Dale Coyne Racing will use NTT IndyCar Series veteran Jack Harvey and IMSA champion Colin Braun to conduct the final pre-season test of the year in his Nos. 18 and 51 entries.
The two-day test, which runs across Monday and Tuesday at Sebring International Raceway’s short course, has the entire field onsite to shakedown and tune their 2024-specification Dallara DW12s before the March 8-10 season opener two hours northwest in St. Petersburg.
For Harvey, his use at Sebring is a continuation of the testing he conducted for DCR in the No. 18 Honda at the Homestead-Miami roval in January. For the 35-year-old Braun, it marks his first appearance in an Indy car after turning pro at the age of 16 in 2005 at the Rolex 24 At Daytona.
[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1408]
A three-time IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship title winner and three-time winner of the Rolex 24, Braun caught the attention of IndyCar team owners during the most recent IMSA season where he partnered with Tom Blomqvist in the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06 hybrid GTP car.
Braun’s speed and consistency alongside Blomqvist, the 2022 IMSA DPi champion who was signed by MSR to drive this season in IndyCar, often equaled or exceeded his teammate and led to at least one other IndyCar team taking a look at the Texan.
RACER expects Harvey to be confirmed for St. Petersburg and other races in the No. 18. The outcome of Braun’s IndyCar testing debut on Tuesday will likely dictate whether he will get the nod to race the No. 51 at round one. With full-time commitments in multiple sports car series, Braun’s availability to compete for DCR would be subject to his availability after St. Petersburg. As of Friday, the team had its engineering staff set for Harvey’s No. 18 but was unable to confirm who would engineer the No. 51, which could be the reason behind running Harvey on day one and Braun on day two instead of testing both cars at the same time.
Among the other drivers who are anticipated to be part of DCR’s rotating cast in 2024, RACER understands open-wheel veteran Katherine Legge and Indy NXT title challenger Nolan Siegel are in play. Former A.J. Foyt Racing driver Benjamin Pedersen has also been mentioned as a possibility for DCR to use.