While IndyCar's 25 charters, introduced ahead of the 2025 season, lock all chartered teams into "regular" races, they serve no such purpose when it comes to the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing".
We saw this firsthand in 2025, when the chartered No. 51 Honda of Dale Coyne Racing, driven by full-time driver Jacob Abel, was 34th of 34 on the speed charts and failed to qualify for the 109th running of the Indy 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Had his charter locked Abel into the race, it would have been Andretti Global's Marco Andretti who was the lone non-qualifier. Bottom line, when it comes to the Indy 500, nobody is safe when there are more than 33 cars on the entry list.
And this week's announcement brings us one spot closer to hitting that number for the fourth consecutive year, which would extend the all-time record for the DW12 era (2012 to present).
Ed Carpenter Racing team owner Ed Carpenter is set to return for his 23rd shot at capturing racing immortality, joining his two full-time drivers, Christian Rasmussen and Alexander Rossi, behind the wheel of the No. 33 Chevrolet. At one point, the trio ran 1-2-3 during the 2025 race.
Locked in for the Greatest Spectacle in Racing 🔒
— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) January 20, 2026
Ed Carpenter returns in pursuit of his 23rd #Indy500 start this May. pic.twitter.com/BPtvHDwaTt
Carpenter is the 30th driver confirmed on the entry list, though his No. 33 entry is the 31st car, as Dale Coyne Racing have yet to confirm their second full-time driver alongside rookie Dennis Hauger. Specifically, Carpenter is the fourth part-time driver confirmed. There are 27 full-time entries confirmed.
Here's a look at the current entry list.
Indy 500 entry list: January 2026 update
*=part-time entry
Team | Car | Driver |
|---|---|---|
A.J. Foyt Enterprises | No. 4 Chevrolet | Caio Collet (R) |
A.J. Foyt Enterprises | No. 14 Chevrolet | Santino Ferrucci |
Andretti Global | No. 26 Honda | Will Power |
Andretti Global | No. 27 Honda | Kyle Kirkwood |
Andretti Global | No. 28 Honda | Marcus Ericsson |
Arrow McLaren | No. 5 Chevrolet | Pato O'Ward |
Arrow McLaren | No. 6 Chevrolet | Nolan Siegel |
Arrow McLaren | No. 7 Chevrolet | Christian Lundgaard |
Arrow McLaren | No. 31 Chevrolet* | Ryan Hunter-Reay |
Chip Ganassi Racing | No. 8 Honda | Kyffin Simpson |
Chip Ganassi Racing | No. 9 Honda | Scott Dixon |
Chip Ganassi Racing | No. 10 Honda | Alex Palou |
Dale Coyne Racing | No. 18 Honda | Dennis Hauger (R) |
Dale Coyne Racing | No. 51 Honda | TBD |
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing | No. 24 Chevrolet* | Jack Harvey |
Ed Carpenter Racing | No. 20 Chevrolet | Alexander Rossi |
Ed Carpenter Racing | No. 21 Chevrolet | Christian Rasmussen |
Ed Carpenter Racing | No. 33 Chevrolet* | Ed Carpenter |
Juncos Hollinger Racing | No. 76 Chevrolet | Rinus VeeKay |
Juncos Hollinger Racing | No. 77 Chevrolet | Sting Ray Robb |
Meyer Shank Racing | No. 06 Honda* | Helio Castroneves |
Meyer Shank Racing | No. 60 Honda | Felix Rosenqvist |
Meyer Shank Racing | No. 66 Honda | Marcus Armstrong |
Prema Racing | No. 83 Chevrolet | Robert Shwartzman |
Prema Racing | No. 90 Chevrolet | Callum Ilott |
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | No. 15 Honda | Graham Rahal |
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | No. 45 Honda | Louis Foster |
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | No. 47 Honda | Mick Schumacher |
Team Penske | No. 2 Chevrolet | Josef Newgarden |
Team Penske | No. 3 Chevrolet | Scott McLaughlin |
Team Penske | No. 12 Chevrolet | David Malukas |
With three more driver announcements, every single one of these drivers, along with the other three, will be at risk of missing the race entirely.
And as things stand right now, it doesn't look like reaching 34 cars will be much of an issue.
3 possible Indy 500 entry list additions for 2026
Team | Predicted Car | Predicted Driver |
|---|---|---|
Andretti Global | No. 98 Honda | Colton Herta |
Dreyer & Reinbold Racing | No. 23 Chevrolet | Conor Daly |
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | No. 75 Honda | Takuma Sato |
An Abel Motorsports entry, which hasn't been a part of the race since 2023, is also a possibility, and that car could bring the entry list to 35 cars for the first time since 2021. No Indy 500 entry list has seen more than 35 cars since 2019, and no Indy 500 entry list has seen more than 36 since 2011.
Fox is set to provide live coverage of the 110th running of the Indy 500 from Indianapolis Motor Speedway beginning at 10:00 a.m. ET on Sunday, May 24. Qualifying is scheduled to take place on Saturday, May 16 and Sunday, May 17, and as of now, it looks as though May 17 is once again setting up to be both Pole Day and Bump Day.