Mikhail Aleshin confirms he’ll race in 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season
Mikhail Aleshin confirmed on Wednesday that he will return as the driver of the No. 7 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda for the 2017 IndyCar season.
Rumors of Mikhail Aleshin’s departure were greatly exaggerated.
The 26-year-old Russian officially confirmed on Wednesday that he’ll return to drive the No. 7 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda for the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season, with SMP Racing once again serving as the car’s primary sponsor.
“Thanks to both the SMP Racing program and our American team, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, I am to keep fighting for even better results this season in IndyCar,” Aleshin said in a league report. “With the Russian flag on my car, and with James and the Schmidt Peterson Motorsports crew, I will push hard to bring more poles and hopefully victories in 2017.”
Media sources had speculated last month that Aleshin’s future in the series was in jeopardy due to concerns about whether or not SMP would continue funding his drive. Those are obviously not issues anymore, as both driver and sponsor are back for more.
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Aleshin will be entering his fourth year and third season in IndyCar, all of them with Schmidt Peterson. After missing most of the 2015 season thanks to a vicious crash before the 2014 finale, he came back with a vengeance last year.
He narrowly missed out on his first victory in last year’s ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway, and had three other Top 10 finishes in what some observers called a much quicker year for the only Russian representative in the league.
Aleshin’s return also provides some needed consistency for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. This will be the second year he’s been teamed with James Hinchcliffe, which is the first time that SMP has ever had the same two regular season drivers since the organization expanded to two full-time entries in 2013.
Particularly since Schmidt Peterson decided to shutter their successful Indy Lights program during the offseason, it will be worth watching to see if the IndyCar team improves with that additional focus and stability.
That was a point that team co-owner Sam Schmidt emphasized on Wednesday.
“We are thrilled to have Mikhail back for 2017,” Schmidt said. “We know he is capable of winning races and competing for the championship. This also means we have maintained continuity across drivers, engineering and team member staffing, which is critical for success.”
Aleshin will officially get back behind the wheel in just over a month, as the IndyCar season begins with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in mid-March.
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With Schmidt Peterson Motorsports having locked in Mikhail Aleshin and James Hinchcliffe for at least one more season, and other small teams also making driver changes, could this be the year where someone truly threatens the Penske and Ganassi domination? Wednesday’s news is surely a good sign in that direction.