Breaking news
IndyCar
Schmidt targets Montoya for Indy 500 drive
Sam Schmidt says he has been in discussions with Juan Pablo Montoya regarding a ride in the 102nd Indianapolis 500, although he admits it would require the team to find financial backing.
David Malsher-Lopez
Edited: Oct 18, 2017, 11:13 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
On the day that Schmidt Peterson Motorsports-Honda revealed that its fulltime lineup in 2018 would be James Hinchcliffe and Robert Wickens, team co-owner Schmidt admitted that he’s interested in running two-time Indy 500 winner Montoya at the Brickyard next May.
Although the Colombian ace drove a fifth Penske entry at this year's GP of Indy and the 500, his only drives for team owner Roger Penske in 2018 will be his fulltime role piloting an Acura ARX-05s in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
Schmidt told Motorsport.com: “Roger deciding to not run Juan at Indy and allowing him to look for alternatives there has opened a door, and so it’s something Juan and I have discussed. It would be very interesting and it works well with him being an Acura driver and us being a Honda team.
“But it’s a scenario where we would have to find the funding, and to this point our total focus this off-season was getting the second car nailed down, getting a strong driver for it, and extending our deal with James.
“Now we can turn our attention a little more to the Indy situation, but we haven’t yet generated the funding internally to run that entry. We always have run an extra car there and that’s our intent again, but we haven’t been able to focus on it so far.”
Schmidt dismissed the idea of Hinchcliffe’s primary sponsor, Arrow Electronics, providing additional financial backing for a one-off entry, but said Montoya’s heritage at Indianapolis Motor Speedway should be a huge benefit when seeking a sponsor.
“I think Arrow has been a very committed partner for James’ entry and I wouldn’t tap them for more support for a third car,” he said. “I think it’s a matter of tapping into their suppliers and other people.
“Some global company associated with Arrow might be interested in an ex-Formula 1 guy, ex-Indy car champion and two time Indy 500 champion – those are all great things to sell against. I think we all knows he does a traditionally excellent job at the Speedway."
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Robert Wickens has “great memories” of his years in DTM
Next article Juncos announces four-race IndyCar programme for Kaiser
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
David Malsher-Lopez
Alex Zanardi: The man whose name is a synonym for “hero”
IndyCar
IndyCar
Alex Zanardi: The man whose name is a synonym for “hero”
Remembering Michele Alboreto: F1 ace, Le Mans winner and a good man
Formula 1
Formula 1
Remembering Michele Alboreto: F1 ace, Le Mans winner and a good man
IMSA Laguna Seca: Ganassi Cadillac holds off Porsche for victory
IMSA
IMSA
Laguna Seca
IMSA Laguna Seca: Ganassi Cadillac holds off Porsche for victory
More from
Juan Pablo Montoya
Team Penske and Chevrolet announce multi-year extension of IndyCar partnership
IndyCar
IndyCar
Team Penske and Chevrolet announce multi-year extension of IndyCar partnership
Juan Pablo Montoya admires Franco Colapinto's "aggressive" approach despite Baku crash
Formula 1
Formula 1
Azerbaijan GP
Juan Pablo Montoya admires Franco Colapinto's "aggressive" approach despite Baku crash
Williams tipped for "huge step" forward at Azerbaijan GP with major upgrade
Formula 1
Formula 1
Spanish GP
Williams tipped for "huge step" forward at Azerbaijan GP with major upgrade
More from
Arrow McLaren
Free agent Nolan Siegel ‘not done with IndyCar dream yet’ as he targets 2027 seat
IndyCar
IndyCar
Free agent Nolan Siegel ‘not done with IndyCar dream yet’ as he targets 2027 seat
Arrow McLaren signs multi-year engine extension with Chevrolet
IndyCar
IndyCar
Arrow McLaren signs multi-year engine extension with Chevrolet
IndyCar retains Independent Officiating Board leadership and managing director Scot Elkins for 2027
IndyCar
IndyCar
IndyCar retains Independent Officiating Board leadership and managing director Scot Elkins for 2027
Latest news
Spire, Chris Gabehart reject Joe Gibbs Racing premise on deleted texts
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
3 h
Spire, Chris Gabehart reject Joe Gibbs Racing premise on deleted texts
Ricky Stenhouse explains his side of Michael McDowell conflict
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
7 h
Ricky Stenhouse explains his side of Michael McDowell conflict
Barnes: Why IndyCar’s updated licensing system fails its own integrity test
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 8 h
Barnes: Why IndyCar’s updated licensing system fails its own integrity test
Why NASCAR is not penalizing Stenhouse, McDowell for post-race theatrics
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
9 h
Why NASCAR is not penalizing Stenhouse, McDowell for post-race theatrics
Feature
Discover prime content
Inside AJ Foyt Racing’s transition: Hauger’s arrival, Ferrucci’s future, and the Pierson waiting game
Feature
IndyCar
Feature
IndyCar
By Joey Barnes
Inside AJ Foyt Racing’s transition: Hauger’s arrival, Ferrucci’s future, and the Pierson waiting game
You Ask The Questions: David Malukas
IndyCar
By Joey Barnes
You Ask The Questions: David Malukas
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe