Dale Coyne Racing put together their best combined IndyCar result in over three years at St. Pete last weekend. Romain Grosjean finished 8th and rookie Dennis Hauger came in 10th. It marks the first time since Iowa in 2022 that Dale Coyne Racing had both cars in the top 10.
In qualifying, both drivers brilliantly made it into the Firestone Fast 6. Hauger started 3rd and Grosjean 6th, but both slid back at the start to 5th and 7th respectively. From there it was a clean race for both drivers, although the pit sequences hurt them. The team ran an alternate-primary-alternate strategy for both drivers, guiding them to their final positions.
St. Pete not perfect, but a solid IndyCar weekend for Dale Coyne Racing
Both drivers were pleased with their efforts, though acknowledged that there was room for improvement. Grosjean remarked afterwards: “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 P8 finish. I think we could have done more and gotten a few more spots, but if you told me going into this weekend that I’d be in the Firestone Fast 6 and be top 10 in the race, I would have been very happy with that.”
With a P3 start and a top 10 finish in his first race, Hauger called it “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.”
Up next is Phoenix this weekend
Keeping momentum into next week will be complicated by being a clean slate for everyone involved. IndyCar is visiting its first oval of 2026, their first trip to Phoenix since it was reconfigured in 2019. It will be Hauger’s first ever IndyCar oval and the first oval for Grosjean since 2024. The 2025 Indy NXT champion, Hauger has shown promise on the ovals. He had three poles and four top 5s in his first ever oval races, but no wins. While Grosjean naturally has more IndyCar experience on ovals, he only has four top 10s and a best finish of 7th at Iowa in 2022.
