Indianapolis 500 Entry List

With the entry list for the Indianapolis 500 expected to be released today, here is what we have so far.

26 full-time teams (11 Chevrolets, 10 Hondas, 5 Lotuses)
Sebastian Saavedra and Ana Beatriz (Andretti Autosport, 13 Chevrolets)
Either Luca Filippi or Michel Jourdain Jr. (Rahal-Letterman-Lanigan Racing, 11 Hondas)
Wade Cunningham (Foyt Enterprises, 12 Hondas)

That is thirty so far and we have heard speculation on the following:
Townsend Bell (Schmidt-Hamilton Motorsports, 13 Hondas)
Bryan Clauson (Sarah Fisher-Hartman Racing, 14 Hondas)
A possibe third RLL entry (Rahal-Letterman-Lanigan Racing, 15 Hondas)
Jean Alesi (Lotus-Newman-Haas Racing, 6 Lotuses)

Those would bring the total to 34. Chevrolet and Honda are expecting to field 14 apiece and the list of above has only 13 Chevrolets. A lot of people are saying Buddy Rice with run a second Ed Carpenter Racing entry and that makes sense seeing how he ran for Fuzzy's Ultra Premium Vodka for a few races last season, including the Indianapolis 500.

Now it is not out of the question that Davey Hamilton may run a third Schmidt-Hamilton car seeing how he is a partner in the team.

Prediction:  I think we will see 33 of the guys mentioned in the two lists above and a 14th Chevrolet and I do think it will be Buddy Rice driving for Ed Carpenter. I am on the fence about Davey Hamilton. Part of me thinks he is going to do it, another part of me thinks he made his mind to retire at Las Vegas. In the end though I don't think he wants to end like that and will enter the race. That brings the entry list to 35. I don't see a third RLL right now and to be honest I don't see it happening if Davey Hamilton decides to race. I think the entry list is set at 35.

Somethings Is Missing?: For the first time in a long time drivers without rides are extremely talented and very well deserve to have a shot at Indy. Tomas Scheckter is a guy that comes to mind as well as Alex Lloyd, Bertrand Baguette, Bruno Junqueira, Paul Tracy, Jay Howard, Pippa Mann, Vitor Meira and John Andretti. All these drivers were in the Indianapolis 500 last year. Also missing is Mike Shank Racing. He announced before most teams he would be running a car full-time with Lotus. Now he hasn't entered a car at the first four races and was talking with Paul Tracy about running Indianapolis. It's hard for me to imagine he will enter a car with the lack of engines and while we can sit here and say "why does Dreyer & Reinbold, Bryan Herta and Panther run a second car?", it won't happen. Don't expect any 11th hour deals before pole day or a guy jumping into a car on bump day and getting into the field. Maybe (actually hopefully) next year when the three engine manufactures have more parts, spares and engines in general. This year 34 or 35 entries will be enough. Hopefully one or two cars get bumped and we have some drama. Then next year we see a turn upwards with Lotus able to field more competitive cars.