Prema Racing became the latest team to declare a full-time commitment to North America’s premier open-wheel championship, announcing on Tuesday intent to field two entries for 2025.
The Italian outfit joins the likes of Juncos Hollinger Racing, Meyer Shank Racing and McLaren Racing - who purchased a 75% stake in Arrow McLaren (SP) in 2021 – as teams that have come into IndyCar on a full-time basis since 2020.
IndyCar President Jay Frye noted the growth was part of a five-year plan that was implemented in 2017 when the series had 18 full-time entries, with the Prema addition bolstering the grid to a car count of 29 for next season.
Making room
However, some concerns have developed as the current field size of 27 is already creating issues with space on pitlane at tracks like Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course or street circuits such as Toronto.
“There's problems now with some of the places we go to,” Frye said.
“It's something we've got to evaluate, look at going forward. Certainly, a problem, but a really good problem to have, and something we'll sort out.”
And there could yet be more growth ahead with other teams, such as current Indy NXT squad Abel Motorsports – who made its Indianapolis 500 debut last year – among those that have been open about a plan to step up to IndyCar sooner rather than later.
While Frye didn’t get specific on which teams, there is clearly multiple interested parties.
“Yes, there's ongoing conversations with two or three different entries or entities,” Frye said. “Again, it's a problem, but it's a good problem to have right now.
“There's a lot of interest in IndyCar. I think it looks back over what's happened the last few years, going forward we got a lot of good things going on. There is currently a lot of interest in IndyCar, yes.”
With that, though, it remains unsettled on if the series will put a cap on the number of cars allowed to compete or if there will be alternative solutions created if each weekend features a field size exceeding 30 entries.
“Probably a hybrid of all,” Frye said.
“We will do all we can to start as many cars as we can. Obviously, there are limits. There will be a time where that has to be addressed and we will address it.”
