IndyCar: Unconfirmed but likely drivers for 2019 Indianapolis 500

The entry list for the 2019 Indianapolis 500 already features 29 IndyCar drivers, but there are several unconfirmed but likely drivers who could be added to this list.

A total of 29 drivers have already been confirmed to make qualifying attempts for the biggest race on the 2019 IndyCar schedule, the 103rd running of the Indianapolis 500, at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with the race scheduled to take place in just under three months on Sunday, May 26.

But there are several unconfirmed yet likely drivers for the 200-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval in Speedway, Indiana as well.

In fact, Pippa Mann is set to become the 30th confirmed driver for this race later today, as Clauson-Marshall Racing are set to confirm who the driver of their Chevrolet-powered car is set to be and Mann has been tipped to be that driver.

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Then there is Patricio O’Ward, the 2018 Indy Lights champion who was set to drive full-time for Harding Steinbrenner Racing this season as the driver of the #8 Honda but lost his ride with the team just over two weeks ago.

The 19-year-old Mexican earned a $1 million scholarship as a result of the fact that he won the 2018 Indy Lights championship, and this scholarship guaranteed that he will compete in at least three races throughout the 2019 IndyCar season, including the Indy 500. So while O’Ward is technically “unconfirmed” for this year’s running of the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing”, it appears as though the only thing “unconfirmed” about his entry in it is for which team he will be driving.

Sage Karam and J.R. Hildebrand, who both drove for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing in what was the team’s first Indy 500 fielding more than one car since 2011 last year, are both expected to return to the team for this year’s running of the race.

In addition, Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, Carlin and Dale Coyne Racing are each set to field a third car in this year’s Indy 500 as well, bringing the confirmed entry total for the race to 36 (or 35 if O’Ward ends up driving for one of these three teams or not driving at all).

There is also the possibility that Andretti Autosport will field a sixth car in the race and even that Harding Steinbrenner Racing, despite the fact that they cut ties with O’Ward, will field a second car in it. Juncos Racing could field one or two cars in it as well, but their plans as a whole for the 2019 season are still fairly up in the air.

All of this combined brings the potential entry total for this year’s Indy 500 to 39 assuming that if O’Ward drives in the race, he drives for one of the teams that were discussed above. The Indy 500 entry total has not been above 35 since 41 drivers attempted to qualify for the 95th running of the race back in 2011, but that will likely change this year.

Next. Top 10 Indianapolis 500 drivers of all-time. dark

Indianapolis Motor Speedway is scheduled to host the 103rd running of the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, May 26. This race, which is the sixth of 17 races on the 2019 IndyCar schedule, is set to be broadcast live from the Speedway, Indiana track beginning at 11:00 a.m. ET on NBC, so be sure to tune in to it. For a detailed look at the 2019 IndyCar schedule, click here.