The future prohibition on open entry to all NTT IndyCar Series races outside the Indianapolis 500 is the dumbest thing I’ve heard in the last few weeks, geopolitical events and talking points notwithstanding.
If the above statement blindsides you, let’s get up to speed. Sports Business Journal‘s Adam Stern wrote a story stating that IndyCar confirmed to SBJ that, starting in 2027, non-chartered teams would not be allowed to enter NTT IndyCar Series races other than the Indianapolis 500.
This move was a decision that, according to IndyCar, “was reached after thoughtful consideration with key stakeholders and, in particular, series suppliers who are making plans for the upcoming season as all parties look to build the series’ health and on-track competition,” in a statement supplied to SBJ.
Huh?
Series suppliers making plans for 2027? Hang on a minute, are we talking about suppliers that have been supplying the same components that have been used since 2012 (chassis and engine), 2018 (body kit) and 2020/2024 (aeroscreen components)?
Or is there something new coming for 2027 that none of us know about, for which allocations have to be planned? The new car isn’t supposed to debut until 2028, unless it’s delayed again for some reason.
Shutting out other competitors is a millionaire, country club-racing attitude toward the sport that is the antithesis of what has made racing the sport that it is. It makes the series more of a closed shop like Formula 1, spitting in the face of how the current grid came to be. The move could make IndyCar seem like a non-welcoming environment to new perspective team owners.
Outright forbidding access to prospective owners is the antithesis of open competition. It also reeks of hypocrisy when many in the IndyCar world were crying foul at F1 for not wanting Andretti’s Cadillac entry to race until it became clearer that the team was backed by TWG.
Almost every team owner on the current grid would be shut out of IndyCar competition had they tried to get into the sport now. Let’s look at each team’s history, one by one.
Ricardo Juncos’ team started as an Indy 500-only entrant in 2017 and a part-time series entrant in 2018-19. After entering the final three races in 2021, Juncos and new investor Brad Hollinger relaunched the team as a full-time effort for 2022, expanding to two cars in 2023.
Just like Juncos, Michael Shank also ran the 2017 Indianapolis 500 as a one-off before running six races in 2018, 10 races in 2019 and a full season in 2020. Shank was smart in how he built up the IndyCar side of his organization while competing in IMSA and then ramped up to a two-car, full-season effort in 2022 after winning the 2021 Indianapolis 500 with Helio Castroneves.
After running full-season entries for several years, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing scaled back to being an Indy 500-only entrant for three years before going back to full-time competition in 2012. Arrow McLaren’s predecessor, Sam Schmidt Motorsports, was also a full-time IRL entrant briefly in the early 2000s before scaling back to just competing at Indianapolis. The team went full-time again in 2011 after purchasing the assets of FAZZT shortly before that season began.
Team Penske and Dale Coyne Racing were part-time entrants when their organizations began racing open-wheel cars several decades ago. Chip Ganassi Racing’s predecessor, Patrick Racing, also competed part-time in its infancy while AJ Foyt’s team has a history peppered with part-time campaigns through multiple decades.
The only teams that can say they’ve had full-time campaigns throughout their existence are Ed Carpenter Racing and Andretti Global, the latter dating back to the Team Green days in 1994 (2001/02 Indianapolis 500s notwithstanding) as they were full-time CART competitors that year.
Now, the road to IndyCar full-time competition will change. If a new team, such as HMD Motorsports or Abel Motorsports, wanted to dip their toes into IndyCar, they wouldn’t be allowed to unless they spent untold millions of dollars to buy a charter before they ever turned a wheel in anger outside of Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
If an older team like Dreyer and Reinbold Racing, which has competed in Indy-style racing since 2000, wanted to get back into the series, they’re going to be told the same thing.
How does that make the sport more accessible to new ownership? Even with its flaws, NASCAR’s charter system still doesn’t take up the entire 40-car field at its races. No team owner is required to buy a charter to compete in NASCAR, but that team’s payouts are significantly smaller by not having one.
Hell, when CART had a franchise system, a team owner that didn’t have a franchise could still compete in the championship. If that team owner competed in every race, they could earn a franchise, and with it a voting spot on the board.
