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New IndyCar team targeting 2020 Indy 500

By Asher Fair

HOMESTEAD, FL - JANUARY 28: Robbie Buhl in his #24 Purex Dreyer-Reinbold Chevrolet Dallara during the IndyCar Series Spring Testing on January 28, 2004 at the Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)
HOMESTEAD, FL - JANUARY 28: Robbie Buhl in his #24 Purex Dreyer-Reinbold Chevrolet Dallara during the IndyCar Series Spring Testing on January 28, 2004 at the Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images) /
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A new IndyCar team is aiming to compete in the two races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway this year: the GMR Grand Prix on the road course and the Indy 500 on the oval.

The NTT IndyCar Series could see a new team enter competition for two of the 17 races on the 2020 calendar.

Former driver and two-time Indy Racing League race winner Robbie Buhl and his brother Tom as well as the father-son duo of Robert and Nick Citrone have formed a partnership to create Citrone/Buhl Autosport.

Robert Citrone is the founder of the Discovery Capital Management hedge fund and the largest minority owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers NFL team while son Nick serves as a data analytics coordinator for the Pittsburgh Penguins NHL team.

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As of now, there are no confirmed plans for Citrone/Buhl Autosport, but their target is to compete in the two race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May: the GMR Grand Prix on the road course on Saturday, May 9 and the 104th running of the Indianapolis 500 on the oval on Sunday, May 24.

They have not yet confirmed an engine manufacturer nor named a driver or drivers for these two events. Additionally, it is not known if the team would seek any kind of technical alliance.

However, this partnership was officially formed last year to seek Indy 500 opportunities, so while this does seem rather late in the game with the first of these two races being only two and a half months away, this has been in the works for quite some time.

Here is what a team statement about the matter had to say, according to Autosport.

"“The underlying goal of Citrone/Buhl Autosport is to be competitive while partnering with the right people to deliver results. The Citrones and Buhls see this as the start of a continued racing endeavour with aspiration of more entries at more races in the future.”"

Should Citrone/Buhl Autosport seek to form a technical alliance, don’t rule out Chip Ganassi Racing, provided the former select Honda engines for their effort. Chip Ganassi Racing team owner Chip Ganassi is a former minority owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates MLB team, so all three major professional sports team from the Steel City would be accounted for in such an alliance.

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Will Citrone/Buhl Autosport make their IndyCar debut in the 2020 season by competing in both the GMR Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course and then the 104th running of the Indianapolis 500 at the track’s oval just over two weeks later? Nothing has been confirmed yet, but everything is pointing in that direction.