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2026 Dale Coyne Racing News

Romain Grosjean – No. 18 Bmax, Dale Coyne Racing Honda For his first race back in over a year, Romain came out and qualified P6, giving the veteran driver confidence he could convert that into a good finish. After an early yellow, Grosjean stayed out with a majority of the field, settling into P7. Coming in to pit on lap 35, Grosjean and the Dale Coyne Racing team put on a fresh set of Firestone Primary Tires. Committing to a 2 stop strategy, Grosjean went long on this stint, pitting on lap 69 from P3 on track. On this pit stop, Grosjean and the team went on to the Firestone Alternate tires to fulfill the new NTT INDYCAR SERIES rule requiring teams to use two sets of Alternate tires. (The 18 team also started the race on the alternate compound.) Committing to making it all the way to the end of the race on these tires, Grosjean went on to finish the race on this set of Firestone Alternate tires. Defending against the 76 car for his final stint, Grosjean came out on top and ended his day in P8, a productive day for the new driver and engineering combination and in his homecoming with Dale Coyne racing. Post-Race Quote: "Today was a good day, whenever you start in the top 6 you are just looking to capitalize on the qualifying effort and today I think we did that starting the year with a P 8 finish. I think we could have done more and gotten a few more spots, but if you told me going into this weekend that id be in the firestone fast 6 and be top 10 in the race, I would have been very happy with that. Its only the first race of the year but it is finishes like this that make a good impression on the final point standings, so its a productive start for myself and the team. Id like to thank all of my partners, Todd (Ault) was here this weekend sponsoring the truck series race and to watch the Dale Coyne team and I am happy to put on a good weekend to start out. I'm thankful for all of his support in my comeback to Dale Coyne Racing". Dennis Hauger – No. 19 Ault Blockchain, Dale Coyne Racing Honda After putting on the best qualifying debut from a rookie in their debut since 2018, Dennis Hauger entered the race poised to make the most of his 2nd row starting position. Staying clean on the opening lap and battling wheel-to-wheel with reigning NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion and former DCR driver Alex Palou, Hauger found himself in P5 when the lap one yellow flew. In his first laps in an NTT INDYCAR SERIES race, Dennis Hauger managed to hold off the Penske of David Malukas and teammate Romain Grosjean to pit from P4 on lap 36 to go on to the Firestone Alternate tires. Staying out long to commit to the 2-stop strategy, Dennis Hauger held in well for a very non-forgiving race track in St. Petersburg, where any contact with the walls can end your day. Pitting for a final time on lap 68, the Dale Coyne Racing team put on the Primary tires for the rookie driver. Running consistent race laps for the remainder of the race, Hauger came across the checkered flag P10, finishing his debut performance in INDYCAR with a top-10 finish. Dennis Hauger ends his debut race in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES race weekend showing the world how much raw talent the rookie possesses by qualifying P3 and receiving his first top 10 finish in his first ever race. Post-Race Quote: "This weekend is a dream come true. I have dreaming of this for a long time, to get P3 in my first ever qualifying performance in an IndyCar was surreal and to turn that into a top 10 finish is such a great feeling. I think we did good this weekend, but I know we have more we can find in ourselves to finish even better going forward. We can build off of this performance and I'm exited to go out and do this all again next week. I had all of my partners from Norway here this weekend so I'm happy I could give them a good performance for them I'm so grateful for all their support".

Dale Coyne Racing Firestone Grand Prix of St Petersburg Race Report

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