Having made their NTT Indycar Series debut last year, including the 103rd Running of the Indianapolis 500, DragonSpeed have confirmed their entry to this year’s event to ensure a full compliment of 33 cars will take the green flag on August 23rd.
The team based in Jupiter, Florida, competed in three races of the 2019 Indycar series with a best finish of 18th at the season’s opener in St. Petersburg with long-serving driver Ben Hanley behind the wheel.
Hanley will once again pilot the #81 car for their second attempt at the ‘Greatest Spectacle in Racing’ having been forced to retire after just 54 laps in 2019 with a driveshaft failure.
Speaking to Marshall Pruett and RACER Magazine, Hanley said: “I’m really looking forward to getting back on track at Indy, the whole team as well as myself were well and truly hooked by our experience as rookies last year.
“The challenge in 2020 will be just as tough, but with an evolved engineering crew and Chevy power behind us again, we’re excited to have another go at the challenge of the 500!”
Elton Julian (Team owner) and his crew are much more commonly seen on the grid of endurance races across the globe, with a particular highlight their European Le Mans Series victory in 2017.
They were also victors in the LMP2 class of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in their latest round at Road America where Hanley was partnered by Henrik Hedman and John Dick, the latter being Hanley’s race engineer for the 500.
“So far, 2020 has been the year everyone will want to forget, but won’t be able to!” Julian said. “We are honoured to join all the other competitors in this year’s 500 and hope we can help create some positive memories for race fans everywhere, despite the fact that they cannot be here in person.
“On behalf of the team, I want to thank the NTT Indycar Series, Roger Penske, Firestone and Chevrolet and all series partners for making our participation possible, and we look forward to playing our part in delivering a great show.”
