Harding Racing president Brian Barnhart bites his lip and concedes the Verizon IndyCar Series’ only full-time single-car team is in a precarious position in determining its future.
In poker parlance, owner Mike Harding and Barnhart have set their minds to “double down” in 2019 with a second car. It’s been quite challenging in this first full season to compete alone against multi-car operations, they’ve come to realize. Giving driver Gabby Chaves a teammate is the goal, but getting there requires taking a step back to hopefully move two ahead.
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That’s why Chaves, who is under contract for next season, had to accept watching someone else drive his car for the past three races. Chaves drove the first 11 events this season with a best finish of 14th place (St. Petersburg and Indy 500) before relinquishing the No. 88 Harding Group Chevrolet to Conor Daly, whose best result was 11th at Toronto in three starts.
The team announced Tuesday that Chaves will return behind the wheel this weekend for the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline at Gateway Motorsports Park.
Daly’s input validated what Chaves has said about the car in examining the team’s strengths and weaknesses, Barnhart said. Other drivers are getting a look, too, because to make two cars happen requires sponsorship. The team recently tested Indy Lights sensation Colton Herta, son of Bryan Herta, the retired Indy car driver and co-owner of Andretti Herta Autosport with Curb-Agajanian that operates Marco Andretti’s No. 98 entry in the Verizon IndyCar Series.
“We’re kind of winging it a little bit,” Barnhart said. “You are facing such a huge challenge, but there’s some economies that come with being a multi-car team. It’s not like you need to double the budget, but certainly budget is going to decide whether you’re going to do it or not. You start looking at drivers, some of them who can bring some budget assistance to that.”
The former longtime INDYCAR executive and race director praised Chaves for how he handled being a spectator.
“It’s not the optimum way you want to function on a race team,” Barnhart said. “He’s handled this incredibly well. If he was comfortable not being in the car, you wouldn’t want him in it in the first place.”
Chaves is just 25 but has driven enough in 31 career starts to know there’s always a financial bottom line to racing. He ran a full season with Bryan Herta Autosport in 2015 when he was the series’ rookie of the year, then seven races for Dale Coyne Racing in 2016. He enjoyed his two best career finishes last year when he joined then-new Harding Racing for its three-race debut, placing ninth in the Indianapolis 500 and fifth at Texas Motor Speedway.
“Of course, I want to drive,” Chaves said before Daly finished 15th on Sunday at Pocono Raceway, “but I want when I get back into the car for it to be a better car. I’m doing everything I can to help out that process. Conor is doing a great job of providing an extra set of eyes and providing more feedback as well.”
Daly, 26, is in the familiar position of trying to prove himself worthy of a better opportunity. He has three top-five finishes in 43 career starts, including a second in the first race of the 2016 Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix doubleheader. But after full-season rides the past two years, he’s in search of that opportunity again.
“Ideally, every team wants to expand,” Daly said. “I hope I can prove my worth here. There’s a financial aspect that has to be in place for that to happen. Hopefully what I can do here and the information we can gather together raises my stock if there is some sort of decision made outside of funding for next year.
“I feel better now about my driving than I ever have. I’m still carrying a helmet.”
Chaves, meanwhile, can’t wait to slide back into the driver’s seat when practice begins Friday on Gateway’s 1.25-mile oval in Madison, Illinois.
“Really enthused and ready to get behind the wheel of the (No.) 88 car and be back with my guys,” he said. “We’re ready to speed up our development and progression, and we’re more driven than ever to get some of the results we know are possible based on our results from last season.”
Barnhart is appreciative of the efforts from both of his young drivers.
“I first want to thank Conor for his contributions over the last couple of months and giving another perspective and feedback,” Barnhart said. “We’re excited and happy to have Gabby back in the car as we head to St. Louis. And we're looking to improve on our performance on the short oval from earlier in the year.
“Gabby has done a fantastic job being a team player through the process that had Conor in the car and Colton testing in Portland. Hopefully, we can show Gabby some improvements from the team standpoint when he rejoins us for the St. Louis weekend.”