The largest factor that should limit IndyCar field sizes is the number of stalls on pit road. Mid-Ohio and a few other venues cannot physically accommodate a field size larger than 27 cars, which is why, in qualifying, the slowest non-chartered cars would be eliminated in the first round.
Of course, there are supporters of IndyCar’s decision, claiming that a team can’t just show up with ballplayers and play in the MLB or the NBA, making a direct comparison to stick-and-ball sports.
But when those same people are often asked about a playoff system in racing, one of the first things brought up is that motorsports isn’t a stick-and-ball sport.
So, which is it? Is motorsports a stick-and-ball sport or not? Make up your mind.
And when the economy takes a massive downturn (or continues to, depending on who you talk to) and several sponsorships go away, the car count will shrink. Team owners can sell charters to their entries that no longer have sponsors, but if the price is too high, then what? Would that grid spot be empty? Would open teams be allowed then?
There are two remaining elephants in the room, so let’s address them now. The first is that engine manufacturers are supplying a lot of engines nowadays to the IndyCar field, with Chevrolet powering 12 full-time entries and Honda the remaining 13.
The burden on the engine manufacturers needs to be lifted with the new engine formula debuting in 2028. Getting a third, or if good fortune dictates it, a fourth engine manufacturer should be a top priority for those working in the offices on W. 16th Street just south of turn 2.
The second is that PREMA has been completely given the shaft after spending 2025 competing as a non-chartered team. The Italian organization fielded two drivers, winning the pole for last year’s 500 with Robert Shwartzman and having Callum Ilott end the season with four top-10 finishes in the final five races of the season.
Financial troubles notwithstanding, they’re now on the outside looking in after showing up at every race last year and putting up what has to be considered a strong effort for a first-year team.
It’s a slap in the face to everyone who joined that organization, thinking that they would be racing for the long term, only to find out that after this year, they wouldn’t be allowed to compete, even if the funding was solid.
If another Formula 2 team like Hitech had competed instead of PREMA and were on the IndyCar grid in 2026, would we even be having this conversation? And how would that look for IndyCar if they gave the engine manufacturers charters that would push those two non-chartered entrants off the grid, even if they competed full-time?
Heaven forbid, imagine if a non-chartered entrant won the Indianapolis 500. If Conor Daly won this year’s race, imagine Dreyer and Reinbold pitching to IndyCar leadership that they want to compete full-time in 2027, only to be told that they can’t unless they somehow get Chevrolet’s manufacturer charter.
Good luck with that, though. Ilmor builds Chevrolet’s engines, and Roger Penske is a part-owner in the company. It’s possible that Penske sells one of his team’s charters, creating an arrangement similar to Meyer Shank Racing. But will that create more conflicts of interest since Penske Entertainment is the majority owner in IndyCar and the Speedway, too?
Eliminating non-chartered teams in IndyCar competition is not good for the series. This move will only be the first step toward guaranteeing entries for chartered teams into the Indianapolis 500.
Someone get FanDuel on the phone and set the timeline on that for 2030. It might be smart to take the under on it.
Christopher DeHarde has covered IndyCar racing and the Road to Indy for various outlets since 2014. In addition to open wheel racing, DeHarde has also covered IMSA and various short track racing events around Indiana. Originally from New Orleans, DeHarde moved to the Indianapolis area in 2017 to further pursue a career as a motorsports writer.
Just when Indycar was showing signs of life again. Is Roger taking advice from the France family?
Agree, this is absolutely a big bowl of stupid.
One of the great stories in auto racing will always be the little team that could. This essentially slams the door on any team working their way into the sport, and working their way up the ladder.
If Indycar was in the position F1 is, with companies backing up money trucks just to get on the grid, I’d understand the decision. But Indycar just struggled to fill the field at their most important race, the Indy 500.
This is about protecting the current owners bank accounts, likely to the detriment of the series. Which is a shame, as NASCAR’s decline has created a ready-made vacuum atop US motor racing. It’s all there for Indycar to reclaim the crown as the premier series in the US, but they seem more concerned with keeping the good old boys club happy than improving the sport.
Also agree on Prema. They got screwed, despite showing every sign they intended to build a winning team. After seeing this, one would have to be crazy to try and break Indycar’s glass ceiling.
+1,000,000,000 Well said.