2018 Verizon IndyCar Series season preview and entry list

The 23rd season of the IndyCar Series and the 97th season of the American open-wheel racing championship will kick-off this weekend at the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida, a place which will host the season-opening race for the eighth consecutive year since 2011.

The season features 17 races, the same number as in 2017, but with one change on a calendar. The iconic Watkins Glen International has been dropped from a calendar and replaced by Portland International Raceway. Six races will take place on the ovals, six on road courses and five on the street circuits.

2018 IndyCar Series calendar

Josef Newgarden will defend his title in the #1 Chevrolet

On the grid, twenty-two cars are announced for the full season, two more cars on a part-time schedule while at Indianapolis 500 we will see 33 cars again. Defending champion Josef Newgarden will drive the #1 Dallara DW12-Chevrolet for Team Penske. Roger Penske’s mega-team increases its operations to three cars for the full-time entries (#1 Josef Newgarden, #12 Will Power, #22 Simon Pagenaud) plus Helio Castroneves in two races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the #3 Chevrolet.

Chip Ganassi Racing reduced its line-up from four to two cars, retaining Scott Dixon in the #9 Honda and adding Ed Jones to #10 Honda. Three last year’s CGR drivers landed to rival teams – Tony Kanaan joined AJ Foyt Racing to drive the #14 Chevrolet while Max Chilton and Charlie Kimball will be teammates in Carlin.

One more great transfer is a move of Indy 500 winner Takuma Sato from Andretti Autosport to Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. Andretti replaced Sato with rookie Zach Veach.

Drivers during an autograph session at IndyCar Open test at IMS Raceway

Nine rookies on the grid

When talking about rookies, three of them will race full season – Zach Veach for Andretti, Indy Lights graduate Matheus Leist for AJ Foyt and former DTM driver Robert Wickens for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. Six more rookies are announced on a part-time schedule, including 2017 Indy Lights champion Kyle Kaiser who will share the #32 Juncos Racing Chevrolet with Austrian Rene Binder.

Two rookies Zachary Claman DeMelo and Pietro Fittipaldi will share the #19 Dale Coyne Racing Honda while Briton Jordan King came from Formula 2 and joined Ed Carpenter Racing to drive the #20 Chevrolet at street circuits and road courses. As usual, a team owner Ed Carpenter will drive the #20 at ovals. Jack Harvey is one more Briton on the rookie list, announcing six rounds in the #60 Michael Shank Racing Honda.

There will be two female drivers at Indianapolis 500. A regular Indy 500 competitor Pippa Mann (#63 Dale Coyne Honda) will be joined by Danica Patrick in Ed Carpenter’s Chevrolet. Patrick will attend Indianapolis Motor Speedway as a part of her farewell tour after she raced at Daytona 500 for the last time. Her last IndyCar Series and Indy 500 starts were in 2011.

2018 IndyCar Series entry list

Photos: Shawn Gritzmacher, Chris Owens/indycar.com,