Schmidt rules out Juan Pablo Montoya/Danica Patrick for Indy 500
Schmidt Peterson Motorsports says it will not run Juan Pablo Montoya or Danica Patrick at the 2018 Indianapolis 500, but confirmed it will still field a third car

SPM had signed a deal with Tristan Gommendy and ex-Formula 1 team owner Didier Calmels for an extra Indy 500 entry, but that agreement collapsed at the end of 2017.
But team co-owner Sam Schmidt told Autosport SPM would continue with plans for a third driver at Indy alongside full-season pair James Hinchcliffe and Robert Wickens, as well as its joint effort with Michael Shank Racing to field Jack Harvey in a part-time programme likely to include Indianapolis.
"We still plan to run a third car," Schmidt said. "It was an unfortunate chain of events where that [Gommendy deal] dropped out but we're still optimistic that we'll run a third car at Indy like we always do."
There had been speculation that the vacant seat could go to Montoya, who had held discussions with SPM about Indy after Penske moved him into its IMSA SportsCar Championship programme.
But Schmidt now says a Montoya deal will not happen, despite Penske earlier indicating it would not stand in the way of Montoya finding a drive with another team.
"I was told that Roger [Penske] wouldn't let him," said Schmidt.

SPM has also ruled out running Patrick in the final race of her career, with Schmidt admitting it would be a "distraction".
Patrick has said that discussions to find drives for her career swansong at NASCAR's Daytona 500 and the Indy 500 have been taking longer than expected.
"We haven't really had any conversations about it, I know she's talked to a few teams," said Schmidt.
"I don't know, we kind of evaluate it as too much of a distraction with all the fanfare and everything that goes along with it.
"So it's not really high on our list, that's for sure.
"I think she'll do an excellent job, she'll float back in where she was before but it's all the stuff that comes up with it."

Previous article
King needed assurance from ex-GP2 team-mate Rossi over IndyCar move
Next article
Chaves gets full-season Harding Racing IndyCar drive for 2018

About this article
Series | IndyCar |
Drivers | Danica Patrick , Juan Pablo Montoya |
Author | Tom Errington |
Schmidt rules out Juan Pablo Montoya/Danica Patrick for Indy 500
Trending
The Indycar season that proves Michael Andretti is better than F1 showed
Often unfairly characterised as a car-breaker, judged for his lack of an Indianapolis 500 win and a disappointing part-season of Formula 1 in 1993, Michael Andretti was highly respected by his rivals and only thwarted greater success by ill-fortune. When it all came together in 1991, he was a truly formidable force
How McLaren is striving towards IndyCar's elite
The second year of McLaren's full-time IndyCar return is looming, with Patricio O'Ward and Felix Rosenqvist leading its line-up. Strong team personnel and work behind the scenes means that 2021 could be the year it joins the established elite
The enigmatic legacy of a misunderstood Indy stalwart
Flashes of brilliance amid spells of obscurity have been too common for Marco Andretti. While the third-generation racer has opted to bring his full-time IndyCar career to a close, his peaks and troughs have never been for want of trying
Why American racing's top dog is without equal
A byword for success in business and in motorsport for over 50 years, Roger Penske's importance to the US scene cannot be understated. In an exclusive interview, the custodian of the IndyCar Series and Indianapolis Motor Speedway reflects on his journey
The McLaren that rendered its Indy rivals obsolete
When founder Bruce McLaren died in June 1970, his team could have folded. Instead, his loyal band rallied to produce a string of winners - including an Indycar game-changer that won its third Indianapolis 500 five years after its debut
Why Newgarden's best IndyCar season yet wasn't enough
Josef Newgarden feels he didn't put a foot wrong in 2020, yet his finest season-long run of performances failed to yield a third series championship. But in a warning shot to Scott Dixon, Team Penske's team leader has vowed to redouble his efforts in 2021
How Dixon held on in IndyCar's most unpredictable season
Three wins on the trot gave the Chip Ganassi Racing superstar the cushion he needed to hang on for a sixth title in the face of Josef Newgarden's late challenge. Here's the rundown of a typically frantic IndyCar campaign in an extraordinary year
The balancing act required for improving racing at Indy
Calls for an improvement in the racing spectacle at the Indianapolis 500 have been met with small aerodynamic tweaks from IndyCar on superspeedways. But where such high speeds are involved, even minor adjustments require significant planning