Indy 500 entry list: 3 likely additions (plus 3 more possibilities)

Dreyer & Reinbold Racing and Cusick Motorsports renewed their IndyCar partnership for the 2024 Indy 500 and announced last week that Ryan Hunter-Reay and Conor Daly are set to pilot the team's two entries in this year's running of the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing".

Hunter-Reay's No. 23 Chevrolet and Daly's No. 24 Chevrolet are the 30th and 31st cars on the entry list for the 200-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval. A full updated list can be found here.

With the field size capped at 33 cars, multiple entries can still be added before bumping becomes a factor. But getting to 33 doesn't look as though it will be a problem this year.

Three entries are virtual locks to join the list, which would take the total to 34, and there are three other known possibilities to expand the field for qualifying weekend in May.

Three likely Indy 500 additions

Dale Coyne Racing have yet to confirm their plans for the 2024 season following David Malukas' move to Arrow McLaren and Sting Ray Robb's move to A.J. Foyt Enterprises. Assuming they are back with their usual two full-time cars, that brings the entry list to 33.

R.C. Enerson also stated that he and Abel Motorsports expect to return to the Indy 500 this year after beating the odds to lock the No. 50 Chevrolet into the field a year ago. While he stopped shy of a confirmation, there is nothing to suggest that this entry won't materialize for a second year in a row.

Three other possibilities

A.J. Foyt Enterprises are said to be considering a third entry alongside their two full-time entries for Robb and Santino Ferrucci, last year's third place finisher in what was a major resurgence for the organization.

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing running a fourth entry like they did last year is also reportedly under consideration, though it may not be as strong of a possibility as it once was.

While the car qualified last year with Katherine Legge behind the wheel, the team ended up having full-time driver Graham Rahal fail to qualify last year after being bumped out by full-time teammate Jack Harvey. Rahal was the only driver who failed to qualify for the race, though he ended up replacing the injured Stefan Wilson at Dreyer & Reinbold Racing/Cusick Motorsports.

Then in a more recent development, IndyStar's Nathan Brown reports that there is a chance for an extra Abel Motorsports car.

Indy 500 entry list outlook

It looks like there will be between 34 and 37 cars on the entry list for the 108th running of the Indy 500, which would ensure bumping for the third time in the last four years and the fifth time in the last seven.

The Indy 500 entry list most recently saw 34 entries last year, when Rahal was the only driver who failed to qualify. The most recent Indy 500 qualifying session which did not feature bumping happened in 2022, when Stefan Wilson got into the race without turning a qualifying lap.

The Indy 500 entry list most recently featured 35 cars in 2021, and it most recently featured 36 cars in 2019. It has not featured more than 36 cars since 2011, when it featured 41 (originally 42).

Indy 500 qualifying is scheduled to take place on Saturday, May 18 and Sunday, May 19. The race itself is scheduled to take place on Sunday, May 26, with NBC's live coverage from Indianapolis Motor Speedway set to begin at 11:00 a.m. ET. Be sure to begin a free trial of FuboTV and don't miss it!