Fernando Alonso's chances of racing in this year's Indy 500 took another hit following Ed Carpenter Racing's decision to turn down the Spaniard's potential offer, the entrant being fully booked for this year's blue riband event.
Team owner Ed Carpenter said he was approached by a representative of Alonso to run the two-time F1 world champion at the Brickyard in May but insisted he would not field a fourth entry.
Carpenter will once again race himself at Indy, this year alongside Dutch hopeful Rinus Veekay and a third entry for Conor Daly.
The American teamowner/driver feels that expanding his team to a fourth car would be to the detriment of the three others.
"We are a two-car team," Carpenter told NBCSports.com. "If we doubled the size of our team for May, it wouldn’t be good for everybody.
"What would it take to consider four cars? Money, people and time," Carpenter added.
Alonso's limited options for Indy stem mainly from Honda's refusal to power the former F1 driver who publicly criticized the Japanese manufacturer during its dismal partnership with McLaren.
The bad blood ultimately killed a potential deal for Alonso to race at Indy with Andretti Autosport and has therefore restricted the 38-year-old's options to those teams running Chevrolet engines.
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Carpenter said he wasn't surprised by Honda's decision to block Alonso's endeavor with Andretti Autosport.
"It had happened before," he said. "The difference is Fernando is separated from McLaren.
"It was pretty surprising they got that far down the road before they realized it was going to become an issue with how public that dispute had become."
The new Arrow McLaren SP outfit could potentially accommodate Alonso with a third seat, but that prospect seems unlikely given that the Spaniard recently relinquished his role as a brand ambassador for McLaren.
It's also unlikely Alonso would team up with a second-tier outfit such as A.J. Foyt Racing, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, DragonSpeed and Juncos Racing.
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