Indy 500: Alonso, Pigot deals make 30 confirmed drivers, 32 cars

By Asher Fair | Mar 1, 2020

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - MAY 18: Fernando Alonso #66 of Spain and McLaren Racing, practices at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 18, 2019 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images) /

Arrow McLaren SP’s confirmation of Fernando Alonso and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s confirmation of Spencer Pigot for this year’s Indy 500 raised the confirmed driver total to 30 and the confirmed car total to 32, and there are still nearly three months to go until the race.

After months of speculation regarding where, if anywhere, he might end up for another chance at becoming just the second driver to win all three races of the Triple Crown of Motorsport in this year’s Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Fernando Alonso officially landed a ride with Arrow McLaren SP last week.

He is set to drive a third entry for the Chevrolet-powered team alongside full-time drivers Patricio O’Ward and rookie Oliver Askew.

Alonso, the two-time Formula 1 champion made his IndyCar and Indy 500 debut in the race for McLaren and Andretti Autosport back in 2017, returned to the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) superspeedway oval in Speedway, Indiana with McLaren last year, but he failed to qualify for the race in dramatic fashion.

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The 38-year-old Spaniard is a two-time winner of both the Monaco Grand Prix and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the two other races of the Triple Crown. Only Graham Hill has won all three events.

Will Alonso actually get into the race this year?

Save that debate for another day. But as far as whether or not there is a chance he will be bumped from the field, it is looking like there will once again be more than 33 drivers on the entry list for this 200-lap race — well over 33 at that.

Alonso became the 29th confirmed driver behind the wheel of the 31st confirmed car for this race when he was confirmed earlier this week.

Shortly thereafter, the Honda-powered Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing team confirmed a partnership with Citrone/Buhl Autosport to field a third entry for Spencer Pigot alongside their two full-time entries for Graham Rahal and Takuma Sato, making Pigot the 30th confirmed driver behind the wheel of the 32nd confirmed car.

The two confirmed cars without confirmed drivers for this race are the #31 Chevrolet for Carlin and the #81 Chevrolet for DragonSpeed.

The #31 Chevrolet is one of the 24 full-time entries. The other 23 all have confirmed drivers for this race. Of those 23 drivers, 20 are full-time drivers. A.J. Foyt Enterprises’ Tony Kanaan (#14 Chevrolet), Carlin’s Max Chilton (#59 Chevrolet) and Ed Carpenter Racing’s Ed Carpenter (#20 Chevrolet) are not.

That leaves five other drivers who have been confirmed for the 104th running of the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing”.

Rookie Dalton Kellett, who is set to compete in eight road and street course races for A.J. Foyt Enterprises, is set to drive a third entry for the team in the race. Charlie Kimball is the team’s full-time driver (#4 Chevrolet), and as referenced above, Kanaan is set to compete in the race as well as a part of his five-race deal for the oval races.

Conor Daly, who is set to compete in the 12 road and street course races for Ed Carpenter Racing, is set to drive a third entry for the team. Rinus VeeKay is the team’s full-time driver (#21 Chevrolet), and as discussed above, Carpenter is set to compete in the race as well as a part of his five-race deal for the oval events.

Chilton is set to compete in the 12 road and street course races for Carlin as well as the Indy 500 behind the wheel of the #59 Chevrolet. James Hinchcliffe is set to compete in at least three races for Andretti Autosport behind the wheel of the #29 Honda, and the Indy 500 is one of them.

The other one of these five drivers is set to compete for a part-time team, and that driver is Sage Karam. Karam is set to drive the #24 Chevrolet for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing in four races throughout the season, and the Indy 500 is one of them.

In addition to these 30 drivers and 32 entries, there are still several other possible additions, as expected with still nearly three months to go until the race.

Dale Coyne Racing, like Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, tend to field an additional car in this race each year, and all they have confirmed for the 2020 season thus far are their two full-time drivers, Santino Ferrucci and Alex Palou.

So bump up the entry total to 33; the field is already looking like it will be full.

But there’s more.

Dreyer & Reinbold have fielded two entries in this race in the last two years, and their goal is to make that the case for the third consecutive year. Driving alongside Karam in 2018 and 2019 was J.R. Hildebrand, and that is expected to be the case once again.

34.

Juncos Racing are aiming to be back in the Indy 500. Aside of the race itself last year, they haven’t competed in an IndyCar race since Kyle Kaiser’s heroic effort to knock Alonso and McLaren out of the field.

35.

James Davison is also aiming to be back in a Jonathan Byrd’s Racing entry. While their Daytona 500 entry with Hayward Motorsports didn’t pan out as initially expected, the Indy 500 is not new territory for Davison nor the team. They have both competed in it for several years, doing so together in 2018 and 2019.

36.

There should be a significant amount of bumping once again in 2020. Perhaps 36 is an optimistic number considering each of these four speculated entries would need to pan out for that to happen, and Davison’s entry with Jonathan Byrd’s Racing could very well end up being a third Dale Coyne Racing entry like it was last year. But suffice it to say that Bump Day should once again be pretty exciting.

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How many drivers will end up on the entry list for the 104th running of the Indianapolis 500, and who will be added to the current group of 30 confirmed competitors for this event? The race, the sixth of 17 on the 2020 IndyCar schedule, is scheduled to take place on Sunday, May 24, and it is set to be broadcast live on NBC from Indianapolis Motor Speedway beginning at 11:00 a.m. ET.