IndyCar: With which team will Meyer Shank Racing partner for 2020?

By Asher Fair | Sep 5, 2019

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - MAY 24: Jack Harvey of Great Britain, driver of the #60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda in action during Carb Day for the 103rd Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 24, 2019 in Indianapolis, Indiana (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images) /

Meyer Shank Racing will be looking for a new team with which to partner for the 2020 IndyCar season. Which team will that end up being?

Meyer Shank Racing have competed in IndyCar on a part-time basis since the 2018 season after fielding an entry for Jack Harvey in the 2017 Indianapolis 500 through a partnership with Andretti Autosport.

The Honda-powered team formed a partnership with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports ahead of the 2018 season, and they maintained that partnership in the 2019 season. They have fielded the #60 Honda for Harvey in both seasons.

However, despite the fact that Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports co-owner Sam Schmidt previously confirmed that his team’s contract with Honda did not expire until the end of the 2020 season, the team announced that they will be switching to Chevrolet engines and forming a partnership with McLaren beginning in the 2020 season.

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As a result, Meyer Shank Racing will need a new team with which to partner for next year since they will not be switching to Chevrolet engines.

Which team will that be?

There are currently five other Honda teams.

First of all, there is Harding Steinbrenner Racing. They will likely end up being Harding Racing next season if they even exist, as co-owner George Michael Steinbrenner IV has been rumored to join forces with Andretti Autosport to field an entry for Colton Herta, Harding Steinbrenner Racing’s lone driver. This Andretti-Steinbrenner partnership existed for Herta’s two seasons in Indy Lights as well. Perhaps a technical alliance with Meyer Shank Racing could save the team.

Then there is Dale Coyne Racing. Much of their focus is centered around whether or not Santino Ferrucci will sign elsewhere or return to the seat of the #19 Honda for next season, which he has the option to do. But them forming a separate partnership in addition to the partnership they already have with Vasser-Sullivan to field the #18 Honda for Sebastien Bourdais appears highly unlikely.

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing are also an option. They are seeking to field three full-time cars as opposed to two next season, although this rumor began before Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports announced their partnership with McLaren and switched to Chevrolet engines. Them fielding three entries would likely be done using three of their own entries.

Meanwhile, Andretti Autosport are the team with which Meyer Shank Racing got into IndyCar racing in the 2017 Indy 500, and they both still share sponsorship from AutoNation.

Even as a five-car team, which is what they are slated to become next year, they would still be in a position to support a sixth car through a partnership involving Andretti Technologies like they’ve done with Harding Steinbrenner Racing. If Harding Steinbrenner Racing fold, Meyer Shank Racing could field this sixth car.

Finally, Chip Ganassi Racing downsized from a four-car team to a two-car team ahead of the 2018 season, and they have not fielded a third car in any race since the end of the 2017 season. That doesn’t look like it will change for the 2019 season.

With that being said, they remain open to the possibility of forming a technical alliance, provided that such an alliance would benefit them and not just the other team involved.

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With which Honda-powered team will Meyer Shank Racing partner for the 2020 IndyCar season with Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports no longer an option? Hopefully we will know the answer to this question in the near future, perhaps even before the 2019 season ends on Sunday, September 22 with the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.