My 2017 IndyCar Field Predictions
Chip Ganassi Racing: Dixon, Kanaan, Kimball, Montoya--I see the Carlin deal happening with KV almost out of necessity, and they'll likely lure Chilton there. This leaves the door open for Montoya to return to Ganassi.
Andretti Autosport: Hunter-Reay, Andretti, Rossi, Sato, Bell (Indy 500)--Sato is one of Honda's favorites, and Andretti needs funding to make that fourth seat happen. An engine rebate and Sato's sponsorship outside of ABC Supply could step in.
AJ Foyt Enterprises: Munoz, Chaves, Tagliani (Indy 500)--Not much to say. Munoz is a race winner, and Foyt likes that. Chaves is young like Hawksworth and could be something Foyt gambles on.
Dale Coyne Racing: Bourdais, Daly, Mann (Indy 500)--Coyne have come a long way from being a back marking team two years ago. Daly brought a lot of life to the team, and with a consistent winner in Bourdais coming back, Dale Coyne might not be too bad.
Ed Carpenter Racing: Hildebrand, Carpenter/Pigot--Pigot and Hildebrand both bring money. But while Pigot brings money for himself, Hildebrand's sponsor has routinely supported the whole team the last couple years. I see Hildebrand getting the nod.
KV Carlin: Chilton, Jones--As mentioned earlier, Carlin advancing to IndyCar likely means they'll want Max as a nice measuring stick. Max did decent in his rookie year and Trever Carlin likely noticed. Jones winning Indy Lights will likely make Carlin want to pull him up as well, and Carlin's an attractive name for sponsors, so they could make it happen.
Rahal Letterman Lannigan Racing: Rahal, TBD--The strategy of having a single full time car has worked very well for Graham. He's inarguably in his best period of his career right now, so why change? Plus, their Indy 500 entry likely won't matter anyways.
Schmidt Peterson Motorsports: Hinchcliffe, Aleshin, Servia (Indy 500)--Schmidt said himself the lineup for 2017 wouldn't be much different from 2016. They wanted a third full time car, but Ganassi moving to Honda ruined that.
Team Penske: Pagenaud, Newgarden, Castroneves, Power--Scary group these four are, which makes a Ganassi championship seem more like a fantasy at this point. Not much to say really.
Additional Indy 500 Entries
Pippa Mann--Just because Susan G. Komen. Anyone tell her Indy isn't run in October? No? Okay.
Katherine Legge--More a personal wish. We need a good female driver now that Simona is locked up for three years in Australia. Someone please get her in this.
Sage Karam--I really don't like him, but he's quick as hell, which means someone will still pick him up.
Townsend Bell--He's been good the last few years. I see him coming back easily.
Oriol Servia--He's a consistent driver. Not extremely aggressive, but a great support driver.
Alex Tagliani--Proof that one Indy 500 pole can get you quite far in the Brickyard. Outside the Brickyard...
Buddy Lazier--He's running his own team, and despite being a backmarker, he somehow keeps getting funding to come back.
Nelson Piquet Jr.--Another wish. It'd be cool to see what he could do in Indy. He was decent in Trucks and Xfinity.
Jack Hawksworth
Stefan Wilson
