Chevrolet set to gain Foyt IndyCar team after Ganassi's Honda move
AJ Foyt's IndyCar Series team is set to leave Honda for Chevrolet following Ganassi's move in the other direction
Chip Ganassi Racing's announcement last Friday that it would return to the Honda fold removed four cars from Chevy's books.
That left the field lopsided in Honda's favour - the Japanese firm having already supplied Schmidt Peterson, Rahal Letterman Lanigan, Dale Coyne Racing and Andretti Autosport in 2016.
Had Honda retained all its existing teams with the addition of Ganassi, it would have been in line to rise from 11 to 15 full-time entries in 2017 while Chevrolet dropped from 11 to just seven.
With IndyCar rules stating each manufacturer must be prepared to supply 60% of the field, Chevrolet is now poised to lure Foyt's two-car operation away from Honda to join Penske, Ed Carpenter Racing and KVSH in its line-up.
Though there is no cap on the maximum number of teams a manufacturer can supply, Honda sources suggested that supplying that many cars was a concern.
The Foyt/Chevrolet deal is expected to be sealed imminently. Team manager Larry Foyt indicated that it was not yet official but would be announced by Chevrolet once finalised.
Foyt - which ran Takuma Sato and Jack Hawksworth in 2016 - is one of the leading contenders to sign Penske refugee Juan Pablo Montoya.
While the ex-Formula 1 driver and double Indianapolis 500 winner is believed to be in contention at all teams with vacancies remaining, Autosport understands Foyt and Carpenter are frontrunners to secure him now that Tony Kanaan is staying put at Ganassi and Sebastien Bourdais has returned to Coyne.
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