Dale Coyne Racing – Page 3 – Syndication Server

2024 IndyCar full-time entry options down to one team

It’s the second week of January and nine out of the NTT IndyCar Series’ 10 full-time teams have their drivers signed and ready to go for the March 10 season opener on the Floridian streets of St. Petersburg. That’s a testament to the stability of …

That’s a testament to the stability of the paddock as the majority of the teams — all privately-owned businesses — have secured the budgets, personnel, and driving talent to have their programs locked in at a comparatively early point in the year. It’s a notable change from how the process usually works.

Getting into late January and early February with two or three incomplete rosters has been common throughout the years, and on more than one occasion, the season’s final full-time driver has rocked up at Round 1 to meet their new team and pose for official series photos the day before the opening practice session. But that shouldn’t be the case in 2024, as 25 of the 27 drivers who’ll comprise the grid across 17 rounds are signed and confirmed.

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The 10th and final team to nominate its drivers is Dale Coyne Racing which, historically, is not unexpected due to the frequent rotation of rookies and veterans through its pair of Honda-powered entries. Two-year Andretti Global driver Devlin DeFrancesco has been mentioned on a regular basis as someone who is likely to join the Illinois-based team, but the Italian-Canadian pilot was non-committal when asked about the matter.

“I’m leaving that to my managers,” DeFrancesco told RACER. “I’m definitely working to come back in ’25, full-swing, if ’24 does not happen. But I will definitely be back, one-million percent. It’s just a matter of when, not if.”

Along with DeFrancesco, former Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver Jack Harvey, Indy NXT and Coyne-affiliated driver Danial Frost, former A.J. Foyt Racing driver Benjamin Pedersen, and others have been spoken of as potential options for Coyne to consider.

The grid won’t be set until the 26th and 27th entries have “To Be Determined” removed from their placeholders, so for now, here are the 25 new or returning team and driver combinations.

A.J. Foyt Racing

No. 14 Chevy, Santino Ferrucci

No. 41 Chevy, Sting Ray Robb (replacing Benjamin Pedersen, joining from Dale Coyne Racing)

Andretti Global

No. 26 Honda, Colton Herta

No. 27 Honda, Kyle Kirkwood

No. 28 Honda, Marcus Ericsson (replacing Romain Grosjean, joining from Chip Ganassi Racing)

Arrow McLaren

No. 5 Chevy, Pato O’Ward

No. 6 Chevy, David Malukas (replacing Felix Rosenqvist, joining from Dale Coyne Racing)

No. 7 Chevy, Alexander Rossi

Chip Ganassi Racing

No. 4 Honda, Kyffin Simpson (rookie, new entry)

No. 8 Honda, Linus Lundqvist (rookie, replacing Marcus Ericsson)

No. 9 Honda, Scott Dixon

No. 10 Honda, Alex Palou

No. 11 Honda, Marcus Armstrong

Dale Coyne Racing

TBD

Ed Carpenter Racing

No. 20 Chevy, Christian Rasmussen (rookie, road and street courses) and Ed Carpenter (ovals)

No. 21 Chevy, Rinus VeeKay

Juncos Hollinger Racing

No. 77 Chevy, Romain Grosjean (replacing Callum Ilott, joining from Andretti Global)

No. 78 Chevy, Agustin Canapino

Meyer Shank Racing

No. 60 Honda, Felix Rosenqvist (replacing Simon Pagenaud, joining from Arrow McLaren)

No. 66 Honda, Tom Blomqvist (rookie, replacing Helio Castroneves)

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing

No. 15 Honda, Graham Rahal

No. 30 Honda, Pietro Fittipaldi (replacing Jack Harvey)

No. 45 Honda, Christian Lundgaard

Team Penske

No. 2 Chevy, Josef Newgarden

No. 3 Chevy, Scott McLaughlin

No. 12 Chevy, Will Power

IndyCar silly season making a happy hunting ground for Dale Coyne Racing

It’s good to be Dale Coyne. The IndyCar driver turned IndyCar team owner finds himself in the familiar position of having two coveted NTT IndyCar Series seats to offer and plenty of drivers who are hustling to make one of the Honda-powered cars …

With so few openings left for drivers to find their way onto the IndyCar grid, Dale Coyne Racing has become the most popular destination for those in search of a home next season, and true to form, Coyne is in no hurry to fill those slots.

DCR ran David Malukas and Sting Ray Robb last year, and with Malukas signing to drive for Arrow McLaren for 2024, Robb is among at least a half-dozen racers who are vying to sign with the Illinois-based team.

There’s Devlin DeFrancesco who, like Robb, has a budget to offer, and Enzo Fittipaldi, brother of Rahal Letterman Lanigan’s Pietro Fittipaldi, who tests for DCR next week and is also said to have funding. DCR development driver Danial Frost, who won the opening Indy NXT race in 2023 but faded afterwards, is in the frame along with ex-RLL driver Jack Harvey and NXT championship contender Hunter McElrea. Then there’s IndyCar’s newest free agent, Callum Ilott, and more.

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“We’re talking to all the usual suspects, and there’s some surprises,” Coyne told RACER. “So watch this space, but yeah, we’re talking to Sting Ray. We’d love to have him back again. Devlin’s talking to us, so you don’t know what could happen there. And Danial Frost is in the game, too. When we tested him at Sebring about a year ago, he was really quick. We have a lot of time for Danial.”

Coyne also says interest from Europe is higher than ever. Formula 2 championship leader Theo Pourchaire, who recently acknowledged his desire to race in IndyCar, is among an ever-growing number of drivers who find themselves locked out of Formula 1 and need to find a different series to launch their professional careers. One of them could land with Coyne.

