Story highlights John Kasich says he's staying in the Republican primary race 
 
 That despite Donald Trump's massive delegate lead 
 
 Indianapolis (CNN) Ted Cruz is out, but John Kasich isn't going anywhere, his camp said Tuesday night. 
 
 In an email to supporters, the Ohio governor's presidential campaign hopped on the news that Cruz was throwing in the towel, meaning Kasich is the sole remaining primary competitor to front-runner Donald Trump. 
 
 "Sen. Ted Cruz just dropped out of the presidential race and it's up to us to stop Trump and unify our party in time to defeat Hillary Clinton," Kasich campaign manager Ben Hansen said in the email, which also asked supporters to donate money. 
 
 One Kasich adviser referenced a story The governor has told at various points during his lagging campaign. At one point during a governor's race, former California governor, Hollywood star and Kasich supporter Arnold Schwarzenegger advised Kaisch to "love the beatings." That, the adviser said, just how Kasich approaches the race. It's something that has become even more important given the man who is now his lone opponent: Trump. 
 
 Cruz suspended his White House bid Tuesday, shortly after his drubbing in the Indiana primary. Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus quickly declared Trump his party's presumptive nominee. 
 
 Read More ||||| UPDATE: John Kasich is expected to make an announcement at 5 p.m. on Wednesday announcing he is dropping out of the presidential race. 
 
 Presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump all but locked up the Republican 2016 nomination Tuesday night after scoring a win in the Indiana primary and knocking out his closest rival. 
 
 U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas bowed out of the fight for the White House after it was clear Trump has a path toward locking up the nomination at the Republican Convention. 
 
 But there's still another GOP hopeful in the race. 
 
 Trump moves closer to GOP nomination 
 
 Ohio Gov. John Kasich's campaign indicated the night of Trump's win that he has no plans to drop out of the race. 
 
 "Tonight's results are not going to alter Gov. Kasich's campaign plans," the governor's campaign said in a note to supporters. 
 
 "Our strategy has been and continues to be one that involves winning the nomination at an open convention," the note reads. "Gov. Kasich will remain in the race unless a candidate reaches 1,237 bound delegates before the convention." 
 
 Trump, the billionaire businessman and former Atlantic City casino tycoon, leads the pack with 1,047 delegates, while Kasich, who finished a distant third in Indiana's primary, trails with only 153 delegates. 
 
 With Cruz, who accumulated 565 delegates, out of the race, it was enough for the chairman of the Republican National Committee to declare Trump the presumptive nominee. 
 
 .@realDonaldTrump will be presumptive @GOP nominee, we all need to unite and focus on defeating @HillaryClinton #NeverClinton -- Reince Priebus (@Reince) May 4, 2016 
 
 Why then, is Kasich still in the race? 
 
 "At this point he is in it waiting for some kind of scandal that makes a Trump candidacy untenable," said Julian Zelizer, a professor of political history at Princeton University. 
 
 Without an earth-shattering shakeup between now and the convention in July, Kasich doesn't stand much of a chance -- at all, he said. However, the Ohio governor could be looking to the next presidential election year. 
 
 "The other is more about 2020," Zelizer said. "If Trump is blown out in the General Election, he wants to be the Republican people remember having pushed for a different path and who stayed in on principle even if politics said he was done." 
 
 At least one other political observer agreed Kasich could be waiting for Trump to crash. 
 
 "He hopes that something happens and Mr. Trump implodes," said Craig Stevens, a GOP consultant. "He feels like there needs to be a traditional Republican in the race as an alternative." 
 
 Larry Sabato, the director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, said Kasich may remain in the battle because he "may try to prove" something for the Republican establishment. 
 
 However, he doesn't stand a chance, Sabato said. 
 
 "He can't win the nomination," he said. 
 
 Nonetheless, it hasn't stopped Kasich's camp from taking to social media to promote their campaign. 
 
 Appreciate @Reince & his hard work for @GOP, but until someone has 1,237 bound delegates there is no presumptive nominee. CA here we come. -- John Weaver (@JWGOP) May 4, 2016 
 
 Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewArco or on Facebook. Follow NJ.com Politics on Facebook.
– Back when there were almost 20 GOP candidates, including the likes of Jeb Bush, Scott Walker, and Chris Christie, not many people would have bet on the herd being thinned down to just Donald Trump and John Kasich. But that is where the race stands after Trump's big win in Indiana Tuesday and Ted Cruz's withdrawal—and Kasich's team says it isn't over. "It's up to us to stop Trump and unify our party in time to defeat Hillary Clinton," Kasich campaign manager Beth Hansen said in an email to supporters after Cruz's exit, per CNN. "Tonight's results are not going to alter Gov. Kasich's campaign plans," reads a campaign email from Kasich chief strategist John Weaver seen by Politico. "Our strategy has been and continues to be one that involves winning the nomination at an open convention." But the Ohio governor—who was in third place in Indiana with 7.6% of the vote, behind Cruz with 36.6% and Trump with 53.3%—has just 153 delegates compared to well over 1,000 for Trump, putting him in fourth place behind both Cruz and Marco Rubio. GOP consultant Craig Stevens tells NJ.com that Kasich appears to be staying in the race because he feels there needs to be a "traditional Republican" to turn to if scandal destroys Trump's candidacy between now and the convention.