IndyCar: Who will drive for Andretti Autosport in the 2019 Indianapolis 500?

By Asher Fair | Jan 30, 2019

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - MAY 27: Carlos Munoz, driver of the #29 Ruoff Home Mortgage Honda, and Danica Patrick, driver of the #13 GoDaddy Chevrolet, race during the 102nd Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motorspeedway on May 27, 2018 in Indianapolis, Indiana.(Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /

Andretti Autosport are set to make a driver announcement for the 2019 Indianapolis 500 today. Who will they sign to drive in IndyCar’s biggest race?

Full-time drivers Zach Veach, Alexander Rossi, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Marco Andretti are all set to drive for Andretti Autosport in this year’s Indianapolis 500, which is the sixth of 17 races on the 2019 IndyCar schedule.

These four drivers all drove full-time for Andretti Autosport last season as well. Veach drives the #26 Honda while Rossi drives the #27 Honda, Hunter-Reay drives the #28 Honda and Andretti drives the #98 Honda, although Andretti technically drives for Andretti Herta Autosport with Marco Andretti & Curb-Agajanian.

As discussed earlier this morning, Andretti Autopsort are set to make a driver and sponsor announcement pertaining to the 103rd running of the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing”, and this announcement is set to be made later today at 10:00 a.m. ET.

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The team have fielded at least one additional entry for a part-time driver and/or Indy 500-only drive in the 200-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana in each of the last nine Indy 500 races going back to 2010.

That streak will likely hit 10 years this year, and the driver who will push this streak to 10 years should be known shortly. The one question is this: who will this driver be?

Stefan Wilson and Carlos Munoz joined Andretti Autosport as the drivers of the #25 Honda and the #29 Honda for last year’s Indy 500. Wilson was just a few laps away from winning the race and would have won it had another late caution flag period taken place, and Munoz has statistically been one of the best drivers in the Indy 500 since he made his debut in the race in 2013.

Wilson had a ride lined up with Andretti Autosport for the 2017 Indy 500, but he gave it up to two-time Formula 1 champion Fernando Alonso, who is set to return to the race this year driving for McLaren Racing after skipping it last year, in exchange for a ride in the 2018 Indy 500.

Munoz, meanwhile, made his Indy 500 and IndyCar debut driving for Andretti Autosport in the 2013 Indy 500, and he drove full-time for the team from the 2014 season through the 2016 season. He ended up driving full-time for A.J. Foyt Enterprises for the 2017 season, but he lost his ride after the season, which led to him landing an Indy 500-only ride with Andretti Autosport for the 102nd running of the race last year.

But the top candidate to be Andretti Autosport’s fifth driver for this year’s running of the Indy 500 does not appear to be either of these two drivers. Of course, that doesn’t mean there won’t be a sixth, but for now, the top candidate is someone different.

RACER motorsports pundit Robin Miller recently revealed in his weekly series titled “Robin Miller’s Mailbag” that Conor Daly, who has not driven full-time in IndyCar since the 2017 season and is not set to do so this year, is set to drive “the best car he’s ever sat in” in this year’s Indy 500.

A ride for Daly in this race, however, has not yet been confirmed. Will that change in a few hours, courtesy of Andretti Autosport?

Here is what Miller had to say in this article.

"“He’s going to have the best car he’s ever sat in this May for the Indy 500.”"

In five Indy 500 starts, Daly has qualified no higher than 23rd place and finished no higher than 21st, which is where he finished in the 2018 Indy 500 driving for Dale Coyne Racing with Thom Burns Racing, but he has never driven for a top-tier team.

Daly finished in 22nd place after starting in 31st in the 2013 Indy 500 driving for A.J. Foyt Enterprises. Driving for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, he failed to officially complete a lap in the 2015 Indy 500 after qualifying in 23rd as a result of a pre-race mechanical error. He was officially scored in 33rd (last) in this race.

In the 2016 Indy 500, Daly drove for Dale Coyne Racing and started in 24th place, but a crash relegated him to a 29th place finish. In the 2017 Indy 500, he drove for A.J. Foyt Enterprises once again and started in 26th, but a crash relegated him to a 30th place finish. His career-high 21st place finish in the 2018 Indy 500 came after he qualified in 33rd (last) on the grid.

Andretti Autosport certainly qualify as a top-tier team, and they would undoubtedly be able to give Daly what would be by far the best car that he has ever sat in, and that does not just include the cars that he has driven in past Indy 500 races.

We should know in a few short hours whether or not Daly will be the team’s fifth driver for this race.

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Who will be Andretti Autosport’s fifth driver for the 103rd running of the Indianapolis 500 this year? Stay tuned for this announcement later today. The Indianapolis 500 itself is scheduled to be broadcast live from Indianapolis Motor Speedway on NBC beginning at 11:00 a.m. ET on Sunday, May 26, so be sure not to miss it. To see the full 2019 IndyCar schedule, click here.