“The whole road to Formula 1 is not always clear,” Coyne said. “You look at some of the guys that have won the championship and they’ve gotten nothing. Even Mick Schumacher won a championship, went there, wasn’t there for long, and hasn’t gotten back to racing [in F1]. And the Brazilian kid [Felipe] Drugovich, he won a championship but never got there.

“Those guys really want to be in Formula 1 so bad, but you just can’t go every weekend and sit there and eat quiche because you’re a reserve driver. That’s a nice lifestyle, but a true racer doesn’t really want to do that forever. Those guys get trapped in that, so they think about coming over here. And some of them are really good.”

Davis returns to Dale Coyne Racing as team manager

Dale Coyne Racing has rehired Mitch Davis as its new team manager. Davis, a veteran of the CART IndyCar Series and the NTT IndyCar Series, looked after the Illinois-based team when it won its first race in 2009 with the late Justin Wilson at Watkins Glen, and comes back to the team after helping the Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti IMSA GTP team during its title-contending 2023 season.

“I’m excited to be back at Dale Coyne Racing and thankful to Dale for this opportunity,” said Davis, pictured above in 2012. “Dale has put together a strong team of people with who I look forward to accomplishing great things. I can’t wait to get this next season started.”

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Coyne’s lifelong friend Terry Brown has served as DCR’s team manager since 2018 and will shift to a new role managing special projects for the organization.

“We’re extremely pleased to have Mitch join us once again as team manager,” Coyne said. “Not only does he bring a wealth of experience and expertise with him, but he is also very well respected within the racing community, and I know he will be a great addition to our team.

“I also want to take this opportunity to thank Terry Brown for his continued commitment to the team, including these past six seasons as team manager and for his thirty plus years with us before that.”

Enzo Fittipaldi set for IndyCar test with Coyne

Al and Bobby Unser, Rick and Roger Mears, Mike and Robbie Groff… the tradition of brothers who’ve raced against each other in IndyCar has many interesting chapters, and there’s a possibility for a new one to be written next year between Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Pietro Fittipaldi and his younger brother Enzo, who is scheduled to test with Dale Coyne Racing.

It’s too early to say if 26-year-old Pietro and 22-year-old Enzo will face off in the NTT IndyCar Series, but the Brazilian-Americans will share the same track at Sebring International Raceway in early November as DCR joins RLL for a few days of learning under the Florida sun. It’s unclear if Enzo’s test is part of a bigger plan to switch to IndyCar, but the Fittipaldis are known to have an interest in seeing the brothers race together if possible.

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Where Pietro’s open-wheel activities have been more sporadic than desired in recent years, Enzo — a member of the Red Bull Junior Team — has been relentlessly busy since 2017, contesting full Formula 4, Formula 3, and Formula 2 championships without interruption.

Currently seventh in the F2 standings on the strength of four podiums and one win with the Rodin Carlin team, the younger Fittipaldi has spent just over two seasons in Formula 1’s top development category. With no known seats awaiting his services in F1, and little to learn by returning to F2 for a third full-season campaign, a switch to IndyCar with DCR — where his older brother made his IndyCar debut in 2018 and returned for three races in 2021 — would make for a great story to follow between the Fittipaldi brothers in 2024.

RACER also understands Indy NXT front-runner Jacob Abel is meant to take part in the same two-day test with DCR.

Malukas set to depart Dale Coyne Racing at the end of the season

IndyCar sophomore David Malukas will be moving on from Dale Coyne Racing at the end of the season. The Chicago native, who pilots the family-sponsored No. 18 DCR with HMD Motorsports Honda, signed a two-year contract with the home state team in 2022 …

IndyCar sophomore David Malukas will be moving on from Dale Coyne Racing at the end of the season.

The Chicago native, who pilots the family-sponsored No. 18 DCR with HMD Motorsports Honda, signed a two-year contract with the home state team in 2022 and quickly demonstrated his aptitude across the series’ road, street, and oval disciplines during his rookie campaign.

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Entering 2023 with a new, first-time IndyCar race engineer in Alex Athanasiadis, Malukas has weathered the inevitable growing pains while taking more steps forward in his career, which includes a strong run to sixth last weekend at Mid-Ohio.

Having reached a point where Malukas is drawing interest from the likes of Andretti Autosport, among other teams, the 21-year-old is ready to pursue race wins and championships with a front-running program.

“We’re talking to other teams, and we haven’t officially signed anything with anybody else, but things do look promising,” Malukas told RACER. “And I do know for my future, I will not be returning to Dale Coyne.”

The irreverent Lithuanian-American credits Coyne, team manager Terry Brown, the engineers, and the mechanics for all they’ve done to help him develop at a rapid rate and seek his first paying ride in IndyCar.

“There’s many reasons why we chose Dale’s team,” Malukas said. “Obviously, you get to IndyCar and it’s a big deal; my whole life was spent leading up to that point. You want to be in the best environment as a rookie, and I think Dale Coyne’s team is probably the best team you could be in.

“Going to the shop and being there and hanging out with the team has been really important. Everybody greets you like you’re family and they all make it where there’s no stress. You’re already under a lot of stress naturally while you’re trying to learn everything to become an IndyCar driver, so the environment they create is just helpful for you to be inside of.”

Few of the dominoes in what will be a busy IndyCar silly season have yet to fall, but Malukas hopes to have a final direction on where he’ll be driving by August.

“We’re still in early-to-mid talks with these teams,” he said. “But I hope to have answers in another month or so.”