One of the best signs of a growing motorsports economy is when teams put out the ‘Help Wanted’ sign.

That is the case at Andretti Autosport as an increase in full-time entries from four drivers to five, with Colton Herta coming over from Harding Steinbrenner Racing, has the team seeking additional personnel.

“Yes, for sure, we are growing,” Andretti Autosport race engineer Ray Gosselin told NTT INDYCAR Mobile Wednesday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. “We have to bring some more people in. We have some other programs in the shop that can expand and contract during the offseason. Once the team gets a look at how those things are going to change, they can take a look at how our IndyCar team will look next year.

“Right now, we are looking for more crew members, engineers and other personnel.”

In addition to bringing over Harding Steinbrenner Racing over to the Andretti Autosport operation to create Andretti Harding Steinbrenner Autosport, team owner Michael Andretti wants to continue a satellite relationship with a part-time Honda team. That would be similar to its arrangement with Harding Steinbrenner in 2019, when Andretti Technologies handled all of the engineering and much of the crew responsibilities for rookie driver Colton Herta.

That arrangement was highly successful with Herta winning three poles and two races including the INDYCAR Classic at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) on March 25 and the season-ending Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey on Sept. 22.

One option for a “satellite” arrangement could be with Meyer Shank Racing and driver Jack Harvey, which worked alongside Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports in 2018 and 2019. But with McLaren joining the Arrow Schmidt Peterson operation to become Arrow McLaren Racing SP, it will be a Chevrolet team in 2020. Meyer Shank Racing team owner Mike Shank runs a Honda operation.

“Where we are going to end up next year, I leave that one up to Michael Shank,” Harvey told NTT INDYCAR Mobile. “I trust him to steer us in the right direction and build us a future together.

“There are a lot of really great teams out there as well. I trust Michael to work with AutoNation and SiriusXM to try and put us in a position to go full-time. The support from both parties has been invaluable. A thank you to them and to Mike Shank for putting it together again.

“There are a few things as a team we still need to work out. I think we are in a strong position between the lines and will have something to say here real soon.”

The business climate in the NTT IndyCar Series is improving and teams like Andretti Autosport and others are fueling that economic growth through expansion of their operations.