The Indy 500 entry list ahead of the 110th running of the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing" has slowly been coming together over the course of the offseason, with the most recent announcement being that Ed Carpenter is set to return to Ed Carpenter Racing for his 23rd attempt.
That announcement put the entry total at 31, and with three more teams likely to expand for the 200-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Speedway, Indiana oval, it looked likely that there would be a fourth consecutive Bump Day at the Speedway, a streak not seen before in the DW12 era (2012 to present).
Now, however, the race may struggle just to get to 33 cars.
The future of Prema Racing, the team that made their series debut in 2025 and shockingly put the No. 83 Chevrolet of Robert Shwartzman on pole for the Indy 500, remains in doubt, and the absence of the team from IndyCar's preseason content days has raised further eyebrows.
Prema Racing might not compete in 2026
It has been a tumultuous offseason for the team amid an ownership shakeup of the parent Prema organization, and the trend of former Prema Racing employees joining new teams over the past few months also continued earlier this week.
It is entirely possible that Prema Racing could miss the start of the 2026 season but still show up for the Indy 500, but any absences early in the season would make such an outlook particularly optimistic.
Without Prema Racing's two entries factored in, the Indy 500 entry list is sitting at 29 cars, and with three more entries expected, that only brings it to 32, barring a surprise addition by the time the month of May rolls around.
IndyCar faced similar prospects back in 2022 before a 33rd entry was put together by Cusick Motorsports and DragonSpeed for Stefan Wilson.
No Indy 500 has been contested without at least 33 cars since 1947, when only 30 cars competed in what was then known as the 31st International 500-Mile Sweepstakes.
Several other entry lists in the DW12 era alone have seen exactly 33 cars (2012, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2020), but it would be a shocker if, given the healthy state of the series in 2026, the 2026 edition ends up being the one to fail to reach the iconic number and thus prevent the traditional 11 rows of three from taking shape on the race day grid. A 32-car starting grid this May would bring an end to a 78-year streak.
Even if Prema Racing do manage to compete in 2026, RACER.com reports that the potential contract statuses of Shwartzman and Callum Ilott would be uncertain. Across the rest of the grid, only Dale Coyne Racing still have a full-time seat open without a confirmed driver.
Indy 500 practice is scheduled to begin on Tuesday, May 12, with qualifying scheduled to take place on Saturday, May 16 and Sunday, May 17 ahead of the race itself on Sunday, May 24. The 2026 IndyCar season is scheduled to begin in St. Petersburg, Florida on Sunday, March 1.