IndyCar: DragonSpeed, Ben Hanley won’t compete at Laguna Seca

By Asher Fair | Sep 17, 2019

LE MANS, FRANCE - JUNE 15: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY) In this handout image provided by Red Bull, The #21 DragonSpeed Oreca LMP2 driven by Ben Hanley of the UK, and Henrik Hedman and Felix Rosenqvist of Sweden, during the third qualifying session for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the third round of the 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship at Circuit de la Sarthe on June 15, 2017 in Le Mans, France. (Photo by Dean Treml/Red Bull via Getty Images) /

DragonSpeed and Ben Hanley will not return to IndyCar to compete in the season finale at Laguna Seca in their maiden season.

DragonSpeed entered the 2019 IndyCar season with plans to compete in five of the season’s 17 races with Ben Hanley as their driver. Neither DragonSpeed nor Hanley had ever previously competed in IndyCar.

Their plans were for Hanley to drive the #81 Chevrolet in the season opener on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida, the season’s third race at Barber Motorsports Park, the season’s sixth race, the 103rd running of the Indianapolis 500, at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the season’s 10th race at Road America and the season’s 13th race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

Hanley competed in the first of these three races, but DragonSpeed could not field an entry for him in the race at Road America, and visa issues prevented them from fielding an entry for him in the race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

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However, they stated that they had plans to make a return before their maiden IndyCar season came to a close. It was reported that they would field the #81 Chevrolet for the 34-year-old Briton in the season finale at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

But with that race scheduled to take place this Sunday, September 22, their season is already over.

The official entry list for this 90-lap race around the 11-turn, 2.238-mile (3.602-kilometer) WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca natural terrain road course in Monterey, California was released earlier this week, and it featured 24 cars. The #81 Chevrolet for Hanley was not one of them.

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As a result, the maiden IndyCar season for DragonSpeed and Ben Hanley comes to a close with Hanley having driven in three races. He finished in 18th place in the season opener on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida before finishing in 21st in the race at Barber Motorsports Park. A driveshaft issue ended his Indy 500 early, and he was officially scored in 32nd.

DragonSpeed would like to compete in IndyCar for 10 of the 17 races on the 2020 schedule, but whether or not that comes to fruition remains to be seen.