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The Indy 500 news that hasn’t officially been announced

By Asher Fair

Cody Ware, Petty Ware Racing, NASCAR, to compete in Indy 500 (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
Cody Ware, Petty Ware Racing, NASCAR, to compete in Indy 500 (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) /
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There hasn’t been an official announcement yet, but all signs point to Cody Ware making his Indy 500 debut with Dale Coyne Racing and Rick Ware Racing next month.

Full-time Petty Ware Racing NASCAR Cup Series driver Cody Ware has taken part in several IndyCar tests in recent months amid the new full-time partnership between his father Rick’s team, Rick Ware Racing, and Dale Coyne Racing, and he plans to participate in more.

Nothing has been officially announced by the 25-year-old Greensboro, North Carolina native or by the team, but all signs point to Ware piloting the #52 Honda in next month’s 105th running of the Indy 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Motorsport reports that “Cody Ware, son of Rick Ware, will attempt to qualify a third Coyne car, the #52, for the Indy 500”.

IndyStar reports that in a test at the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) oval in Speedway, Indiana today and Friday, Ware “will be aiming to complete his Rookie Orientation Program with Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing, with an obvious goal of officially announcing a run at the 500 this year.”

So unless things go wrong, expect Ware to be behind the wheel of the #52 Honda when Indy 500 qualifying rolls around on Saturday, May 22.

And there’s another clear indicator here as well.

James Davison, who had posted that he would be back competing in the Indy 500 again this season after competing for Dale Coyne Racing through a partnership with Rick Ware Racing and Byrd Belardi last year behind the wheel of the #51 Honda, recently shared that he won’t actually get the chance to be back behind the wheel of an open-wheel car for this year’s running of the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing”.

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After Davison posted a picture of himself as a Japanese Anime character in a Rick Ware Racing IndyCar Honda #51 firesuit stating that he is “Ready to take on 15+ NASCAR Cup races and the INDY 500 in 2021”, it was confirmed that if he were to be back, it would not be behind the wheel of the #51 Honda.

The #51 Honda is a full-time entry with one road and street course driver and another oval driver. At the time, the former had been confirmed as Romain Grosjean. Pietro Fittipaldi was later confirmed as the latter.

Now the #52 Honda is out of the question too, with a Ware confirmation likely on the horizon.

Dale Coyne Racing’s only full-time driver is Ed Jones, and he is set to drive the #18 Honda through the team’s long-time partnership with Vasser-Sullivan. That entry is not directly associated with Rick Ware Racing.

As of now, there are 31 confirmed drivers and 32 confirmed entries for the 105th running of the Indy 500 next month, with the #52 Honda being the lone confirmed entry without a confirmed driver.

Former Dale Coyne Racing driver Santino Ferrucci became the 31st confirmed driver for this race when he announced a deal to compete for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing on Monday.

Dreyer & Reinbold Racing are expected to confirm an entry and a driver in the near future as well, with Sage Karam set to test the #24 Chevrolet at Indianapolis Motor Speedway today and tomorrow. Such a confirmation would bring the early entry list total to 33, meaning that any more cars would ensure bumping for the first time since 2019.

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This race is scheduled to take place on Sunday, May 30, and it is set to be broadcast live on NBC from Indianapolis Motor Speedway beginning at 11:00 a.m. ET.