Davison confirmed for Indy 500 entry with Foyt

James Davison will enter the Indianapolis 500 for a fourth time in 2018 after being named as the driver for the #33 AJ Foyt Racing with Byrd-Hollinger-Belardi Chevrolet that will bid to take the start of the race on May 27.

Davison finished 16th on debut at the Indy 500 in 2014 before returning for each of the past two years, with a late crash eliminating him in P20 last year after running towards the front of the field and even leading two laps as a stand-in for Sebastien Bourdais at Dale Coyne Racing.

Davison will enter this year's race with the Foyt team after a deal was put together including support from David Byrd, a principal at Jonathan Byrd Racing; Williams Formula 1 stakeholder Brad Hollinger; and Brian Belardi.

The deal brings the Foyt and Byrd names back together after they combined to enter John Andretti to the Indy 500 and the NASCAR Cup race on the same day at Charlotte back in 1994.

"It’s been a long time coming. James and I really started working on this when the checkered flag flew last year," Byrd said. "I was so impressed with his performance in last year's race, and just felt like after taking a step back last year, not having a programme, that he was going to be the right guy to bring us back and really start a new era for us.

"Being able to put the program together with Larry [Foyt] has been a great experience, and I think it's going to be a competitive program.”

"I've always gone into the event with one, two days' practice and just focused on what I need to do, drawing off my experience data bank from driving other cars or Indy Lights,” said Davison.

“So now, I think what's going to help is probably getting more out of qualifying this time. Again, you really need to make the race, not just think about your start position this year, and spending more time with an engineer to get the balance right in race trim as well, I think is where it's really going to pay dividends."

Davison is the 35th driver to be entered into this year's Indy 500, meaning at least two will fail to qualify on 'Bump Day' that sets the 33 runners for the race on May 27.