2017 IndyCar Series season kick off and entry list
2017 IndyCar Series season kicks off this weekend with official test at Phoenix International Raceway. The winter break is over and IndyCar machines roars again, with all of the full-season entries gather this Friday and Saturday for the two-day open test at 1-mile Phoenix’s oval. Twenty-one names are confirmed so far for the 2017 IndyCar Series season
The 2016 champion Simon Pagenaud is leading the Team Penske squad with number 1 on his Dallara-Chevrolet. There is no more Juan Pablo Montoya in the #2 car, he’s replaced by Josef Newgarden. Montoya announced Indy 500 participation only. Helio Castroneves and Will Power remain in #3 and #12 Team Penske cars.
IndyCar Series returned to Phoenix last year, after eleven-year hiatus
The Newgarden-Montoya switch is the most significant change in the drivers’ line-up for 2017 but some other big names joined new squads. Sebastien Bourdais also changed a team, he will drive the #18 Dale Coyne Racing’s Honda, alongside rookie Ed Jones as his teammate in the #19 car. The 2016 Indy Lights champion in only rookie on the entry list so far.
Last year’s rookie and Indy 500 winner Alexander Rossi stays in the #98 Honda of Andretti Herta Autosport. Other Andretti’s drivers are Ryan-Hunter Reay (#28), Marco Andretti (#27) and Takuma Sato (#26). The Japanese driver left A.J. Foyt Enterprises after four seasons to join the team of another racing legend.
A.J. Foyt will have completely new line-up in his team, with Conor Daly in the #4 car and Carlos Munoz in the #14 car. The team switches from Honda to Chevrolet for the 2017 season. Chip Ganassi Racing made an opposite change, switching from Chevrolet to Honda. All four drivers of Chip Ganassi Racing remain the same: Scott Dixon (#9) Tony Kanaan (#10), Max Chilton (#8) and Charlie Kimball (#83).
2017 Indy Car Series entry list
| No. | Team | Engine | Driver |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Team Penske | Chevrolet | Simon Pagenaud |
| 2 | Team Penske | Chevrolet | Josef Newgarden |
| 3 | Team Penske | Chevrolet | Helio Castroneves |
| 4 | A.J. Foyt Enterprises | Chevrolet | Conor Daly |
| 5 | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | Honda | James Hinchcliffe |
| 7 | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | Honda | Mikhail Aleshin |
| 8 | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | Max Chilton |
| 9 | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | Scott Dixon |
| 10 | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | Tony Kanaan |
| 11 | KV Racing Technology | Chevrolet | |
| 12 | Team Penske | Chevrolet | Will Power |
| 14 | A.J. Foyt Enterprises | Chevrolet | Carlos Munoz |
| 15 | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Honda | Graham Rahal |
| 16 | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Honda | Oriol Servia* |
| 18 | Dale Coyne Racing | Honda | Sebastien Bourdais |
| 19 | Dale Coyne Racing | Honda | Ed Jones |
| 20 | Ed Carpenter Racing | Chevrolet | Spencer Pigot, Ed Carpenter |
| 21 | Ed Carpenter Racing | Chevrolet | J.R. Hildebrand |
| 24 | Dreyer & Reinbold Racing | Chevrolet | Sage Karam* |
| 26 | Andretti Autosport | Honda | Takuma Sato |
| 27 | Andretti Autosport | Honda | Marco Andretti |
| 28 | Andretti Autosport | Honda | Ryan Hunter-Reay |
| 77 | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | Honda | Jay Howard* |
| 83 | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | Charlie Kimball |
| 98 | Andretti Herta Autosport with Curb Agajanian | Honda | Alexander Rossi |
| Team Penske | Chevrolet | Juan Pablo Montoya* |
Drivers marked with * are not full-season entries
Photos: indycar.com,
