Over the offseason between the 2025 and 2026 NTT IndyCar Series seasons, Arrow McLaren confirmed that they had tried to get Valentino Rossi to replace Kyle Larson for this year's 110th running of the Indy 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Larson had driven the team's fourth entry, the No. 17 Chevrolet, in an attempt to complete the Memorial Day Double in both 2024 and 2025. After finishing the rain-delayed race 18th in 2024, he didn't actually get to compete in the 2024 Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR Cup Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Then in 2025, he wrecked out of both events.
Instead of Rossi, Arrow McLaren went with 2012 IndyCar champion and 2014 Indy 500 winner Ryan Hunter-Reay, who is set to join Pato O'Ward, Nolan Siegel, and Christian Lundgaard in the team's lineup for the month of May.
Hunter-Reay is set to pilot the No. 31 Chevrolet after spending the past three seasons driving the No. 23 Chevrolet for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing (with Cusick Motorsports in 2024 and 2025).
Hunter-Reay, a +8000-longshot entering the 200-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Speedway, Indiana oval, was in position to potentially win the race in a backup car in 2025 before running out of fuel as he came into the pits to make his final pit stop. At that point, he had been well ahead of eventual race winner Alex Palou on the race track.
Ryan Hunter-Reay replacement confirmed for 2026
With Hunter-Reay now at Arrow McLaren, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing have turned to a familiar face to take his place. Conor Daly, who was Hunter-Reay's teammate in 2024, is set to pilot the No. 23 Chevrolet this year, joining Jack Harvey in the team's two-car lineup.
Daly finished 10th after starting 29th for the team in 2024, and he is currently riding a streak of four consecutive top 10 finishes in the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing", something only two other drivers can say. He has finished higher than he's started in five consecutive years, and he has done so with three different teams.
He competed in the 2025 race for Juncos Hollinger Racing in what was his first full season since 2022, when he drove for Ed Carpenter Racing, but he was replaced by Rinus VeeKay behind the wheel of the No. 76 Chevrolet for the 2026 season.
Daly is the 30th confirmed driver for this year's Indy 500, and it is still expected that both Andretti Global and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing will add fourth cars to bring the entry tally to 32.
Should Prema Racing find their way back to the series in time for the Indy 500 with both of their two cars, there would be bumping for the fourth year in a row. If not, there are reportedly teams willing to step up and add another car to ensure that the Indy 500 field consists of 33 cars. No Indy 500 has been contested with fewer than 33 entries since 1947.
Fox's live coverage of the 110th running of the Indy 500 is set to begin at 10:00 a.m. ET on Sunday, May 24. That race is race number seven on the 18-race 2026 IndyCar schedule, so there are still four more races on the calendar set to take place before then, including this weekend's race on the streets of Arlington, Texas (12:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, March 15 on Fox). Start a free trial of FuboTV today!