There are a lot of drivers out in the world of motorsports and some get around and drive many different series. Others land in one series and make a career out of it. There is always a wonder about how a driver would do elsewhere, in a different environment, in a different specification of race car and against different competition.
IndyCar is one of those series where we want great drivers to fill the series and IndyCar already has a lot of them. There are a lot more drivers we would love to see give IndyCar a try but we have to be realistic and know not every driver can get a shot at IndyCar full-time. A lot of drivers will not get any shot at IndyCar period.
That doesn't mean we can't have some fun. I was thinking of some of these drivers who have never raced in IndyCar and all the drivers who have only made a handful of IndyCar starts came to mind. Of course, not everyone who gets a few season or two get a fair shake and there are even those who we just want to see make a comeback.
What is this? This will look at 18 drivers, six that have never raced in IndyCar, six that have only made a handful of IndyCar starts and six that have at least one full season of IndyCar but we would like to see return to the series. This will pair each driver with one team at one race and each track on the schedule is represented. Not all teams are represented because A.J. Foyt Racing is awful and it would not be fair to any driver to make one IndyCar start and it be with A.J. Foyt Racing.
This isn't going to be some high-minded list full of Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Jimmie Johnson. This isn't going to look at drivers who are still hanging around IndyCar. This isn't going to be more promotion of Conor Daly, J.R. Hildebrand, Oriol Servià and Sage Karam because they are still around. We talk about them enough. This list is going to be a little more diverse. We will start with the drivers who have never made an IndyCar start.
Pipo Derani
What: Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda
Where: Belle Isle
Why: Derani is the real reason this whole exercise exists. This dates back to Sebring where Derani won the race for a third time in four years and once again we find ourselves wondering what else this kid will do. There doesn't seem to be a limit to his talent and he has tested an IndyCar, more specifically a Schmidt Peterson Honda. That test was a few years ago now and since that test all he has done is win with Extreme Speed Motorsports and Nissan, win now with Action Express Racing and Cadillac and had other sports car opportunities in GTE with the Ford GT program and Ferrari.
Most drivers I would not want a driver making an IndyCar debut at a street course let alone Belle Isle but if there is one driver that could do it Derani is the guy. Sebring is rough and taxing on a driver and it hasn't broken Derani. If he was going to get one shot at IndyCar, I think he would really turn heads at Belle Isle.
Jean-Karl Vernay
What: Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda
Where: Barber
Why: Of all the Indy Lights champions since the official formation of the Road to Indy system, Jean-Karl Vernay is the only one that has never made an IndyCar start. He goes by J.K. Vernay now and he has made a career for himself in touring cars, winning the 2017 TCR International Series championship and he is still a competitor in the World Touring Car Cup. Before that, he was a part of the 2013 GTE-Am winning team in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Vernay has had plenty of success but since he won the 2010 Indy Lights title, he has only two starts in single-seater racing, both in 2011 at Spa-Francorchamps in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series.
I want to see Vernay get his chance. If Ben Hanley can return to single-seater racing after nine years away, why couldn't Vernay get his one shot, like Moonlight Graham in Field of Dreams? He won the title with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports and it would come full circle even if it was for only one race.
Naoki Yamamoto
What: Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda
Where: Road America
Why: I have been promoting Yamamoto quite a bit lately and I think for good reason. He is a talented driver in Japan and when the likes of Jenson Button are promoting your talent you must be good. I don't think Formula One will be in his future but I think Yamamoto could be prime for IndyCar.
IndyCar is going to need a Japanese driver when Takuma Sato retires. Honda is going to put a Japanese driver on the grid and IndyCar should want the best Japanese driver out there and right now Yamamoto makes a pretty good case for that honor.
What better place to give him his first taste of IndyCar at Road America, a fast circuit similar to Suzuka where Yamamoto has been very successful, with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing and have him work with Sato?
What: Harding Steinbrenner Racing Honda
Where: Toronto
Why: This is a two-parter and you will want to read the one below but there was a time when Sam Bird seemed to be one of the best young drivers. Unfortunately for Bird he became a Mercedes test driver in 2014 at the start of the Mercedes dominance and neither Lewis Hamilton nor Nico Rosberg were going anywhere. Bird has made a great career in sports car racing and he has been one of the best drivers in Formula E since its inception.
I think he would be great in IndyCar and with the abundance of street courses he runs in Formula E, Toronto should be up his alley.
