IndyCar still has one more seat to fill before Texas

The 2022 IndyCar season got underway two Sundays ago on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida, but there is still one more seat to be filled ahead of the next event.

For the second consecutive year, the IndyCar season got underway with a new winner. Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin became the fifth different first-time winner in America’s premier open-wheel racing series since the start of the 2021 season when he won the 2022 opener on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida two Sundays ago.

This 100-lap race around the 14-turn, 1.8-mile (2.897-kilometer) temporary street circuit, the first IndyCar season opener to take place in the month of February since 2004, featured 26 cars, all of which are full-time entries.

As such, all 26 of these cars are set to compete in the next race on the schedule, the XPEL 375 at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday, March 20. An additional 27th entry, the #33 Chevrolet for Ed Carpenter Racing, is set to be driven by Ed Carpenter in this race and the other four oval races on the schedule.

However, one of the 26 full-time cars is still without a driver for this race.

Of the 26 drivers who competed in the season opener, only 25 are full-time drivers. The lone part-time driver was Tatiana Calderon, the rookie who was named the driver of the #11 Chevrolet for A.J. Foyt Enterprises for the 12 road and street course races on the 17-race schedule.

But before the season began, A.J. Foyt Enterprises did not name the driver of their #11 Chevrolet for any of the five oval races on this year’s schedule, and they still have not done so.

J.R. Hildebrand has been the name most commonly linked to this seat for the oval races. Hildebrand, who last competed full-time in the 2017 season for Ed Carpenter Racing and has always performed exceptionally well on oval tracks, has competed in each of the last 11 Indy 500s going back to his unforgettable debut in 2011. He competed for A.J. Foyt Enterprises in the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” last year.

Aside from Hildebrand, the most commonly linked driver to this seat had been Ryan Hunter-Reay, who lost his ride with Andretti Autosport after 12 years following the 2021 season. Prior to Sunday’s season opener, he hadn’t missed an IndyCar race since 2007.

However, with the 2012 series champion and 2014 Indy 500 winner set to compete in the 12 Hours of Sebring at Sebring International Raceway, a scenario in which he also competes at Texas Motor Speedway later in the week doesn’t appear to be a likely one.

An announcement regarding A.J. Foyt Enterprises driver lineup is set to be made tomorrow morning.

The XPEL 375 is set to be broadcast live on NBC from Texas Motor Speedway beginning at 12:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, March 20. Subscribe to FuboTV today and get a free trial!