IndyCar: Fernando Alonso to drive the #66 Chevrolet in 2019 Indianapolis 500

Two-time Formula 1 champion Fernando Alonso is set to drive the #66 McLaren Racing Chevrolet in this year’s Indianapolis 500, which is set to be his second career IndyCar race.

This past November, it was confirmed that two-time Formula 1 champion Fernando Alonso is set to return to IndyCar to compete in the 103rd running of the Indianapolis 500 this May and that he is set to do so driving for McLaren Racing.

The 37-year-old Spaniard made his IndyCar debut by competing in the 101st running of the Indy 500 back in 2017. In this race, he drove the #29 Honda, which was fielded through a partnership between McLaren and Andretti Autosport.

Alonso qualified in fifth place for the 200-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval in Speedway, Indiana back in 2017, and he led 27 of its first 179 laps before an engine failure with 21 laps remaining relegated him to a 24th place finish.

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Shortly after it was confirmed that Alonso is set to return to the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” this year, it was confirmed that McLaren Racing are set to use Chevrolet engines as opposed to Honda engines, and it was recently confirmed that they are set to form an alliance with Carlin, one of the four full-time Chevrolet-powered IndyCar teams.

While Alonso’s car number for this year’s Indy 500 has not yet been officially confirmed by McLaren Racing, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway store has begun to sell Alonso merchandise featuring the #66. As a result, it has become clear that he is set to drive the #66 Chevrolet in this race, as he has never before driven a car with the #66. As stated above, he drove the #29 Honda in the 2017 Indy 500, and his number throughout his 17-year Formula 1 career was #14.

Alonso driving the #66 Chevrolet in this year’s Indy 500 would appear to be a tribute to 1972 Indy 500 winner Mark Donohue, who was the first driver to win the race driving a car with a McLaren chassis. The car number of his Offenhauser-powered Roger Penske Enterprises car was #66.

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How will Fernando Alonso perform in what is set to be just his second career IndyCar race this year? NBC is set to broadcast the 103rd running of the Indianapolis 500 live from Indianapolis Motor Speedway beginning at 11:00 a.m. ET on Sunday, May 26, so be sure not to miss it.