Dale Coyne Racing Shocks IndyCar with St. Pete Qualifying Performance

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Grand Prix of St. Petersburg paddock buzzed with an unexpected energy following qualifying for the IndyCar Series season opener. Dale Coyne Racing, often an underdog in the series, secured a stunning result, placing two cars – rookie Dennis Hauger and veteran Romain Grosjean – in the Firestone Fast Six shootout.

Hauger qualified third, a remarkable achievement for his IndyCar debut, while Grosjean secured sixth position. The performance was a significant surprise, even to team owner Dale Coyne, who admitted expectations weren’t particularly high heading into the weekend.

“They weren’t that high,” Coyne told Motorsport.com, a wide smile still evident as he surveyed the scene around his team’s setup area. “It’s a good group of people we’ve got. Our engineers, Bill Pappas and Mike Cannon, have been with us before, they recognize how we think and we do things. They know our strengths and our weaknesses. Mitch Davis knows that and knows how to manage it all. Our assistant engineers, everybody in the engineering department, were great.”

The success wasn’t solely down to engineering prowess. Coyne emphasized the contributions of his drivers, highlighting their ability to provide valuable feedback and work cohesively with the team. “And we’ve got two great drivers, so there’ll be more of this, hopefully.”

The strong qualifying performance followed promising signs during preseason testing. According to Coyne, both Hauger and Grosjean demonstrated an ability to understand and react to changes made to the car, guiding the team towards optimal setups. “We saw some good stuff in the preseason,” he explained. “It was like when we made changes to the car, they knew how to react to that. They would help lead us in the right direction with the car. And that’s valuable, that everybody works together. I just think that everybody working together, pulling in the same direction, it paid off today.”

Grosjean, who spent last season as a reserve driver with PREMA Racing, echoed Coyne’s sentiments, expressing his surprise at how quickly he and Hauger established a strong working relationship. “I felt like Fast 12 would be very good today, so having both cars in Fast Six is an extraordinary day,” Grosjean said. “Yeah, I think we can all be very proud of what we’ve done.”

While qualifying is a significant accomplishment, Grosjean remained focused on the challenges of the race itself. “Of course, tomorrow there’s a race, there’s a lot more going on, and there’s strategy involved in pit stops and bits and pieces, but the hardest part in racing is to move fast, and we did that today, and now we just have to execute the rest.”

Hauger’s qualifying time was a mere 0.0317 seconds off the pole position set by Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin, demonstrating the Honda-powered team’s potential. Grosjean, opting to conserve a set of alternate tires for the race, finished 0.8036 seconds off the pace.

“Dennis is a very talented driver,” Grosjean commented. “He’s been very fast all weekend. I think I’ve used my experience to receive the car where we wanted it to be. We still have a little bit of work that we can do to go faster. There’s still more to be found, but generally I’m very proud of all of Dale Coyne Racing.”

Coyne, acknowledging the team’s relatively small size, emphasized their ability to compete effectively despite limited resources. “Again, we’re a small organization, but we’re doing a good job.”

The qualifying results represent a significant boost for Dale Coyne Racing as they head into the season-opening Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. The team’s unexpected pace raises questions about their potential to challenge the established frontrunners throughout the 2026 IndyCar Series season. The combination of a seasoned veteran in Grosjean and a promising rookie in Hauger, coupled with a revitalized engineering team, could prove to be a potent force on the IndyCar landscape.