IndyCar: Two remaining puzzle pieces in the 2020 lineup

By Asher Fair | Feb 24, 2020

AUSTIN, TEXAS - FEBRUARY 12: Felipe Nasr, driver of the #31 Carlin Chevrolet, during NTT Indycar Series testing at Circuit of The Americas on February 12, 2020 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images) /

As far as the full-time lineup is concerned for the 2020 IndyCar season, there are still two remaining puzzle pieces: one regarding a driver and one regarding a car.

There are less than three weeks remaining until IndyCar action is scheduled to kick off again following an offseason of roughly six months that began when Colton Herta took the checkered flag at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on Sunday, September 22, 2019 to secure his second win in his rookie season.

The opening race of the 2020 season is scheduled to take place on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida on Sunday, March 15, and as of now, it looks like there will be 26 cars on the entry list for this race, a total that would be the highest for a non-Indianapolis 500 race since April of 2013 and the highest for a season opener since March of 2012.

But the full-time lineup for the upcoming 17-race campaign has not yet been confirmed, and as the month of March nears, there are still two key puzzle pieces that remain, one regarding a driver and one regarding a car.

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Carlin are the only team that have not yet completely confirmed their full-time driver lineup for the 2020 season. The only confirmation they have made is that Max Chilton is set to compete behind the wheel of the #59 Chevrolet in 13 races, including the 12 road and street course races as well as the Indy 500.

Other than that, all we know is that the #59 Chevrolet is set to compete alongside the #31 Chevrolet in each race.

That’s where the two puzzle pieces come in. While none of them have been put into place yet, they have all be hinted at in recent weeks.

From the driver standpoint, all eyes are on Conor Daly. Daly is already set to compete in 13 races for Ed Carpenter Racing (the 12 road course races behind the wheel of the #20 Chevrolet and the Indy 500 behind the wheel of a third car, as team owner Ed Carpenter is set to drive the #20 Chevrolet in the five oval races for the seventh consecutive season).

But last year, Daly drove the #59 Chevrolet for Carlin in the four non-Indy 500 oval races, and there is speculation that he will do that again for Trevor Carlin’s organization with him not being tied down for those four events.

Should he do that, he would become the 21st confirmed driver in the full-time lineup, even though he would be competing for two teams. A total of 21 drivers would be the highest single-season total in NTT IndyCar Series history and the highest total at the highest level of American open-wheel racing since the 2001 CART season.

From the car standpoint, there are 24 confirmed full-time entries, including 20 with full-time drivers. The two full-time cars without full-time drivers aside of the #20 Chevrolet for Ed Carpenter Racing and the #59 Chevrolet for Carlin are the #14 Chevrolet for A.J. Foyt Enterprises and the #31 Chevrolet for Carlin.

A.J. Foyt Enterprises have already solidified their driver lineup with Charlie Kimball as the full-time driver of the #4 Chevrolet and Tony Kanaan as the driver of the #14 Chevrolet in the five oval races with Dalton Kellett and Sebastien Bourdais sharing the seat behind the wheel in the 12 road and street course races with eight and four scheduled starts, respectively.

But the plans for the #31 Chevrolet remain unconfirmed.

A few weeks ago, it was reported that Felipe Nasr and Sergio Sette Camara would share the seat, but no confirmation was made by the team other than the fact that they were set to share the seat in preseason testing at Circuit of the Americas, which they ended up doing two weeks ago.

At this point, they are still the favorites to share the seat, but official confirmation has not yet been made. Until then, Carlin effectively have 21 of 34 slots to fill throughout the 2020 season, as Chilton’s 13-race deal is their only confirmation thus far.

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How will these next few weeks pan out for Carlin as it pertains to the 2020 IndyCar driver lineup? With them having the potential to create a 21st full-time driver via a part-time ride as well as a full-time seat without a confirmed driver for any of the season’s 17 races, they are the clear team to watch at this point in the offseason/Silly Season as the start of the season creeps closer.