Indy 500: Jordan King to drive for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing in 2019

Jordan King is set to make his Indy 500 debut in the 2019 IndyCar season driving for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing in the race’s 103rd running.

Jordan King, who made his IndyCar debut this past season driving the #20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet in the road and street course races, announced last month that he will not be returning to Ed Carpenter Racing in the 2019 season.

While the 24-year-old Briton has not landed a full-time ride or even a part-time ride in IndyCar for next season, he has landed a ride in one of the races in which he did not compete as the driver of the #20 Chevrolet.

King is set to make his Indianapolis 500 debut in 2019, and he is set to do so driving for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. It is not yet known the number of the car that he will drive in this race.

King is set to drive in this 200-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval in Speedway, Indiana as a teammate to full-time drivers Graham Rahal and Takuma Sato, the drivers of the #15 Honda and #30 Honda, respectively.

Here is what King, who has never driven in an IndyCar oval race before, had to say about the opportunity to make his Indy 500 debut in the 103rd running of the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” driving for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, according to IndyCar.

"“I’m really happy and excited to announce that I’ll be driving in the 2019 Indy 500 with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. This race is one that I have been working towards and a race I have always dreamt of racing in as it’s the jewel in the crown of IndyCar. I was at the race last year and I really enjoyed the whole weekend and knew straight away it was something that I had to be a part of so to be able to go there next year is definitely a huge moment in my career.“We went from not being able to find a full-time drive for the season to securing a seat at one of the biggest races in the world which is a huge relief to be able to get sorted. A huge thanks to RLL for the opportunity and I hope I can repay their faith in me with a good result. The race will be my first-ever on a superspeedway so it should be an exciting experience every time I get behind the wheel. The aim for the 500 is to prove myself as an oval racer. I already competed in the road and street courses this year so now I’ll be looking to impress and expand my CV to push towards a full-time drive.”"

Here is what Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing team co-owner Bobby Rahal had to say about the matter, according to IndyCar.

"“Jordan certainly impressed me last year with his pace at a number of races. Of course those were all road and street courses but he quickly came to grips with the Dallara and it was apparent that he has the potential to do well. While this will be his first oval race, I think that given the amount of track time, he will get up to speed and come to grips with the challenges of oval racing just as quickly. Of course, it always helps to have two strong teammates and a strong team behind you to shorten the learning curve and we feel we provide that. We look forward to welcoming him to the team.”"