IndyCar: Juan Pablo Montoya’s Indy 500 car number revealed

It has been confirmed by Arrow McLaren SP that Juan Pablo Montoya is set to drive the #86 Chevrolet in his IndyCar return in this year’s Indy 500.

Arrow McLaren SP confirmed in December that two-time Indy 500 winner Juan Pablo Montoya, who hasn’t competed in the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” or any other IndyCar race since 2017, is set to drive for the team in the 105th running of the Indy 500 this May.

Montoya, who competed for McLaren in Formula 1 in 2005 and 2006 and won three races, has competed in this 200-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval in Speedway, Indiana on five occasions.

He won the race in dominant fashion as a rookie in 2000 for Chip Ganassi Racing but did not compete in it again until 2014 after he returned to IndyCar competing full-time for Team Penske. He finished the race in fifth place following a penalty.

Then in 2015, he rallied from 30th place after early contact to win a thriller, giving him two wins in three attempts and giving him a record 15 years between two Indy 500 wins.

In 2016, he crashed out of the race, and in 2017, no longer a full-time driver, he finished in sixth place.

Montoya is set to drive the #86 Chevrolet in next month’s race.

Arrow McLaren SP’s two full-time drivers, Pato O’Ward and Felix Rosenqvist, drive the #5 Chevrolet and the #7 Chevrolet, respectively, and the team have held true to the fact that the number 6 is reserved for Robert Wickens.

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When Fernando Alonso attempted to qualify for the race for McLaren in 2019 and then competed in it for Arrow McLaren SP last year following the formation of the partnership between McLaren and Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, he used the number 66.

However, the team are doing something different with Montoya to celebrate the 50-year anniversary of the late Peter Revson taking the pole position for the 55th running of the race back in 1971.

Revson took the pole position behind the wheel of his #86 Offenhauser-powered McLaren and went on to finish the race in a career-high second place in the third of his five attempts.

As a two-time winner of the race, Montoya is aiming to become just the 11th driver to win it three times and the first to do so since Dario Franchitti won it for a third time back in 2012.

This year’s Indy 500 is set to be broadcast live on NBC from Indianapolis Motor Speedway beginning at 11:00 a.m. ET on Sunday, May 30. Qualifying for the race is scheduled to take place on Saturday, May 22 and Sunday, May 23.