IndyCar: Harding Racing is a possible Indianapolis 500 option for Danica Patrick

By Asher Fair | Jan 20, 2018

FORT WORTH, TX - JUNE 09: Gabby Chaves, driver of the #88 Harding Group Chevrolet, practices for the Verizon IndyCar Series Rainguard Water Sealers 600 at Texas Motor Speedway on June 9, 2017 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Sarah Crabill/Getty Images) /

Danica Patrick still has several options in terms of teams with which she can make her IndyCar return in the Indianapolis 500. Harding Racing is one of them.

Several IndyCar teams, most notably and most recently Chip Ganassi Racing and Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, have ruled out fielding an Indianapolis 500 entry this may for 35-year-old Danica Patrick, who has driven full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series in each of the last five years and has not driven in IndyCar since 2011.

However, there are still several teams for which Patrick could end up driving in the 102nd running of the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” in just a few months. Several of these teams have emerged largely due to the fact that GoDaddy are set to return to racing and to Patrick as a sponsor for the first time since 2015.

GoDaddy are set to return to her as a sponsor for both the 2018 Daytona 500 and Indianapolis 500. With this article set to focus on the latter, let’s get back to the topic of possible IndyCar teams for her this May. One of those teams is Harding Racing.

More from IndyCar

Harding Racing are set to operate as a one-car full-time IndyCar team in the 2018 season after making their series debut last year in the three superspeedway races, including the Indianapolis 500, with 24-year-old Gabby Chaves.

Chaves placed in the top 9 in two of those three races. He finished in 9th place in the Indianapolis 500 and 5th place at Texas before finishing in 15th place at Pocono after qualifying in 8th. The team have definitely shown that they can compete, and that could be huge in terms of Patrick potentially landing a ride with them for this year’s Indianapolis 500.

While the team have not been in contact with Patrick, they do want to be a two-car team in the 102nd running of the Indianapolis 500. With Gabby Chaves having driving the team’s full-time car, that leaves one car open. With Patrick seeking a ride for the race, Harding Racing could end up being the team for which she drives.

Here is what Harding Racing team president Brian Barnhart, the former president of race operations and race director of IndyCar, had to say on the matter, according to Racer.com.

"“We’ve had a lot of people reach out, and I would certainly have interest in having Danica in one of our cars, and have a great relationship with her. She’s done a lot for the sport and helped the sport on a lot of levels. I’d welcome talking with her, but to be honest, we haven’t spoken at this time. It’s clearly in our plans, with the right deal, to be a two-car effort at Indianapolis.”"

Next: Top 10 IndyCar drivers of all-time

If Danica Patrick ends up driving in the Indianapolis 500 this May, which looks a lot more likely now than it did a couple of days ago, which team will she be driving for? Will she be driving for Harding Racing? Expect to have answers to those questions within the next few days or weeks.