Michael Shank Racing has signed Jay Howard to attempt the Indianapolis 500. Shank had planned to contest the whole 2012 Izod IndyCar season with Lotus but through four races has yet to run a race. Paul Tracy was reported to have been working with Shank to field him in 2012. Jay Howard was in the abandoned Las Vegas race last October and the last official race he raced was Texas where he finished 15th and 20th in the twin 275's. Last year at Indianapolis, Howard qualified for his first Indianapolis 500 after failing to in 2008 and 2010. He qualified on the first day of qualifications and started 20th before his day ended after only 60 laps in the 30th position.
Even with the Shank-Howard entry, the whole field is influx. Lotus' announcement that they will stop supplying Dreyer & Reinbold Racing and Bryan Herta Autosport leaves further questions. Speculations over whether the two teams will sign with Chevrolet or Honda has to leave people wondering about the rest of season and the security of one-off entries by Ed Carpenter Racing, Rahal-Letterman-Lanigan Racing and Schmidt Hamilton Racing for the Indianapolis 500. I expect both RLLR and SHR to field cars but according to a tweet from Curt Cavin, Ed Carpenter will not be fielding a second car. This seemed to be the only hope for a few drivers (Buddy Rice and Tomas Scheckter come to mind) of trying to qualify for this year's race. In Cavin's article on the Indianapolis Star's website, Randy Bernard said a resolution will come out "in a day or two."
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