Colombian Gabby Chaves has been confirmed in the four-pronged Dale Coyne attack at the Indianapolis 500 on May 29.
Running a similar program to Australian Matthew Brabham in the Pirtek Team Murray entry, Chaves will also have his Indy 500 prelude in the Angie’s List Grand Prix starting tomorrow on the 3.8km Indianapolis road course.
Chaves has beaten off several other contenders for the final Coyne spot for the Indy 500 which saw Luca Filippi, Australian James Davison and Mexican veteran Mario Dominguez (a former Gold Coast Indy winner) all linked to the seat.
Coyne is also fielding Pippa Mann, Bryan Clauson and Conor Daly at the Indy 500.
Chaves was awarded the Sunoco Rookie of the Year in both the IndyCar Series and the Indy 500 last year.
The 22-year-old finished 16th for Bryan Herta Autosport last year at The Brickyard.
“We’ve been in communication for a long time and it’s all finally come together,” team owner Dale Coyne said.
“(Gabby) showed a lot of maturity last season, he was quick, mistake-free and made great decisions behind the wheel that you don’t normally see coming from a rookie. We look forward to seeing what he can do in our #19 car.”
Chaves is stepping out for his first competitive run in 2016.
“It’s been the longest off-season of my life. Throughout my whole career I’ve always been on the grid in the first race of the season and this has been the first time that I haven’t,” Chaves said.
Confirmed Indianapolis 500 starters to date
Chevrolet
1 Juan Pablo Montoya, Team Penske
2 Will Power, Team Penske
3 Helio Castroneves, Team Penske
4 Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske
5 Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing
6 Tony Kanaan, Chip Ganassi Racing
7 Charlie Kimball, Chip Ganassi Racing
8 Max Chilton, Chip Ganassi Racing (rookie)
9 Josef Newgarden, Ed Carpenter Racing
10 Ed Carpenter, Ed Carpenter Racing
11 JR Hildebrand, Ed Carpenter Racing
12 Sebastien Bourdais, KV Racing
13 Matthew Brabham, KV Racing (rookie)
14 Stefan Wilson, KV Racing (rookie)
15 Sage Karam, Dreyer & Reinbold
16 Buddy Lazier, Lazier Partners Racing
Honda
17 Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Racing
18 Marco Andretti, Andretti Racing
19 Carlos Munoz, Andretti Racing
20 Townsend Bell, Andretti Racing
21 Alexander Rossi, Andretti Herta (Rookie)
22 Graham Rahal, Rahal/Letterman/Lanigan
23 Spencer Pigot, Rahal/Letterman/Lanigan (Rookie)
24 Takuma Sato, A.J Foyt
25 Jack Hawksworth, A.J Foyt
26 Alex Tagliani, AJ Foyt
27 Conor Daly, Dale Coyne Racing
28 Bryan Clauson, Dale Coyne Racing
29 Pippa Mann, Dale Coyne Racing
30 Gabby Chaves, Dale Coyne Racing
31 James Hinchcliffe, Schmidt Peterson
32 Mikhail Aleshin, Schmidt Peterson
33 Oriol Servia, Schmidt Peterson-Marotti
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