Robin Frijns
What: Harding Steinbrenner Racing Honda
Where: Toronto
Why: Because Frijns has been quick in every single-seater series has joined but the best he could do was test driver for Sauber and Caterham, which doesn't take much. They will give you whatever title you want for a couple thousand dollars.
Frijns and Bird are Virgin Racing teammates in Formula E and I think this would be a fun competition between the two drivers. They both race together in Formula E, they both do a lot sports car racing with Bird in GTE with the Ferrari program and Frijns with Audi's GT3 efforts, why not pit both of them against one another in an IndyCar with the same team at the same track? Add to it Harding Steinbrenner Racing and have those two go against a 19-year-old Colton Herta and it will be run to see where everyone stacks up.
Kyle Busch
What: Andretti Autosport Honda
Where: Iowa
Why: Ok, you got to have one slam dunk and this is it. Kyle Busch is the best driver in NASCAR right now. Busch has been the best driver for probably the best five years and he is only going to stick around for another 10-15 years. He is the next Indianapolis 500 one-off wet dream but I am sending him to Iowa instead.
One, Indianapolis is not that hard. Four corners, four straightaways, just hold your foot down, piece of cake. Two, every NASCAR says they want to do Indianapolis. I get it but there is more to IndyCar than Indianapolis and Indianapolis is where the glory is but I think these drivers would get as much of a challenge from some of the other ovals.
Iowa is rough and we see high levels of tire degradation in IndyCar at that track. Busch is used to tire degradation in NASCAR and times falling off. He is great at finding speed at the end of stints and I want to see what he could do in a similar scenario to what he is used to in NASCAR but in an IndyCar. Andretti Autosport has the most Iowa victories amongst IndyCar teams, meaning Busch would be in good hands and having him drive a Honda would peeve Toyota and I can live with that.
Let's move onto the drivers with some IndyCar experience but not an abundance of experience.
Richard Antinucci
What: Dale Coyne Racing Mid-Ohio
Where: Mid-Ohio
Why: You may be scratching your head on this one but hear me out. Antinucci's IndyCar career consists of five starts in the 2009 season with 3G Racing after the Stanton Barrett experiment (remember that?) crashed (mind the pun) out. Although Barrett was not suited for IndyCar, 3G Racing was an underfunded and lacked many resources. Think Harding Racing from last year but with less.
Antinucci's IndyCar results leave little to be desired with a 19th at Watkins Glen, two retirements in Canada due to mechanical issues, 18th at Mid-Ohio and 15th at Sonoma but his career before IndyCar suggests more might be there. He was fourth in the 2003 British Formula Three Championship behind Alan van der Merwe, Jamie Green and Nelson Piquet, Jr. The following year he went to Japan and finished fourth in the Japanese Formula Three Championship ahead of the likes of Kazuki Nakajima, Sakon Yamamoto and Hideki Mutoh. He only ran eight races in the Formula 3 Euro Series in 2005 but he returned to the series in 2006 in a one-car team, HBR Motorsport, and he finished fifth in that championship behind Paul di Resta, Sebastian Vettel, Kohei Hirate and Esteban Guerrieri with two victories and he finished ahead of the likes of Giedo van der Garde, Nakajima, Kamui Kobayashi, Jonathan Summerton, Charlie Kimball, Sébastien Buemi and Romain Grosjean.
After his exploits internationally, Antinucci moved to Indy Lights. He only ran the road/street course races in 2007 and won at Mid-Ohio and Sonoma. He went full-time with Sam Schmidt Racing in 2008 and he won twice again at St. Petersburg and Watkins Glen but also had eight podium finishes in 16 starts including runner-up finishes at Homestead and Indianapolis on his way to finishing second in the championship to Raphael Matos by 32 points.
I am not saying Antinucci had talent to be in Formula One or an LMP1 factory driver but I think he could have been competent in an IndyCar. He wouldn't get an opportunity with a big team but Dale Coyne Racing has a history of giving a guy a chance and sometimes of nowhere. It would be nice to see a guy get a shot and at a track he has been successful.
Wade Cunningham
What: Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda
Where: Pocono
Why: Cunningham was probably the best Indy Lights driver for the 2000s but despite winning the championship as a rookie in 2005, three other top five championship finishes, eight victories in his career and three Freedom 100 victories.
