Bump Day returns for Indy 500
Bump Day is back on the menu for this weekend at the Indianapolis 500, with 35 entries attracted for the blue-riband Indycar Series round.
Qualifying for the 30 May race takes place this weekend, with positions 10 t0 30 on the traditional 33-car grid locked in on Saturday. The slowest cars on Saturday will then take place in a shootout for the back row on Sunday afternoon, followed by the ‘Fast 9’ runoffs to determine the first three rows of the field.
The 35th entry came from a new start-up Indycar team, Top Gun Racing, which will field a car for Indycar returnee RC Enerson. The team, co-owned by Gary Trout and
Bill Throckmorton, had planned to enter the 500 in 2020, but deferred its entry by a year when last year’s race was held without fans in attendance.
Top Gun is one of three teams that are joining the Indycar regulars for the year’s biggest event. Sage Karam has been entered by Dreyer & Reinbold Racing for its only confirmed outing of the year, while 2010 rookie of the year Simona de Silvestro returns for the first time since 2015 with the female-crewed Paretta Autosport entry, which has a technical alliance with Team Penske.
Further additional entries include two-time winner Juan Pablo Montoya in a third Arrow Mclaren SP machine, Marco Andretti and Stefan Wilson at Andretti Autosport, Pietro Fittipaldi (Dale Coyne with Rick Ware Racing), Charlie Kimball and JR Hildebrand at AJ Foyt Racing, Conor Daly (Ed Carpenter Racing) and Santino Ferrucci (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing). Montoya joined the field for last weekend’s Indy GP round on the Speedway’s road course (above).
Indycar star Colton Herta (below, left) has extended his contract with Andretti Autosport and principal backer Gainbridge until the end of 2023, appearing to diminish prospects of a forthcoming Formula 1 switch.
The 21-year-old has emerged as one of Indycar’s brightest young talents since graduating from Indy Lights in 2019, and scored his fourth series victory with a dominant run from pole at St Petersburg last month.
That win was lauded by 1978 F1 world champion Mario Andretti as an example of his “Formula 1 quality”, with Andretti telling Autosport that he was “pushing like hell” to find Herta an opportunity in F1.
F1 boss Stefano Domenicali revealed earlier this month that the organisation is encouraging teams to look at American drivers to build interest in the country ahead of a second US grand prix joining the calendar in Miami from 2022.