Curt Cavin

curt.cavin@indystar.com

WEST ALLIS, Wis. – With or without Simon Pagenaud, Andretti Autosport is hoping to expand to five full-time IndyCar Series cars next year, team owner Michael Andretti said Sunday.

The Indianapolis-based team is three-fifths of the way there with Sunday's formal signing of Indianapolis 500 champion Ryan Hunter-Reay.

The programs of Marco Andretti and Carlos Munoz are set, Andretti said, and James Hinchcliffe's could be soon.

"It's not on Hinch's side," Andretti said of the work. "It's on the sponsor's side.

"The goal is five cars, and we're still working on it."

Pagenaud told The Star he will pick among his options, which include a return to Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Motorsports, after the season ends Aug. 30.

Andretti said his team on Zionsville Road has shop space for the fifth IndyCar ride in part because its two-car Indy Lights program appears to be dissolving, and work on a new Tudor United SportsCar Championship entry has ended. Andretti said the latter "fell through," and investing in new Indy Lights equipment isn't in the budget.

"The only way I could do (Indy Lights) is if I find a kid that can afford to pay for the car," Andretti said. "I won't be able to afford going out and buying a new chassis. I'm not saying (the program) is dead — it's still possible — but at this time we don't have anything yet."

Andretti said the candidates for that fifth IndyCar ride do not include current Indy Lights drivers Zach Veach and Matthew Brabham. He suggested Brabham, 20, stay in Indy Lights another season so "he can shine."

Veach passed Brabham on the outside during a restart with four laps left to win Sunday's Milwaukee Mile 100. Brabham had an 8.4-second lead when the shootout-creating caution came out.

As for races promoted by Andretti Sports Marketing, Andretti said the Milwaukee IndyFest will continue for at least for one more year, and a proposed new event at NOLA Motorsports Park in Avondale, La., is close to being finalized for next season.

"We'll be announcing something soon," Andretti said of the New Orleans-area plans. "We're extremely excited about that event. I think it's going to be way bigger than anybody thinks it will be."

The date hasn't been revealed, but Andretti said "we're going to be happy."

Andretti estimated Sunday's Milwaukee attendance would be slightly higher than last year's 28,000 people, but sponsorship was "way up," he said.

Andretti said it's too early to say if his company will seek to continue the event after the contract expires after next year's race.

"We still have to get (attendance) up to really go beyond next year," he said.

Kevin Healy, the event's managing director, said the 2015 race is expected to remain in this time slot, a week after the Wisconsin State Fair (Aug. 6-16). That likely makes the race weekend Aug. 22-23.

Andretti's group rescued racing at the historic Milwaukee Mile in 2012, hosting IndyCar in mid-June the first two years. Healy said the switch to a weekend after the fair allowed for significant promotion during the event that drew more than 1 million people.

Wheldons attend race

Sebastian Wheldon, 5, attended this weekend's IndyCar event with his mother, Susie. He left with at least one souvenir and maybe a new favorite IndyCar Series driver.

Marco Andretti gave him a yellow hat at dinner Friday night, and Dan Wheldon's oldest son wore it at the track.

Andretti said he "better be" Sebastian's new favorite driver.

"I said, 'No more (Scott) Dixon hats,' " he said.

Like Dixon, Andretti was a Wheldon teammate.

Call Star reporter Curt Cavin at (317) 444-6409.