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IndyCar: Way-too-early look at the 2020 Indy 500 entry list

By Asher Fair

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - MAY 26: Dale Earnhardt Jr. drives the pace car prior to the 103rd running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 26, 2019 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - MAY 26: Dale Earnhardt Jr. drives the pace car prior to the 103rd running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 26, 2019 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) /
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The Indy 500 is the sixth race on the 2020 IndyCar schedule and more than five months away, but let’s take a way-too-early look at the entry list.

Nearly four months after the completion of the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, the next oval race on the IndyCar schedule is still the 104th running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

But for now, we’re going to forget the fact that this 200-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval in Speedway, Indiana is the sixth race on the 2020 IndyCar schedule and is still more than five months away.

It isn’t scheduled to take place until Sunday, May 24, 2020.

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This year’s Indy 500, which was won by eventual oval champion Simon Pagenaud of Team Penske, featured its traditional field of 33 drivers.

But three drivers were bumped from the field before the grid was set. As a result, with 36 drivers, more drivers were on the entry list for this race than any Indy 500 since the 95th running back in 2011.

What will the entry list for the 104th running of the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” look like?

Take a way-too-early look at what has already been confirmed, what is all but set in stone and what is still speculated for this race on Memorial Day Sunday.

Full-time drivers (confirmed)

Andretti Autosport

  • Zach Veach, #26 Honda
  • Alexander Rossi, #27 Honda
  • Ryan Hunter-Reay, #28 Honda
  • Colton Herta, #88 Honda (Andretti Harding Steinbrenner Autosport)
  • Marco Andretti, #98 Honda (Andretti Herta Autosport)

Arrow McLaren SP

  • Oliver Askew, #TBD Chevrolet
  • Patricio O’Ward, #TBD Chevrolet

Chip Ganassi Racing

  • Marcus Ericsson, #8 Honda
  • Scott Dixon, #9 Honda
  • Felix Rosenqvist, #10 Honda

Ed Carpenter Racing

  • Rinus VeeKay, #21 Chevrolet

Meyer Shank Racing

  • Jack Harvey, #60 Honda

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing

  • Graham Rahal, #15 Honda
  • Takuma Sato, #30 Honda

Team Penske

  • Josef Newgarden, #1 Chevrolet
  • Will Power, #12 Chevrolet
  • Simon Pagenaud, #22 Chevrolet

Full-time drivers (speculated)

A.J. Foyt Enterprises

  • Charlie Kimball, #4 Chevrolet

Dale Coyne Racing

  • James Hinchcliffe/Sergio Sette Camara/Alex Palou, #18 Honda
  • Santino Ferrucci, #19 Honda

Remaining full-time seats (confirmed)

  • Carlin (two seats)
  • Dale Coyne Racing (two seats, see above)

Remaining full-time seats (speculated)

  • Possible second A.J. Foyt Enterprises entry

Indy 500 one-offs (confirmed)

  • Arrow McLaren Racing SP Chevrolet (third entry)
  • James Davison in a Jonathan Byrd’s Racing/Hayward Motorsports entry

Indy 500 one-offs (speculated)

  • Helio Castroneves in a fourth Team Penske Chevrolet
  • Third Dale Coyne Racing Honda
  • Sixth Andretti Autosport Honda

Other (confirmed)

  • Ed Carpenter is the oval driver for Ed Carpenter Racing and is set to drive in the Indy 500.
  • Conor Daly is the road and street course driver for Ed Carpenter Racing but is set to drive a third entry for the team in the Indy 500.

Other (speculated)

  • DragonSpeed and Ben Hanley are slated to return to IndyCar in 2020 with an enhanced commitment to the series, so another Indy 500 bid is likely. With that being said, their schedule has not been confirmed.
  • If A.J. Foyt Enterprises’ second part-time entry ends up being a part-time entry, Tony Kanaan is being reported as the one of the likely drivers and would likely compete in the Indy 500.

If you add them all up, you’re already looking at 31 confirmed or pretty solid entries for the 2020 Indy 500, well over five months before it is slated to take place. How many drivers will end up being on the entry list when the month of May rolls around?

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

NBC is set to broadcast the 104th running of the Indianapolis 500 live from Indianapolis Motor Speedway beginning at 11:00 a.m. ET on Sunday, May 24, 2020.