Tag: Dale Coyne Racing

Tristan Vautier made it look like he never left. A full eight years and nine months after his last NTT IndyCar Series start on a road or street course, the Frenchman’s impromptu drive at Detroit for Dale Coyne Racing was a revelation for those who didn’t know he was this good.

Starting 25th, Vautier rose as high as third on an alternate strategy with his No. 51 Honda. He’d ultimately finish 18th, one spot behind teammate Jack Harvey, after two delays while stopping to avoid other drivers’ accidents, a problematic pit stop where a rear wheel wasn’t secured, losing a lap, unlapping himself, closing the 100-lap race on fading used alternate tires, and the need to pit with four laps remaining conspired against securing a better result.

For those who did know Vautier is a complete package, his shining performance, achieved with no preparation time on a simulator or in testing, was a reminder of how the 2012 Indy Lights champion has always been overlooked for a return opportunity in the series.

“The first lap was pretty intense, especially on a track when you hit the back straight and the car starts zigzagging on you and doesn’t go in a straight line because it’s so bumpy,” Vautier told RACER. “But you’ve got to go because people are trying to run over. We tried to go at a conservative pace to protect the tire wear, but that made it scarier. We were struggling the whole weekend to make our tires work so that made it extra hard, but somehow I felt good in the car and I managed to find my marks fairly quickly and it was cool. It was very enjoyable as well. I really like driving these cars.”

At 34, the older version of Vautier demonstrated a complementary blend of speed and maturity as he ran with the lead pack when possible. He also kept the No. 51 Honda off the walls and away from his rivals’ cars — something that everyone from Josef Newgarden to Pato O’Ward were unable to do.

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“This morning, before the race, I just I told myself, ‘You have to be at the end; you’ve got to see that checker,’ and I was proud that we did,” he said. “I wanted to do my best and make an impression, so I tried to drive as smart as I can. The race was very chaotic. There was a lot of instances where I managed to avoid the chaos. There was a lot of incidents I had to avoid. It was one of those races where people just send it everywhere. I decided I will be at the end, and I was very happy about that.”

Vautier’s race nearly came to an end on lap 17 when he was sent from the pit box without a nut securing the left-rear wheel.

“It’s the first time it happened to me,” he said. “I got to the back straight and something made me not want to go full throttle; there’s something that was odd, so I started lifting and I look at the left side mirror, and I see that something is a bit off. When I got to the hairpin, I knew for sure. And it came off in Turn 6 and then, luckily, I had enough momentum to get back because the car goes into anti-stall that starts interfering and all that. Luckily, I could just roll the car all the way to pit lane. Unfortunately, that lap was so slow that we lost a lap, so then we had to un-lap ourselves and we were on the back foot.”

He won’t be available to race for Coyne this weekend in Road America—he’s off to France to support Chip Ganassi Racing and Cadillac Racing as its reserve driver at the Le Mans test day and then the 24 Hours of Le Mans—but he’s free to do more for Coyne or any other team with a need at Laguna Seca or other events afterwards.

“That’s all I want,” he said. “I have no regrets about the weekend. I feel like I did everything I could to show that I deserve a shot. I hope the phone rings. When Dale Coyne rings, he doesn’t call you for nothing, so I’ll just wait and see if the phone rings…if it’s Dale or maybe someone else.”

Six years, 11 months, and 23 days. That’s the gap between Tristan Vautier’s last NTT IndyCar Series start for Dale Coyne Racing and his next, which will take place on Sunday at the Detroit Grand Prix in the No. 51 Honda.

The talented Frenchman, winner of the 2012 Indy Lights championship, spent his rookie season in 2013 with the team known today as Arrow McLaren, and lacking a budget to continue, turned to sports cars before making a return to IndyCar in the second half of 2015 with Coyne where he produced a career-best finish of fourth at Detroit.

With his injured friend and countryman Sebastien Bourdais sidelined after suffering a major crash in qualifying at the 2017 Indianapolis 500, Vautier was among the drivers drafted in by Coyne to keep Bourdais’ car in action while he recovered. After placing 16th at Texas Motor Speedway that June, Vautier will get another opportunity to show his skills nearly seven years to the day of his last IndyCar outing.

“That’s the funny thing; there hasn’t been anything since 2017, but we’ve always kept a good relationship with Dale,” Vautier told RACER. “Dale has his famous saying, ‘You never know,’ and this opportunity to race again in IndyCar with him is exactly like his saying.”

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A little-known fact about the relationship between Coyne and Vautier is the trust the Illinois-based team owner has in his former — and now current — driver. Although there hasn’t been a need to make use of it since Texas in 2017, Coyne has carried Vautier’s seat in his IndyCar transporters over the last six years and 11 months just in case he needed an emergency stand-in to pilot one of his cars.

Vautier’s seat has completed tens of thousands of miles trekking across the country since 2017, and finally, it will be taken down from the rafters and fitted once again to a Dale Coyne Racing entry.

“Dale has always kept my seat so it’s ready for me if he calls, so it’s great to get to use it!” Vautier said with a laugh.

The 34-year-old has been out of open-wheel racing for a good while, but that shouldn’t be mistaken for anything other than a lack of opportunities. Vautier’s been among the most popular solutions for European and American sports car teams for more than a decade, racing in IMSA’s top prototype class — which included an overall win at the 12 Hours of Sebring in 2021 — and at Le Mans.

He spent the 2023 season racing in the European Le Mans Series in the LMP2 category and has stayed ready for a call like the one he received from Coyne. Finding his way back to a full-time IndyCar role is a longshot, but attracting the interest of an IMSA GTP team owner for 2025 would be helpful.

“I think if you were trying to write a script with the way my career has gone, you couldn’t really do it,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of opportunities like this that put me back on the map, so that is what I’m hoping for. I’m not scared of doing this with no preparation, but to be fully honest and humble, I certainly don’t underestimate the challenge.

“This will be the longest since I’ve been in an IndyCar, and with the most changes to the car; I’ve never used the aeroscreen. I don’t know the track. But again, I am gonna go there, I’m hungry, and I’m going to do my best and see where it leads me. What do I have to lose, right? It’s super exciting for me and I like these opportunities.”

Vautier’s surprise IndyCar return is set for Detroit, but he won’t be able to continue the following weekend at Road America in the No. 51 Honda as he’s been hired by Chip Ganassi Racing as its reserve driver for Cadillac Racing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans which holds its official test day — for which some drivers have waivers while racing elsewhere on Sunday, June 9 — where Vautier will need to be present with the team in France.