Plowman To Run Indianapolis Races For AJ Foyt Racing

This first Indianapolis one-off of the 2014 season has been announced and I can't say many would have predicted this one.

2013 24 Hours of Le Mans LMP2 class winner and 2013 FIA World Endurance Championship LMP2 driver champion Martin Plowman will drive the #41 Al-Fe Heat Treating Honda for AJ Foyt Racing at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis and Indianapolis 500 this May. Plowman made three IndyCar starts in 2011, all on road and street courses. He finished 18th and Mid-Ohio, 12th at Sonoma and 11th at Baltimore. Plowman ran two full-seasons of Indy Lights and accomplished a victory at Mid-Ohio in 2010 as well as seven top-fives and nineteen top-tens in twenty-eight starts. In his two Freedom 100 starts, Plowman finished 22nd after an accident on lap six and 5th.

Since his last start at Baltimore, Plowman has made a career in sports cars. In 2012, he ran for Conquest in the ALMS LMP2 class. He won two races with teammate David Heinemeier Hansson and finished second in the LMP2 class standings. In 2013, he moved to OAK Racing in the WEC where he teamed with another former IndyCar driver, Bertrand Baguette and Mexican Ricardo González. They finished seventh overall at Le Mans, good enough to win the LMP2 class by a lap. They would pick up another victory at the rain-shortened Fuji round and won the LMP2 title by nine points.

Plowman will join Takuma Sato in the #41 car which was driven by Conor Daly last year in the Indianapolis 500. Daly started 31st and finished 22nd in his first career Indianapolis 500 start. Since reunification, the best finish for the second Foyt entry at Indianapolis is 16th by AJ Foyt IV in 2009. Should Plowman qualify, he would become the 750th different driver to start the Indianapolis 500.

Currently, twenty full-time teams have been announced for the 2014 season and it is believed another four full-time entries will be confirmed before the season opener at St. Petersburg on March 30th. Jack Hawksworth is testing for Byran Herta Autosport this week. Hawksworth won three races in Indy Lights in 2013 and finished fourth in the championship.

Tentatively, Plowman is the twenty-fifth entry for the Indianapolis 500. KV Racing is investigating running a third car but are looking for a veteran driver. Despite having their 2013 season cut short, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing has had plans to run the 2014 Indianapolis 500 since last May. Kurt Busch is "70 percent sure" he will attempt to make his Indianapolis 500 debut in 2014. The 2004 NASCAR Cup Series champion completed rookie orientation for the race last year driving for Andretti Autosport. The door hasn't closed on Busch driving for Andretti in 2014 but since Andretti Autosport has moved to Honda engines, Chip Ganassi Racing, KV and Ed Carpenter Racing have all emerged as possible destinations for the Nevadan.

Ganassi Racing also has an eye on running Sage Karam for the Indianapolis 500. Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing has a partnership with Cutters Racing Team as CuttersRT attempts to field a car by donations from fans. Buddy Lazier plans on returning in 2014 with his family run team. Dragon Racing will not be competing full-time in IndyCar in 2014 as the teams plans on running Formula E later in the year but do plan on running a car at Indianapolis.

Other teams that ran an additional entry in the 2013 Indianapolis 500 are Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Motorsports, Dale Coyne Racing, Panther Racing and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.

The very-early, very-very-very-very-optimistic Indianapolis 500 entry list would be the 24 full-time entries, Plowman, Dreyer & Reinbold, Busch at either Andretti, KV, Ganassi or Carpenter with likely Andretti, KV and/or Ganassi running a car even if Busch isn't the driver, the CuttersRT/SFHR entry, Lazier, Dragon, Schmidt, Coyne and RLLR.

That would be 35 cars entered for the Indianapolis 500 and once again is very-very-very-very-optimistic prediction. Don't hold your breath.