Indy 500: Tom Brady rumor could put everybody at risk in 2025

Indianapolis Motor Speedway does not play favorites when it comes to Indy 500 qualifying, as we have seen time and time again throughout the history of the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing".

In 2023 and 2024, there were 34 cars on the entry list for the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Speedway, Indiana oval. Even with only one car failing to lock into the field of 33, there was no shortage of drama on Bump Day in either year.

And in 2025, there should once again be no shortage of drama.

There are currently 33 cars on the entry list for the 109th running of the highest attended single-day sporting event on the planet, and with roughly four months to go until qualifying, it was always likely that that number would go up.

According to IndyCar insider Tony Donohue on his Tony D. Podcast, that number could hit 34 in the very near future through an entry affiliated with Chip Ganassi Racing.

Chip Ganassi Racing's three confirmed entries thus far are their three full-time cars for Kyffin Simpson, Scott Dixon, and Alex Palou. A fourth is expected through a partnership involving Chip Ganassi, seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, and seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady.

The rumor indicates that four-time Champ Car champion Sebastien Bourdais would be the driver of the Honda-powered entry.

Sports Business Journal's Adam Stern picked up the rumor and shared it on his own X (formerly Twitter) account.

Johnson competed for Chip Ganassi Racing in the NTT IndyCar Series part-time in 2021 and full-time in 2022, and he did so with sponsorship from Carvana. He has since become a part owner of the Legacy Motor Club NASCAR Cup Series team.

Bourdais hasn't competed in IndyCar since 2021 but has never officially retired. The 45-year-old Frenchman races in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for Cadillac Chip Ganassi Racing in the GTP category. Though he never competed for Ganassi's IndyCar team, he is involved with that part of the organization as well.

His top finish in nine Indy 500 starts is seventh place in 2014. He made up 10 spots from his starting position of 17th and matched that effort in 2016 by going from 19th to ninth.

Brady is no stranger to motorsport, but this would be his first entry into IndyCar.

He is currently in his first year as an analyst for Fox during NFL games, and the upcoming Indy 500 is set to be the first of IndyCar's new deal with Fox Sports.

Brady also appeared in an IndyCar on Fox commercial, which aired during Fox's NFC Wild Card playoff game between the Green Bay Packers and the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday afternoon, along with Team Penske's Josef Newgarden and Chip Ganassi Racing's Alex Palou.

Brady's Fox Sports deal pays him 50% more annually than Fox's IndyCar deal, so having him join a championship-winning and an Indy 500-winning team as the co-owner of an entry would be massive for the sport.

There's also the fact that he is Tom Brady, widely considered the greatest quarterback in NFL history, so he could bring a massive fanbase to what is already the greatest race in the world.

Should the entry list reach 34 cars, nobody would be locked into the field of 33; anybody could be left on the outside looking in come Bump Day. It is possible that the entry list will exceed 34 cars for the first time since there were 35 in 2021. There haven't been 36 since 2019, and there haven't been more than 36 since 2011, when there were 41.

Qualifying for the 109th running of the Indy 500 is scheduled to take place on Saturday, May 17 and Sunday, May 18. The race itself is scheduled to take place on Sunday, May 25, and it is set to be shown live on Fox from Indianapolis Motor Speedway beginning at 10:00 a.m. ET.