The 108th running of the Indianapolis 500 is close to having its entry list completed.
In assembling all of the season-long entries that will be on the Indy 500 entry list, 27 spots are already accounted for across IndyCar’s 10 full-time teams. With the starting grid capped at 33 cars, it leaves six spaces to fill before bumping enters the conversation, and it’s here where the 2024 edition of the Indy 500 will feature at least two bouts of heartbreak as a few entries are guaranteed to fail in their attempt to qualify for one of the available starting positions.
Of the full-time teams with extra entries, Andretti Global has the No. 98 Honda being readied for Marco Andretti. Arrow McLaren has the highest-profile Indy-only entry set for NASCAR Cup champion Kyle Larson in the No. 17 Hendrick-McLaren Chevy, and Ed Carpenter Racing will expand its presence with another Chevy-powered car for 2023 Indy NXT champion Christian Rasmussen.
Meyer Shank Racing has the No. 06 Honda primed for four-time Indy winner Helio Castroneves, and to close the list, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, which has yet to confirm the driver of its added entry, is understood to have Takuma Sato, its 2020 Indy 500 winner, back in the fold for the month of May.
Among the 10 main full-time teams with their 27 yearlong cars and their five extra entries, the list is already at 32 before the Indy-only cars are factored in.
Building on the 32, Abel Motorsports, which made its Indy 500 debut in 2023 with RC Enerson, is headed back with the Floridian in the same No. 50 Chevy he used to stun the series by easily qualifying for the race. And in a new team-wide alliance with Cusick Motorsports, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing has its strongest lineup to date with Conor Daly and Indy 500 winner Ryan Hunter-Reay leading the Dreyer & Reinbold-Cusick Motorsports program in the Nos. 23 and 24 Chevys.