Carlos Munoz is set to replace Robert Wickens as the driver of the #6 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda in the IndyCar race at Portland International Raceway.
Schmidt Peterson Motorsports rookie Robert Wickens is still recovering from injuries that he suffered as a result of a crash in the IndyCar race at Pocono Raceway about a week an a half ago. While there was no replacement driver for his #6 Honda in the race at Gateway Motorsports Park this past Saturday, there is set to be one in this weekend’s race at Portland International Raceway.
Carlos Munoz, who is without a full-time ride in IndyCar this season for the first time since the 2013 season, is set to be Wickens’s replacement driver in this Sunday afternoon’s Grand Prix of Portland.
Munoz is set to compete in the 105-lap race around the 105-lap race around the 12-turn, 1.967-mile (3.166-kilometer) Portland International Raceway road course in Portland, Oregon having driven in just one IndyCar race this season, the Indianapolis 500. He has never competed in an IndyCar race at Portland International Raceway.
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The 26-year-old Colombian competed in this year’s Indy 500 driving for Andretti Autosport. He started in 21st place and finished in seventh in what was his sixth career entry in the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing”.
After competing in three races in the 2013 IndyCar season, two driving for Andretti Autosport, including the Indy 500, and one driving for Panther Racing, Munoz landed his first full-time ride in the 2014 season driving for Andretti Autosport.
The 2013 Indy 500 Rookie of the Year and runner-up went on to earn the 2014 IndyCar Rookie of the Year award with his eighth place finish in the championship standings. He continued to compete full-time for Andretti Autosport through the 2016 season. His lone victory came in the first race of the Chevrolet Dual in Detroit on the streets of Belle Isle in Detroit, Michigan in the 2015 season.
Munoz and Takuma Sato swapped seats ahead of the 2017 season, sending the Colombian to A.J. Foyt Enterprises, where he did not experience much success. He was replaced by 2004 IndyCar champion and 2013 Indy 500 champion Tony Kanaan ahead of the 2018 season and left without a full-time ride for this year.
Munoz’s IndyCar career consists of one victory and seven podium finishes so far. Two of those podium finishes were second place finishes in the Indy 500 back in 2013 and 2016. In addition to his win on the streets of Belle Isle, he also finished on the podium in the race on the streets of Long Beach, California in 2014, the first race on the streets of Houston, Texas in 2014, the race at Pocono Raceway in 2014 and the race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in 2016. He finished in third in all four of those races.
It is not yet known who will replace Wickens as the driver of the #6 Honda in the season finale, the IndyCar Grand Prix of Sonoma, at Sonoma Raceway in just over two weeks, as Munoz’s deal is believed to be just for the penultimate race of the season at Portland International Raceway.
Tune in to the live broadcast of the 2018 Grand Prix of Portland this Sunday, September 2 at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network. How will Carlos Munoz perform in what will be his first IndyCar race driving the new UAK18 aero kit in a road course race?