Indy 500: The most likely landing spot for Kyle Busch in 2020

By Asher Fair | Feb 8, 2020

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - JULY 22: Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 Skittles Toyota, sits in his car during practice for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motorspeedway on July 22, 2017 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Tim Bradbury/Getty Images) /

Kyle Busch has confirmed an interest in competing in this year’s Indy 500, and he is allowed to do so with a Chevrolet team. What is his most likely landing spot?

Two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch signed a multi-year contract extension last February to continue driving the #18 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing for the foreseeable future.

Over the offseason following his second championship this past November, it was confirmed that he has been approved to seek a ride in the 2020 Indianapolis 500. This is something in which he has expressed previous interest and apparently came close to doing in the past before a deal fell through.

The 34-year-old Las Vegas, Nevada native has never competed in this 200-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval in Speedway, Indiana before, and an attempt to complete the Memorial Day Double would be the first since brother Kurt competed in it and then flew down to Charlotte Motor Speedway to compete in the Coca-Cola 600 later that night back in 2014.

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With Busch, who recently made his Rolex 24 at Daytona debut driving for AIM Vasser Sullivan with teammates Parker Chase, Jack Hawksworth and Michael de Quesada, officially having approval to get behind the wheel of an open-wheel car for the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing”, there has been a ton of speculation regarding with which team he could drive if he does end up landing a ride.

Because the only two options for this race as far as engine manufacturers are concerned are Honda and Chevrolet, Chevrolet is his only option since Toyota would not want him representing global rival Honda. This is the case despite the fact that Busch competes against Chevrolet drivers and teams on a weekly basis in the Cup Series.

What is his most likely landing spot?

Team Penske are by far the most competitive Chevrolet team in IndyCar, as they are the only Chevrolet team to find victory lane at any point in the last three seasons, and they have done so 25 times in 51 attempts.

But team president Tim Cindric put it bluntly when it came to Busch’s odds to drive for the team this May, stating that there is a “zero percent chance” of it happening.

That leaves A.J. Foyt Enterprises, Arrow McLaren SP, Carlin, DragonSpeed, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, Ed Carpenter Racing and Juncos Racing as far as the other Chevrolet teams are concerned.

While Team Penske are the only team to officially rule it out, you can really cross out five or six of these other teams as well.

A.J. Foyt Enterprises are going to be full. Charlie Kimball has been confirmed full-time and Tony Kanaan has been confirmed for the Indy 500 along with the other four oval races. A third Indy 500 entry is set to go to part-time driver Dalton Kellett, the team’s rookie road and street course driver.

As for Carlin, not much is known about the 2020 season other than the fact that they are set to enter it after an embarrassing 2019 effort that saw just one of their three entries (four including the McLaren entry they supported) qualify for the race. Max Chilton was recently confirmed by the team for the Indy 500 and the 12 road and street course races.

I will go on record and say that there is a zero percent chance of Busch taking a ride with Carlin. Such is the case with part-time teams DragonSpeed and Juncos Racing. DragonSpeed are set to field just one car in the Indy 500 anyway, and it will likely be driven by Ben Hanley again or fellow sports car driver Colin Braun.

Juncos Racing have vowed to be back stronger than ever in 2020, but even that won’t be much more than qualifying for the race, which they barely did last year.

Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, another part-time team, have been somewhat competitive at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in recent years, but they will also be full for the Indy 500. Sage Karam has already been confirmed, and he will likely be paired with J.R. Hildebrand for the third consecutive season.

That leaves two good options: Arrow McLaren SP and Ed Carpenter Racing. But even one of them may already be out.

Arrow McLaren SP have confirmed a third Indy 500 entry to go along with their two full-time entries for Patricio O’Ward and Oliver Askew. There are two drivers who had been rumored for this ride: Fernando Alonso and James Hinchcliffe.

But neither is going to end up in it.

Alonso and McLaren officially cut ties after several years just last week. He had been expected to join Andretti Autosport in a Honda-powered car for this year’s running of the race before Honda rejected that deal, although there is still speculation that that deal can be worked out.

Hinchcliffe, who the team cut from their driver lineup following the 2019 season, has the necessary sponsorship to compete in the race. Given the sequence of events that led to him being let go from the team, there’s no way he ends up giving them the satisfaction of bringing that funding for a third entry.

Ed Carpenter Racing is also an interesting option. But they have never fielded more than three entries for the Indy 500 before. They are already slated to do so, with one for full-time rookie Rinus VeeKay, another for oval specialist and team owner Ed Carpenter and a third for road and street course specialist Conor Daly.

Carpenter, who also hired Danica Patrick for her final Indy 500 in 2018 after she spent nearly seven years away from IndyCar, has admitted that he has interest in putting together what would be quite a blockbuster deal to get Busch behind the wheel of a fourth entry, and Ed Carpenter Racing have been known for preparing extremely fast race cars come the month of May.

But he also stated that he doesn’t believe that 2020 would be the right year to do it.

So as of right now, a third car at Arrow McLaren SP appears to be Busch’s best option. Whether or not that is even a possibility remains to be seen, but if not, he will likely have to wait at least another year to compete.

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Will Kyle Busch become the next NASCAR driver to make his IndyCar and Indy 500 debut in slightly under four months, and if so, with which team will he do it? The 104th running of the race is set to be broadcast live on NBC beginning at 11:00 a.m. ET on Sunday, May 24.