autosport, that will leave the seat of his #26 Honda open. Having spoken with Zach Veach at Pocono in 2015, he said that the Andretti’s were “like family”, and this season, he stated that he was close to securing a full-time ride in the 2018 season, although he did not say with which team. Andretti Autosport certainly comes to mind, especially given the fact that he drove for the team for five seasons in the US F2000, Pro Mazda and Indy Lights series, and he had success each season. Veach going to Andretti Autosport next season has already been reported, although nothing has been 100% confirmed yet. Giving Veach a chance in the #26 car would be the right move with how hard he has worked to climb the Mazda Road to Indy ladder over the past several seasons.
The Fernando Alonso driver prediction wins the “just-here-so-I-can-say-I-told-you-so-if-it-happens” award. But here’s why it still may happen. Andretti Autosport had to have a reason to stay with Honda beyond retaining Alexander Rossi, although that may seem like a great reason now given how well he has performed at all types of tracks recently. And it probably isn’t the possible (and likely) addition of Zach Veach to replace Takuma Sato, either. That reason may be a large sum of cash from overseas that only a Formula One star like Alonso, who did drive in this year’s Indianapolis 500 for the team, could provide. All of the rides with top-tier Formula One teams are taken in the 2018 season, and Alonso isn’t exactly happen with his current situation at McLaren, even with their switch to Renault engines for next year. It’s hard to see IndyCar not welcoming him with open arms if he decides that he wants to come across the pond next year.
Team Penske, Chevrolet
This article is technically only supposed to be predicting full-time and part-time drivers as opposed to Indianapolis 500-only drivers, but Helio Castroneves is an exception since he will be a major player this offseason. When it’s all said and done, Team Penske will likely be just a three-car team next season, with Castroneves being the driver that ends up without a full-time ride since the other three drivers that currently drive for the team are all set to return. However, he will likely return to race in the Indianapolis 500 in pursuit of a record-tying fourth victory in the race, so IndyCar will not be completely without the likable Brazilian for a while.
Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda
With Tony Kanaan likely on his way to AJ Foyt Enterprises, this leaves the seat of the #10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda open. FIA World Endurance Championship driver Brendon Hartley will likely be the one to fill it, and rumors have been circulating that he is the guy who team owner Chip Ganassi has chosen, although nothing has officially been confirmed yet. Hartley is a Honda favorite, which makes it even more likely that he will land in the seat arguably most desired by unsigned drivers on arguably the top Honda team in the sport.
Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, Honda
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I would like to think that James Hinchcliffe will have a chance to drive for Chip Ganassi Racing next season, but with Brendon Hartley appearing to be Tony Kanaan’s replacement in the #10 Honda and the team likely becoming just a two-car operation, that probably won’t happen. However, Hinchcliffe, who is arguably IndyCar’s top free agent, won’t have to worry, because he and Schmidt Peterson Motorsports have been in talks about a contract extension already anyway, and the team has no reason to let him go. Expect Hinchcliffe to be back for a fourth straight season with the team in 2018.
Santiago Urrutia recently stated that he had about 70% of the budget he needs in order to secure a full-time IndyCar ride in the 2018 season, although there has been no further update on that percentage. He certainly deserves a ride after two seasons in Indy Lights during which he totaled six victories and two 2nd place finishes in the championship standings. It would make sense for him to go Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, the team he drove for in Indy Lights in 2016, and it would make sense for the team to sign him to drive alongside a veteran like James Hinchcliffe.
Next: IndyCar driver power rankings
Which drivers do you think will end up with which teams in the 2018 IndyCar season? Let us know in the comments below, and be sure to follow along with Beyond the Flag for the latest news, opinions and analysis stemming from a number of different motorsports series. You don’t want to miss any of it. Also be sure to follow Beyond the Flag on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.