These results only resulted in five IndyCar starts, three in 2011 with Sam Schmidt's team and two in 2012 with A.J. Foyt Racing. He qualified eighth on debut at Texas but was caught in an accident with Charlie Kimball in that race. He returned to the track at Kentucky in October and worked his way into the top ten. An electrical issue ended his only Indianapolis 500 start after 42 laps and he was a late substitute for Mike Conway at Fontana after Conway stepped away from oval racing. He would complete 246 of 250 laps and finished 14th.
Six of his eight Indy Lights victories came on ovals and with his success at Indianapolis I think Pocono would be a suitable place for a return and with his experience with Schmidt, it would make sense if he returned with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports.
André Lotterer
What: Dale Coyne Racing Honda
Where: Austin
Why: Because Lotterer has been one of the best drivers over the last decade and before all that he made one IndyCar start in the 2002 CART season finale at Mexico City with Dale Coyne Racing. He scored a point with a 12th place finish.
Since his one start with Dale Coyne Racing, Lotterer has won the 24 Hours of Le Mans three times, he won the World Endurance Drivers' Championship, a Super Formula championship, two Super GT championships and he has done well in Formula E.
Why not reunite 17 years later? Get Lotterer and Coyne back together, it would pair him with Sébastien Bourdais and Austin is a track Lotterer has won at previously. He made one start in Formula One, the 2014 Belgian Grand Prix and his car only completed a lap. I would think it would be great for him to come back to IndyCar all these years later.
Matthew Brabham
What: Andretti Autosport Honda
Where: Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course
Why: It is kind of surprising Brabham's career took the turn it did. Brabham won the U.S. F2000 championship and the following year he had a historic year on his way to winning the Pro Mazda championship. His one full year in Indy Lights was encouraging with a fourth-place championship finish but he was only able to make three starts in 2015.
Brabham made two IndyCar starts in 2016 in a partnership between Team Murray and KV Racing, both at Indianapolis. The road course race went well and he finished on the lead lap after spending the race solidly in the middle of the field. He completed 199 laps on his Indianapolis 500 debut and finished 22nd.
Brabham has found a great career in Stadium Super Trucks but he is 25 years old and he has the talent for IndyCar. His Road to Indy success came with Andretti Autosport and put him in one of those cars on a billiard table smooth road course and I think he would really have a spectacular outing.
Martin Plowman
What: McLaren Chevrolet
Where: Laguna Seca
Why: Plowman may not have had the same level of Indy Lights results as Antinucci and Cunningham but Plowman was respectable, won a race and finished third in the 2010 championship behind Vernay and James Hinchcliffe and ahead of Charlie Kimball and Pippa Mann. He made three starts in 2011 when races were a dime a dozen in the final year of the IR07 chassis. He ran at Mid-Ohio, Sonoma and Baltimore with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports in conjunction with AFS Racing and he had two near top ten finishes with a 12th at Sonoma and 11th at Baltimore.
After 2011, Plowman moved to sports cars and after a year in the American Le Mans Seres, he moved to the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2013 where he won his class at Le Mans with Bertrand Baguette and Ricardo González. Those three went on to win the LMP2 championship that year. He made a return to IndyCar in 2014 with A.J. Foyt Racing at both Indianapolis races but neither were particularly outings.
Plowman's career moved back to sports cars and he ran a year in the Blancpain Sprint Series but has been mostly in the British GT Championship's GT4 class. It is one of those careers where unfortunately opportunities dried up but the driver is better than that.
Adam Carroll
What: Carlin Chevrolet
Where: Barber
Why: Carroll had a fling in IndyCar in 2010 with two starts at Watkins Glen and Mid-Ohio with Andretti Autosport. Before that, he was a race winner in the GP2 Series and was the A1GP champion. Like Plowman, the single-seater opportunities were not there. He went to sports cars and won in the European Le Mans Series' GTE class and British GT Championship. He got a shot in a FIA WEC GTE-Am lineup. He did get a shot with Jaguar in its inaugural Formula E season but it was a one-and-done year for Carroll and he was replaced.
It would be nice to see Carroll get another shot and it would be nice to see him on a flowing road course such as Barber. Carlin might not be the team you would think for Carroll, a 36-year-old driver looking for a one-off but I had to mix it up and Carlin has done well this year with Patricio O'Ward.
Who should make a comeback?
Rubens Barrichello
What: Team Penske Chevrolet
Where: Texas
Why: Rubinho was only in IndyCar for one year and it is sad he didn't comeback for a second season. He didn't dominate but he came in and had good days while learning a bunch of new tracks. I would have loved to see what Barrichello could have done in a second season, especially after his teammate Tony Kanaan won the Indianapolis 500 the following year.
