IndyCar: Team Penske will only run four cars at Indianapolis, leaving Juan Pablo Montoya out

By Asher Fair | Oct 5, 2017

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - MAY 28: Juan Pablo Montoya of Colombia, driver of the #22 Fitzgerald Glider Kits Team Penske Chevrolet, races during the 101st Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motorspeedway on May 28, 2017 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images) /

Team Penske’s full-time IndyCar program will be composed of three cars in 2018, and the team will run just four cars in the Indianapolis races.

Team Penske officially announced that they are downsizing from a four-car team to a three-car team in the 2018 IndyCar season, leaving three-time Indianapolis 500 champion Helio Castroneves, 42, without a full-time IndyCar ride as he goes to Team Penske’s Acura program in the IMSA SportsCar Championship.

Following that announcement was the announcement that the team will be running just four cars at the the Grand Prix of Indianapolis and the Indianapolis 500 next year as opposed to the five they ran this year. The driver in the fourth car will be none other than Helio Castroneves.

This leaves two-time Indy 500 champion Juan Pablo Montoya, 42, without a ride in next year’s Indianapolis races after finishing in 16th, 3rd, 8th and 10th place in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017, respectively, in the Indianapolis Grand Prix driving for Team Penske and finishing in 5th, 1st, 33rd and 6th place in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 in the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” driving for Team Penske.

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Montoya, who is one of now three confirmed drivers in Team Penske’s Acura program in the IMSA SportsCar Championship, recently said that he would like to drive in the 2018 Indianapolis 500 for Team Penske if given the chance for the fifth straight season. However, he won’t get that chance even despite the fact that the team successfully ran five cars at the race this season.

Instead, Castroneves will aim for his record-tying fourth Indianapolis 500 crown as his three full-time Team Penske teammates, 2017 IndyCar champion Josef Newgarden, 2016 IndyCar champion Simon Pagenaud and 2014 IndyCar champion Will Power, all aim for their first win in the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”

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Juan Pablo Montoya crashed en route to a 33rd place finish in the Indianapolis 500 in 2016. After that season, he no longer had a full-time IndyCar ride. Then this season, he finished in 6th in the Indy 500.

Helio Castroneves, meanwhile, finished 2nd in the Indy 500 this year and is now without a full-time IndyCar ride for next season. If he is able to improve on his result like Montoya was, then AJ Foyt, Al Unser and Rick Mears will be welcoming another four-time Indy 500 champion to the four-time winners club next May.