IndyCar: 3 possible oval drivers for Chip Ganassi Racing in 2023
By Asher Fair
With the road and street course driver confirmed, who will drive the No. 11 Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing in the oval races during the 2023 IndyCar season?
Chip Ganassi Racing recently confirmed that former Formula 2 driver Marcus Armstrong is set to join the team as the road and street course driver of the No. 11 Honda for the 2023 IndyCar season.
The No. 11 Honda was the No. 48 Honda in 2021 and 2022. Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson drove the car in the road and street course racing during the 2021 season before becoming the full-time driver of the car in the 2022 season, but he stepped back from his full-time role following the 2022 campaign.
The team have not yet announced who will join Marcus Ericsson, Scott Dixon, and Alex Palou and drive the No. 11 Honda in the five oval races on the 17-race schedule. Here are three possibilities.
Possible Chip Ganassi Racing drivers: No. 1 – Ryan Hunter-Reay
After learning that he would not be a part of the field of 33 for the 2022 Indy 500, Ryan Hunter-Reay immediately shifted his focus to the 107th running of the race in 2023.
There is little doubt that the 2014 Indy 500 champion and 2012 series champion will make his 15th start in the Greatest Spectacle in Racing next May, but the question is whether or not he will have a bigger role in the series in 2023.
It is unlikely that the 42-year-old will be back in IndyCar full-time, but a part-time ovals-only deal isn’t out of the question.
Hunter-Reay has ties to Chip Ganassi Racing, having made multiple starts with Cadillac Racing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship during the 2022 season. Could the reserve driver get a shot at a second Indy 500 win with Chip Ganassi’s team?
Hunter-Reay has also been discussed as a possibility to join Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, where he made his first Indy 500 start in 2008, in their fourth entry.
Interestingly, Hunter-Reay won the 2014 Indy 500 with Andretti Autosport. Going from Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing to Andretti Autosport, winning an Indy 500, and going back to Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing in an attempt to win another has been done before, bringing us to another possibility.