The 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series will be the 22nd season of the Verizon IndyCar Series and the 106th season of American open wheel racing. It will include the 101st running of the Indianapolis 500. Simon Pagenaud will enter the season as the defending IndyCar champion, while Alexander Rossi enters the season as defending Indianapolis 500 winner. The 2017 season is the last season for the Honda/Chevy aerokits introduced in 2015, while 2018 will see the introduction of a new spec-aerokit.
On September 2, 2016, it was announced that Performance Friction Brakes has been selected as a brake supplier package for IndyCar Series starting from 2017 season onwards.
Teams and drivers
This chart represents announced teams, cars and their respective driver combinations for the 2017 season.
Chip Ganassi Racing announced their discount retail giants sponsor Target, effective from the 2017 IndyCar season, has discontinued sponsorship after 27 straight years of direct participation. The team also announced on October 7 that they would be returning to Honda in a multi year deal and thus discontinuing Chevrolet partnership. Ganassi had previously worked with Honda in 1996-1999 (CART) and 2006–2013 (IndyCar Series), when Jimmy Vasser, Alessandro Zanardi, Juan Pablo Montoya, Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti won the CART and IndyCar title.
Larry Foyt, president of A. J. Foyt Enterprises, confirmed on October 13 that the team is switching manufacturers from Honda to Chevrolet, with the formal announcement on January 17.
KV Racing Technology will not race in 2017 due to Kevin Kalkhoven and James Sullivan withdrawing funding from the team. The team had been in negotiations with Carlin to sell their remaining equipment, but attempts to secure Indy Lights champion Ed Jones and Mikhail Aleshin fell through.
On 21 February Juncos Racing confirmed it will field an entry for the 101st Indy 500 with support from Kevin Kalkhoven, following purchase of three cars and equipment from KV Racing Technology. The team intends to enter two cars into the 101st Indy 500, opting to postpone the announcement of their drivers and engine partner until later, though having reportedly already secured one driver believed to be Juncos Indy Lights driver Kyle Kaiser.
On October 5, Team Penske announced that it had signed Josef Newgarden to drive the No. 2 car for 2017, demoting Juan Pablo Montoya to part-time driver status.
On October 12, Dale Coyne Racing announced that it had signed Sébastien Bourdais to drive the No. 18 car for two seasons, replacing Conor Daly. Bourdais had driven for Coyne in 2011 after two seasons in Formula One.
On October 31, Takuma Sato's manager confirmed that the Japanese driver would join Andretti Autosport as the driver of the No. 26 car for 2017, replacing Carlos Muñoz. The deal was officially announced by the team on December 2.
Also on October 31, Team Penske announced Juan Pablo Montoya would return to the team to compete in the Indianapolis 500.
On November 4, it was confirmed that J. R. Hildebrand will take over the Ed Carpenter Racing No. 21 car for the 2017 season, replacing Josef Newgarden.
On November 14, it was confirmed that 2016 Indy Lights champion Ed Jones signed with Dale Coyne Racing for the 2017 season to drive the No. 19 car, replacing Luca Filippi, Gabby Chaves, Pippa Mann, and R.C. Enerson .
On November 15, A.J. Foyt Enterprises announced that Carlos Muñoz and Conor Daly would drive the teams No. 14 and No. 4 cars, respectively for the 2017 season, replacing Takuma Sato and Jack Hawksworth. Conor Daly debuted for Foyt in the 2013 Indianapolis 500.
On January 16, news broke that Mikhail Aleshin had run into problems with his sponsor, placing his return for 2017 in doubt. Auto GP champion Luis Michael Dörrbecker and former Chip Ganassi Racing driver Sage Karam were in the picture for this seat as a replacement. However, on February 1, it was confirmed that Aleshin's sponsorship issues had been resolved and that he would return to the team for 2017.
On February 2, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing announced that Sage Karam would return to the team to compete in the Indianapolis 500.
All 16 races from 2016 will return. Gateway Motorsports Park returns to the schedule for the first time since 2003. The only other schedule change is the move of the race at Phoenix from the first weekend in April to the last weekend in April to avoid a conflict with the Final Four being held in nearby Glendale, Arizona. The Long Beach race will be the second race of the season as opposed to being the third race of the season in 2016.
The Grand Prix of Indianapolis will be rebranded as the IndyCar Grand Prix for the 2017 running of the event following an announcement that Angie's List would no longer sponsor the event. The title of the event may change if a new sponsor is found.
