At some point in the future, fans will win games of IndyCar trivia by naming how many drivers competed for Dale Coyne Racing in 2024. That answer (nine) has another level to unlock by answering how many drivers were entered to complete the season with the Nos. 18 and 51 Honda (10, thanks to Nolan Siegel being deployed in both cars).
And while those numbers might never be repeated, one person who won’t mind is Coyne (pictured above with Katherine Legge), who wants to go back to a traditional format for his Illinois-based team in 2025 with a pair of full-time drivers.
“That’s certainly our goal, and we’ve got a lot of irons in the fire right now going toward that,” Coyne told RACER. “I think the charter thing is a good first step. I think there’s a partner plan that could come after that for us, but searching for the drivers is a parallel path with all of that. So it all could happen quickly if a couple guys land here or there, and I think we’ll all know very quickly how things are shaping up for us next year.”
[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1408]
Coyne is the only IndyCar team owner with two open seats left to offer. It’s a blessing in the sense that he and team manager Mitch Davis have a wide array of options to choose from, but thanks to the escalating costs to compete in IndyCar, reaching the high financial bar to secure a car for the entirety of the championship is not something most funded drivers can afford.
Pursuing a single driver for each car will continue, but if ones with the necessary year-long budget do not emerge, Coyne is open to a smaller version of the ride-sharing program that gave so many young talents a chance to gain IndyCar experience this season.
“It’s never a bad thing if you have to; it’s what we did that this year,” he said. “In all honesty, just about every single Indy Lights [NXT] driver has called up and wants to do a race or two. We had to pick and choose what we did to get through. Toby Sowery did a few races, and he did a great job. Luca Ghiotto from Europe did some, and then Hunter McElrea, he made the most out of his one weekend, and he sure made an impression when he did it.
“So, yeah, I think it’s been good for these drivers to have some place to try and showcase what they’ve got, and that’s worked out good for next year. There’s all kinds of options. We’ve got the Lights guys, you’ve got Formula 2 guys, you’ve got some Formula 1 guys now. A lot of things are moving around.”