Regardless of , the absence of Michael Andretti in a significant possession function hasn’t eradicated his eldest son’s Indianapolis 500 trip. Marco Andretti will try and qualify for his twentieth 500 in Could, and his fifth in a one-off capability, , becoming a member of full-time teammates Colton Herta, Kyle Kirkwood and Marcus Ericsson.
The youthful Andretti’s return to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway will once more are available in his longtime No. 98 Honda entry, with main sponsorship from .
Although the formal announcement of Andretti’s deliberate 500 participation has usually are available in January lately — the for a season that was three months away — reliable questions have circulated within the paddock since September whether or not he’d return in 2025 after , who since 2021 has helped fund Michael’s Formulation 1 desires and the crew’s varied new headquarters and different tasks, alongside billionaire Mark Walter.
Insider:
Shortly after the top of the 2024 IndyCar marketing campaign,, a change of day-to-day decision-making. That clarification grew to become all of the extra suspect when — a crew that might be named Cadillac F1 however run by Andretti World personnel — after Michael had spent years working into roadblocks set by F1 and Liberty Media. The query then was how a lot Michael’s exit was of his personal volition and whether or not Marco would proceed his quest to kiss the bricks with the crew’s namesake and founder simply an advisor.
For no less than another 12 months, that seat stays open for Marco, who in retiring from full-time open-wheel racing has taken an curiosity in inventory automobile racing, making greater than two-dozen ARCA and NASCAR Vans begins in 2024 alongside his Month of Could marketing campaign at IMS. Every other racing plans Marco could undertake in 2025 are but to be introduced.
Marco Andretti on not driving full time:
A 12 months in the past, Andretti completed a disappointing twenty fifth — the third-worst 500 end of his profession — . The crash was simply the fourth DNF within the 500 in Andretti’s 19 begins, although it marked a continuation of less-than-stellar outcomes which have included four-straight outdoors the top-15 and seven-straight outdoors the top-10, regardless of beginning on pole in 2020.
Marco Andretti crashes out of Indy 500:
“We had a automobile that every one we would have liked to get was clear air … (however) we simply received up within the gray, tank slapped it and simply ran out of room — and expertise, perhaps,” on the infield care middle after crashing out of the five hundred final Could.
In years previous, Andretti has insinuated that he initially scaled again in an effort to chart his personal path and rediscover his love for racing that . For the time being, there is not any indication that this Could might be his final 500, although his program has continued to be introduced since 2021 on a year-by-year foundation.
Free to be me:
The place the Indy 500 area stands
With the addition of Marco Andretti, the entry listing for the 109th working of the Indy 500 has reached 33 vehicles — 31 with confirmed drivers. Andretti joins an inventory of one-off drivers that features Kyle Larson (Arrow McLaren), Ed Carpenter (Ed Carpenter Racing), Helio Castroneves (Meyer Shank Racing), and Ryan Hunter-Reay and Jack Harvey (each with Dreyer and Reinbold Racing).
Dale Coyne Racing stays the lone holder of full-time IndyCar rides and particular 500 alternatives, with the crew’s No. 18 and No. 51 entries open. Amongst these nonetheless available in the market for both a full-time alternative, a 500-only trip or one thing in between embrace ex-Coyne driver Romain Grosjean, axed ECR driver Rinus VeeKay, former Chip Ganassi Racing driver Linus Lundqvist and a handful of drivers Coyne utilized to fill out his two-car lineup a 12 months in the past, together with Katherine Legge, Toby Sowery, Hunter McElrea. Jacob Abel, who a 12 months in the past completed runner-up within the Indy NXT championship and who made his IndyCar testing debut with Coyne in late-2023, in addition to the Fittipaldi brothers Enzo and Pietro, additionally stay on the IndyCar free agent market.
New for this 12 months, Coyne will solely be allowed to make use of a most of three drivers per entry throughout the 17-race season as a part of the collection’ new constitution program — a decree that paddock sources say got here from IndyCar proprietor Roger Penske, after Coyne used 4 drivers within the No. 18 and 6 within the No. 51 (and 9 particular person drivers complete) to fill his two-car crew in 2024.
With Chevy set to provide 18 of the confirmed 33 engine packages for this Could’s 500, another 500 rides outdoors Coyne are anticipated to come back from the Honda camp, with CGR and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing the most certainly touchdown spots, although neither crew has confirmed any plans to area such an entry this 12 months. A minimum of one should come collectively in an effort to make sure the return of bumping for qualifying weekend Could 17-18.
