IndyCar: 2018 full-time drivers not returning full-time in 2019
By Asher Fair
Several changes have been made to the IndyCar driver lineup from the 2018 season to the 2019 season. Which full-time drivers from 2018 will not be returning in 2019?
A total of 20 drivers competed full-time in the 2018 IndyCar season, although only 17 of those drivers actually competed in each of the season’s 17 races.
The three full-time drivers who missed at least one of those 17 races were Schmidt Peterson Motorsports teammate James Hinchcliffe and Robert Wickens as well as Harding Racing’s Gabby Chaves.
Hinchcliffe failed to qualify for the sixth race of the season at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the Indianapolis 500, while Wickens missed the season’s final three races after suffered major injuries in a wreck during the season’s 14th race at Pocono Raceway.
Chaves, meanwhile, was sidelined for four races toward the end of the season in favor of three different drivers, including Conor Daly, Patricio O’Ward and Colton Herta.
Of the 20 drivers who competed full-time in the 2018 season, 16 are set to compete full-time in the 2019 season. Here is a list of the three drivers who competed full-time in the 2018 season but are not set to do so in the 2019 season, in alphabetical order.
Gabby Chaves
While he only competed in 13 of the 2018 season’s 17 races, Gabby Chaves started out the season as Harding Racing’s full-time driver of the #88 Chevrolet.
Chaves competed in the season’s first 11 races as well as the 15th and 16th races on the schedule, but he was replaced by Conor Daly in the 12th, 13th and 14th races of the season. He was then replaced by Colton Herta in the season finale, and Patricio O’Ward also drove for Harding Racing in this race.
Chaves ended up finishing in 21st place in the championship standings with a top finish of 13th in his final race of the season at Portland International Raceway.
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Harding Racing merged with Steinbrenner Racing shortly after the 2018 season, forming Harding Steinbrenner Racing. The team were originally set to be a two-car team with O’Ward and Herta as their drivers.
After the team switched their engine manufacturer from Chevrolet to Honda, O’Ward was set to drive the #8 Honda while Herta was set to be Chaves’s official replacement behind the wheel of the #88 Honda. Herta is still set to drive the #88 Honda, but O’Ward and the team parted ways a few weeks ago. As a result, Herta is the team’s lone full-time driver for the 2019 season. Meanwhile, O’Ward has not yet landed a full-time or even a part-time ride for 2019.
Ed Jones
The 2018 season was Ed Jones’s second season competing in IndyCar and his first season driving for Chip Ganassi Racing. Unfortunately, it may very well have been the 2016 Indy Lights champion’s final season driving for the team.
Chip Ganassi Racing confirmed former Indy Lights and Formula E driver Felix Rosenqvist as the replacement for Jones behind the wheel of the #10 Honda in the 2019 season after Jones finished in a disappointing 13th place in the championship standings with only two top five finishes, which were both third place finishes.
Jones is still set to compete in IndyCar in the 2019 season, but he is set to do so on a part-time basis. He is set to drive the #20 Ed Carpenter Racing Scuderia Corsa Chevrolet in 12 races, the season’s 12 road or street course races, and he is set to drive the #64 Chevrolet in the Indianapolis 500.
Charlie Kimball
The 2018 season was Charlie Kimball’s eight season competing in IndyCar and his first season driving for Carlin. He is set to return to Carlin in the 2019 season, but he is only set to drive for the team in five of the season’s 17 races. He is set to drive the #23 Chevrolet in these five races after driving the car on a full-time basis for the team last year. Carlin have not yet confirmed the who the driver or drivers of the #23 Chevrolet will be in the other 12 races on this year’s schedule.
Robert Wickens
As stated above, Robert Wickens was severely injured in a nasty accident in the race at Pocono Raceway in the 2018 season, and it is not yet known if he will ever compete in IndyCar again.
The 2018 season was Wickens’s rookie season, and despite the fact that he missed the season’s final three races, he won the Sunoco Rookie of the Year Award after an outstanding rookie campaign that resulted in him recording four podium finishes, seven top five finishes and 10 top 10 finishes in 14 races behind the wheel of the #6 Honda. He finished in a 10th place tie in the championship standings.
Wickens is set to be replaced by rookie and former Formula 1 driver Marcus Ericsson in the 2019 season. Ericsson, however, is set to drive the #7 Honda, as the #6 Honda is said to be ready for Wickens whenever he is able to return to the cockpit.
On a side note…
Jordan King, who was Ed Carpenter Racing’s road and street course driver in the 2018 season and therefore competed in 11 of the season’s 17 races, will not return to the team as the driver of the #20 Chevrolet in the road and street course races. He is set to drive in the Indianapolis 500 for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing behind the wheel of the #42 Honda.
Also, none of the drivers who competed full-time in the 2018 season are set to compete full-time for different teams in the 2019 season.
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The 17-race 2019 IndyCar season is scheduled to get underway this Sunday, March 10 from the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Be sure to tune into the live broadcast of this race beginning at 12:30 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network, and be to tune in to each of the other 16 races on this year’s schedule, which you can see here, as well.