Michael Andretti wants nothing more than to field a team in Formula One. While that may be a true statement, his number one priority right now is to earn another Indianapolis 500 victory.

Although he never drank the milk as a driver, Andretti has six Indy 500 wins as a car owner. He went back-to-back in 2016 and 2017, but he has not won since. Michael is fully focused on ending that drought on Sunday, and the team’s offseason changes have reflected that.

The decision to downsize to three full-time teams was the right move. Roger Penske did the same thing in 2019 and it paid off handsomely. After fielding as many as six cars during the Month of May, the organization now has much less to deal with. They have four cars entered this year, as Marco Andretti will start his 19th career race.

Colton Herta and Kyle Kirkwood are two of the youngest talents in the series, and they now have some added experience alongside.

Marcus Ericsson joined the team to bolster their efforts at Indy, and that is exactly why Michael wanted him. Last year the 2022 Indy 500 winner nearly became the first driver in two decades to win back-to-back races. His runner-up result felt almost stolen in a sense. While he started strong during practice, Ericsson crashed on Thursday, and nearly missed the race after going to a backup car.

To make matters worse, he backed out of the throttle a lap early during his qualifying run on Sunday. Could that actually help him in the race? Marcus will be extremely motivated to rectify all of those things.

That sounds ridiculous, as every driver is going to be highly motivated to win the biggest race in the world. But, not all of them possess the talent and patience that Ericsson has demonstrated over his years in IndyCar.

All six of Andretti’s wins at Indy have featured a different driver. That would be the case again this year, no matter which of the four drivers makes it happen. While Marco would still garner the most headlines, Ericsson has arguably been their biggest asset this month.

Ericsson will start 32nd on Sunday, and while no driver has ever won from that starting position, it is not out of the realm of possibility. Andretti’s two strongest candidates for a race win will no doubt be Kirkwood and Herta. They qualified 11th and 13th, with Marco in 19th. Those starting positions have accumulated nine Indy 500 wins, and Michael would love nothing more than to make that ten on Sunday.