IndyCar: Oriol Servia to drive for Team Stange Racing with Arrow SPM in 2019 Indy 500

Oriol Servia is set to drive for Team Stange Racing with Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports in the 103rd running of the Indianapolis 500 later this month.

Oriol Servia has been confirmed as the third IndyCar driver for Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports in the 103rd running of the Indianapolis 500, which is scheduled to take place at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 26.

He is officially set to drive for the Chicago, Illinois-based Team Stange Racing with support from Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, and he is set to be sponsored by MotoGator and Lucas Oil. Team Stange Racing have never previously competed in an IndyCar race.

Servia is set to drive the #77 Honda 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 James Hinchcliffe and rookie Marcus Ericsson, the drivers of the #5 Honda and the #7 Honda, respectively.

More from IndyCar

Servia drove the #77 Honda for Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports in the open test session at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Wednesday, April 24, but he had not yet been confirmed as the driver of the car for the race itself at that point.

As a result of this confirmation, the 44-year-old Spaniard is the 36th and final driver to be confirmed for this race, as Indianapolis Motor Speedway previously confirmed that the entry list for this race would feature 36 drivers. In the 100th running of the Indy 500 back in 2016, he also drove the #77 Honda for Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, then simply known as Schmidt Peterson Motorsports.

Here is what Team Stange Racing co-owner John Stange Jr. had to say about Servia driving for the team in this year’s Indy 500, according to Motorsport.

"“I am so pleased to announce this great partnership with Arrow SPM today as Team Stange Racing makes its entry into IndyCar racing. We are so blessed to partner with a company like MotoGator who is committed to building a winning IndyCar program with TSR.“Once we developed our plan, we knew that we wanted to launch at the world’s greatest race with so much history and it being so special to me personally. The second thing to do was to partner with a quality team that we could align and grow with as we build our team to compete in the NTT IndyCar Series eventually full time in 2021/22.”"

Here is what Servia had to add about the matter, according to Motorsport.

"“I work and prepare all year for this race, so it’s kind of ironic that we are actually announcing a program this late! I am proud to represent Lucas Oil again, and couldn’t be more excited to introduce the world to MotoGator and Team Stange, which you will hear a lot more of very soon.“At last year’s 500, I did perhaps the best driving I’ve ever done and came really close. I’m here to finish that job, and I know for a fact that everyone on this program has worked really hard preparing for this event with the same aim. It may look like we are arriving almost late to the game, but we are arriving ready!”"

Servia has made 10 starts in the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” over the course of his career. He has competed in each of the last eight and 10 of the last 11 Indy 500 races after failing to qualify for the race when he first attempted to do so back in 2002.

In his 10 career Indy 500 starts, Servia’s average starting position is 17.2, and his average finishing position is 14.8. He has recorded two top 10 starts, including a career-high third place start for the 95th running of the race back in 2011, and two top 10 finishes, both top six finishes, for the race. He finished the race in sixth back in 2011 before finishing it in a career-high fourth in 2012 after starting in a career-low 27th.

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

Will Oriol Servia qualify for what would be the 11th Indianapolis 500 of his IndyCar career later this month? Practice for this race is scheduled to commence on Tuesday, May 14 and qualifying is scheduled to take place on Saturday, May 18 and Sunday, May 19. The race itself is scheduled to take place on Sunday, May 26, and it is set to be broadcast live on NBC from Indianapolis Motor Speedway beginning at 11:00 p.m. ET.