Fansided

Meet the new 2019 Indianapolis 500 drivers

By Brittany Frederick

Kyle Kaiser prepares to qualify for the 2019 Indianapolis 500. Photo Credit: James Black/Courtesy of IndyCar.
Kyle Kaiser prepares to qualify for the 2019 Indianapolis 500. Photo Credit: James Black/Courtesy of IndyCar. /
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The 2019 Indianapolis 500 features nine drivers who aren’t NTT IndyCar Series regulars. Meet this year’s new arrivals in the Indy 500 starting lineup.

The Indianapolis 500 attracts drivers from all over the world, not just the regulars from the NTT IndyCar Series.

Every year, a handful of teams come to Indianapolis Motor Speedway specifically to compete in the Greatest Spectacle in Racing — and it’s often the only IndyCar race they run all year.

With the field officially set on Sunday, it’s time to introduce fans to the fresh faces who will be joining the starting grid for this year’s Indy 500. These are the drivers who are not running a full-time or part-time IndyCar schedule.

Get to know them before the green flag drops at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 26, because several of them could factor into next weekend’s race.

Indianapolis 500
Kyle Kaiser. Photo Credit: John Cote/Courtesy of IndyCar. /

Kyle Kaiser

Qualified: 33rd

Team: Juncos Racing

What you need to know: Kyle Kaiser will now go down in history as “the driver who knocked out Fernando Alonso,” but there’s a lot more to the 23-year-old than his shocking performance on Bump Day. Kaiser was entered into four IndyCar races in 2018, also with Juncos; he started 17th and finished 29th in last year’s Indianapolis 500.

His best IndyCar finish is 18th, which was earlier this season in the inaugural IndyCar Classic at Circuit of the Americas in Texas.

Before graduating to the senior series, the Santa Clara native won the 2017 Indy Lights championship by earning three victories and a total of eight podium finishes in 16 races.

One of those three wins? Well, it came at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indy Lights’ Grand Prix of Indianapolis. Kaiser’s relationship with Juncos Racing goes back to 2014, so this is a real labor of love for both driver and team.

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