Why Texas? Because it was the one that got away. He didn't get to start at Texas because his car failed on the grid. Why Team Penske? Because Team Penske has the room, just dust off that fourth car Hélio Castroneves uses and it would be cool if the team ran an extra car. It would give Barrichello a great opportunity for victory.
Simona de Silvestro
What: Andretti Autosport Honda
Where: Long Beach
Why: De Silvestro is still a fan favorite around IndyCar circles and it is approaching four years since her last IndyCar start in the Indianapolis 500. She has moved on and has run some Formula E and Supercars in the years since but there is a bit of wondering over what her career would look like had the temptation of being a Sauber reserve driver never came.
It would be great if she was full-time but her best results were on road and street courses and if she was going to run a one-off, why not return to the track of her inaugural Atlantics Championship victory and with the best team she ever drove for? Imagine what she could do with an Andretti Autosport car at Long Beach. We just saw Alexander Rossi dominate the race and Ryan Hunter-Reay running at the front of the field. It would be great to see if she could make the second round of qualifying.
Alex Lloyd
What: Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
Where: St. Petersburg
Why: Alex Lloyd didn't catch a break in his IndyCar career. The worst move may have been becoming a development driver for Chip Ganassi Racing. Name one Ganassi development driver in IndyCar or the ladder system that panned out? He never drove a race for Ganassi. He made his IndyCar debut in an entry that was a partnership between Ganassi and Rahal Letterman Racing at the 2008 Indianapolis 500 but that may have been the best car he drove in his IndyCar career.
His one full season was with Dale Coyne Racing because Dale Coyne Racing became what it is today. It is still a small team but it was much further behind the top teams in 2010 and Lloyd still managed to finish fourth in the Indianapolis 500 that year. He split a car with Sébastien Bourdais in 2011, running the ovals while the Frenchman took the road and street courses. The IndyCar opportunities vanished after that and he moved onto sports cars in the years after that but he has moved onto a new life.
In a perfect world, Lloyd would get his shot with Ganassi and let's do it at St. Petersburg, where he swept the Indy Lights weekend in 2007.
Bertrand Baguette
What: Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda
Where: Portland
Why: Baguette is a really good driver and got some good results in Conquest Racing. He won the Formula Renault 3.5 Series championship but Formula One was never really in the picture. After his one year with Conquest Racing, he ran the 2011 Indianapolis 500 with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing and for five minutes it appeared the Belgian was going to pull off the most stunning upset and win the 100th anniversary of the Indianapolis 500. He made his final stop with three laps to go and J.R. Hildebrand inherited the top position. While we remember Hildebrand's accident and Dan Wheldon's victory, Baguette still finished seventh despite his late pit stop.
Since that day, Baguette moved to sports car and as mentioned in the Plowman section, he won at Le Mans in the LMP2 class and took the LMP2 title in the FIA WEC. He moved to Japan and has been in Super GT ever since 2014 and he won the final Suzuka 1000km.
I think Baguette should get another crack in an IndyCar and why not do it with a team he has a good history with and RLLR? Not to mention, RLLR won at Portland last year.
Robby Gordon
What: Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet
Where: Indianapolis 500
Why: There is part of me that believes Robby Gordon has still got it. He has been out of the upper echelons of North American motorsports for quite some time but I think he could jump right in and find speed. We have seen Jacques Villeneuve return to Indianapolis and make the field. We have seen Jay Howard, who is not regularly competing in any major series, make the race and make it with comfort. I think Gordon could hope right in but he isn't jumping into a car that will be 28th.
We know Ed Carpenter Racing has pace and I think Gordon could get the most of it. I think he could push Spencer Pigot and be on the coattails of the boss, Ed Carpenter. I would love to see it.
Bruno Junqueira
What: Dale Coyne Racing Honda
Where: Indianapolis 500
Why: Because Junqueira has not been righted for what happened in 2011 and that needs to be fixed. Also, the man did eight practice laps in 2010 and qualified with the seven-fastest time. He has a history with Dale Coyne Racing, he has history with Sébastien Bourdais and we have seen the speed Dale Coyne Racing has at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Put Junqueira in one of those cars and I would not be surprised if won another Indianapolis 500 pole position.
This was fun and more of these will come in the future. Not just for IndyCar, but for other series as well.
