Carlin slims down to just one car for 2020 IndyCar Series opener

Carlin has confirmed it will slim down to just a single entry for this weekend’s belated 2020 IndyCar Series opener at the Texas Motor Speedway after withdrawing the car due to be raced by Felipe Nasr.

The British team had planned to run both Conor Daly and Nasr in the 2020 IndyCar opener originally scheduled to take place in St Petersburg before the schedule was thrown into disarray as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Nonetheless, the IndyCar Series will become one of the first high-profile motorsport series’ to get back underway with the Genesys 300 in Texas this weekend, though Carlin will do so with just Daly representing it after withdrawing the #31 for financial reasons.

“Due to the economic impact of the current COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, the planned #31 Carlin entry will not be entered in this weekend’s NTT IndyCar Series season opener at Texas Motor Speedway. We will continue to work with our partners in Europe and aim to have two entries for the remainder of the 2020 season.

“Conor Daly will represent Carlin this weekend in the Genesys 300 as originally planned in the #59 Gallagher Carlin Chevrolet.”

The deal with Nasr – who competed with Sauber in F1 – was only confirmed for a single event, with potentially a roster of different drivers to occupy the seat for the rest of the year.

Josef Newgarden comes into the 2020 IndyCar season as the defending champion in the Team Penske car and will see the debut of the Arrow McLaren SP team – a rebrand of the Sam Schmidt Motorsports outfit - featuring Pato O’Ward and Oliver Askew.

The event will also see the race debut of the Aeroscreen device aimed at improving driver safety following a number of high-profile accidents.