PLAINFIELD, Ill. — With less than a week until the green flag waves for the first practice of the NTT IndyCar Series season on the streets of St. Petersburg, Fla., Dale Coyne Racing has revealed their driver lineup for the season.
Veteran IndyCar driver Jack Harvey will pilot DCR’s No. 18 INVST entry for 14 races this season, starting at this weekend’s Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Harvey, who has been racing in the series since 2017, has 79 IndyCar Series race starts under his belt with a best finish of third at the Indy Grand Prix at Indianapolis.
“I’m thrilled to join Dale Coyne Racing for this season,” Harvey said. “I want to thank Dale, INVST and many other supporters for giving me this opportunity to return to the NTT IndyCar Seires and continue this journey. St. Pete has always been a city, and circuit, that I have loved and it’s great to have the opportunity to start this new chapter at one of my favorite events.”
Harvey competed for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing the last two seasons.
Last year’s Indy NXT by Firestone rookie of the year Nolan Siegel, who tested with the team earlier this year, will be sharing driving duties with Harvey aboard the No. 18 car this season. Siegel who is competing full time for HMD Motorsports in the IndyCar feeder series, will take part in four, non-conflicting, races with DCR this year.
The rookie will be behind the wheel for the $1 Million Challenge at Thermal Club in California, the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, the Honda Indy Toronto and he will have the opportunity to qualify for his first Indianapolis 500 in May.
The team’s sister No. 51 car, which once again features a partnership with Rick Ware Racing will have sports car veteran, 24 Hours of Le Mans and 24 Hours of Daytona winner Colin Braun making his IndyCar debut this weekend.
Braun, who is competing full time in IMSA this season, is currently signed to race at the season opening race in St. Petersburg and the $1 Million Challenge at Thermal Club, with the hopes of doing more races with Dale Coyne Racing later this year.
“I’m so pumped about doing my first two NTT IndyCar Series races at St. Petersburg and Thermal Club with Dale Coyne Racing with RWR,” Braun said. “I want to give a huge thank you to Dale. What an opportunity he gave me last week to get a taste of the Indy car in Sebring. It was so fun to drive. The folks at Honda and HRC also made me feel right at home.
“I can’t wait to get going in St. Pete. It’s a place I haven’t been to in a little bit so we’re definitely jumping off into the deep end but I’m looking forward to getting going on the street course, continuing to work with the team, a great group of people there, and I couldn’t be more excited and ready to get going on this challenge. It’s going to be a blast.”
Braun got his first taste of IndyCar last week when he took part in a successful one-day test with the team at Florida’s Sebring Int’l Raceway.
In addition to revealing its drivers, the team has added veteran engineer Steve Newey as Lead Engineer for its No. 51 entry. Newey’s experience includes successful race-winning results in IndyCar, Formula 1, NASCAR and sports car racing.