IndyCar: Confirmed 2018 Indianapolis 500 drivers – December edition

By Asher Fair | Dec 4, 2017

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - MAY 28: Takuma Sato of Japan, driver of the #26 Andretti Autosport Honda, takes the checkered flag to win the 101st Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motorspeedway on May 28, 2017 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images) /

With less than half a year to go until the biggest IndyCar race of the season, the Indianapolis 500, let’s have a looked at who the confirmed drivers are for the event so far.

Now that we are in December, we are officially more than halfway from the 101st running of the Indianapolis 500 that took place on Sunday, May 28th, 2017 to the 102nd running of the Indy 500 that is set to take place on Sunday, May 27th, 2017.

Even though there are still almost six months to go until the biggest IndyCar race of the 2018 season, there have been numerous driver commitments for the “Greatest Spectacle of Racing” already. In fact, as of now, there are 23 drivers who have committed to driving in the race — and that’s without any new commitments in the last two weeks.

Let’s have a look at who those 23 drivers are in addition to some of the drivers who are still pursuing rides in the race that have not yet been confirmed.

First off, there are the full-time drivers. Andretti Autosport’s four full-time drivers are Marco Andretti, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Alexander Rossi and Zach Veach. Team Penske’s three full-time drivers are Josef Newgarden, Simon Pagenaud and Will Power. That brings the total to seven.

More from IndyCar

Chip Ganassi Racing’s two full-time drivers are Scott Dixon and Ed Jones. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s two full-time drivers are Graham Rahal and Takuma Sato. Schmidt Peterson Motorsports’ two full-time drivers are James Hinchcliffe and Robert Wickens. AJ Foyt Enterprises’ two full-time drivers are Matheus Leist and Tony Kanaan. That brings the total to 15.

Dale Coyne Racing’s lone confirmed full-time driver is Sebastian Bourdais. Harding Racing’s lone confirmed full-time driver is Gabby Chaves. Ed Carpenter Racing’s lone full-time driver is Spencer Pigot. That brings the total to 18.

Next, there are the part-time drivers and the Indy 500-only drivers. Ed Carpenter drives the oval races for Ed Carpenter Racing, and the Indy 500 is an oval race. Stefan Wilson is set to drive for Andretti Autosport in the race while Helio Castroneves is set to do so for Team Penske, Kyle Kaiser is set to do so for Juncos Racing, and Danica Patrick is set to do so for a team that has not yet been named. That brings the total to 23.

As far as notable drivers who have not yet landed confirmed rides in the 102nd running of the Indy 500, names like Max Chilton, Charlie Kimball, JR Hildebrand, Conor Daly and Carlos Munoz headline the list. All of those drivers were full-time drivers last year but have not yet even been confirmed for the 2018 Indy 500.

Other notable drivers who have not yet landed confirmed rides in the 2018 Indy 500 include two-time Indy 500 champion Juan Pablo Montoya, Pippa Mann, Sage Karam, Sebastian Saavedra, Jack Harvey, Oriol Servia, Tristan Gommendy, Jay Howard, Buddy Lazier and James Davison.

Next: 5 reasons destroying Walt Disney World Speedway was a mistake

So in the next five-plus months, just 10 more drivers need to be confirmed for the field of the 102nd running of the Indianapolis 500 to be full. Any more than 10 more drivers will mean that there will be bumping for the first time since 2015, and any more than 11 more will mean that the entry list will be the largest since at least 2011 when 41 drivers were entered.