As Chevrolet’s U.S. Performance Vehicles & Motorsports at General Motors, Jim Campbell oversees Chevy’s Verizon IndyCar Series program. And Campbell told Autoweek Saturday that he would prefer to see Team Penske with four drivers next season instead of reducing to three.

That factor may be enough to keep three-time Indianapolis 500 winning driver Hélio Castroneves in the series as a full-time driver in 2018.

It was presumed this would be Castroneves’ final full-time IndyCar season and he would move over to Team Penske’s Acura IMSA program next year.

Castroneves has been an important part of Chevrolet’s IndyCar program.

“Hélio is a guy that can win big races, he can enthuse a team, he can lead from the cockpit,” Campbell said. “He can elevate the sport and attract fans that come from across motorsports lines and that is great. He can expand the fan base in a way that is unique.

“For me, he is excellence behind the wheel and can expand the fan base outside of the series.”

When team owner Michael Andretti decided to remain with Honda instead of returning to Chevrolet, the loss of one more car on the grid would put Chevrolet at just seven. Most of this season, there have been at least eight full-time Chevrolet cars in the series.

“The discussions we have with teams regarding car counts and drivers are something we have with them but in the end, it’s the decision of the team owner, how many they are going to run and who they put behind the wheel,” Campbell told Autoweek. “They always do a great job of keeping us informed. We are excited about racing with Team Penske and they bring an A game every single race.”

In 2017, there has been an imbalance between Honda, with upwards of 12 cars on the grid, and Chevrolet with eight. Despite that, Chevrolet won the Manufacturer’s Championship for the sixth straight season.

In the six seasons of the Chevrolet V6 IndyCar program, Team Chevy drivers have 66 wins of the 100 races run to date. Additionally, drivers powered by Chevrolet have scored 59 percent of the possible podium finishing positions and captured 73 percent of the Verizon P1 Pole Awards.

“The final number of Chevy entries for next season has yet to be determined,” Campbell said. “Some teams are still working on where they will align. We want to align with the right teams and the right drivers. That number will be what it is and things for next year are still moving around. We have a requirement by the series to have a certain amount of the field covered and we will meet that and more.

“We have eight cars of the 21 entries and that is 40 percent of the field. Four of those cars have delivered nine of our wins. All of the team owners in Chevrolet from Team Penske to Ed Carpenter Racing to AJ Foyt Racing have contributed valuable points to the Manufacturer Championship and we have been very proud of winning that for the sixth year in a row.”

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