Tag: Dale Coybne Racing with RWR

Sato Joins Coyne/Rick Ware Racing

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Image from Dale Coyne Twitter

It’s not a complete surprise, but two time Indianapolis 500 winner Takuma Sato will drive car 51 for Dale Coyne for Rick Ware Racing in 2022. The car had Romain Grosjean behind the wheel last season. We are still waiting for Coyne to confirm David Malukas in the 18, likely in apartnership with Global HMD, Malukas’s father’s company . The announcement earlier this week that Vasser-Sullivan would not return I think is somewhat of a confirmation.

The announcement from Coyne:

Plainfield, IL (Thursday, December 9, 2021) – Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing has signed two-time Indianapolis 500 Champion Takuma Sato to drive its #51 Honda powered entry for the entire 2022 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season.

“I am extremely excited that we were able to work out a deal with Dale, Rick and everyone at Dale Coyne Racing,” shared Sato. “With Honda an integral part of Dale Coyne Racing, it seemed like a great fit. The team has proven year after year that they are very competitive on all types of circuits.

“Particularly the speed that team has shown in recent years at the Indy 500 were very impressive. I am really looking forward to working with my new environment and can’t wait to get started.”

Sato brings 12 years of NTT INDYCAR SERIES experience with him to the team. In his 198 starts, he has finished on the podium 14 times and has six wins, including his two Indianapolis 500 victories. The 44-year-old driver has also started on pole position 10 times, has led 896 laps and has 70 top 10 finishes.

“Takuma has shown that he is one of the best drivers to ever race in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES. Winning the famed Indianapolis 500 twice, we look forward to competing with our package of a good car with a great driver in the 500 next year. All of us on our team welcome the very talented Mr. Sato into our fold for 2022,” said team co-owner Dale Coyne.

Hailing from Tokyo, Japan, Sato spent seven seasons in Formula 1 prior to his arrival in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES in 2010. He most recently spent the last four seasons with the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing team.

Team co-owner Rick Ware added: “I am excited to have Takuma join the Dale Coyne Racing with RWR Family for 2022. Takuma’s experience within motorsports is extensive, not just in the United States, but around the world. With Takuma’s experience, and vast knowledge of the cars, we are really looking forward to stepping up the program and having a successful season, and maybe even add another INDIANAPOLIS 500 win to his list of achievements.”

The 2022 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season kicks off on the Streets of St. Petersburg February 25 – 27, 2022.

Sato Joins Coyne/Rick Ware Racing

thepitwindow

Image from Dale Coyne Twitter

It’s not a complete surprise, but two time Indianapolis 500 winner Takuma Sato will drive car 51 for Dale Coyne for Rick Ware Racing in 2022. The car had Romain Grosjean behind the wheel last season. We are still waiting for Coyne to confirm David Malukas in the 18, likely in apartnership with Global HMD, Malukas’s father’s company . The announcement earlier this week that Vasser-Sullivan would not return I think is somewhat of a confirmation.

The announcement from Coyne:

Plainfield, IL (Thursday, December 9, 2021) – Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing has signed two-time Indianapolis 500 Champion Takuma Sato to drive its #51 Honda powered entry for the entire 2022 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season.

“I am extremely excited that we were able to work out a deal with Dale, Rick and everyone at Dale Coyne Racing,” shared Sato. “With Honda an integral part of Dale Coyne Racing, it seemed like a great fit. The team has proven year after year that they are very competitive on all types of circuits.

“Particularly the speed that team has shown in recent years at the Indy 500 were very impressive. I am really looking forward to working with my new environment and can’t wait to get started.”

Sato brings 12 years of NTT INDYCAR SERIES experience with him to the team. In his 198 starts, he has finished on the podium 14 times and has six wins, including his two Indianapolis 500 victories. The 44-year-old driver has also started on pole position 10 times, has led 896 laps and has 70 top 10 finishes.

“Takuma has shown that he is one of the best drivers to ever race in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES. Winning the famed Indianapolis 500 twice, we look forward to competing with our package of a good car with a great driver in the 500 next year. All of us on our team welcome the very talented Mr. Sato into our fold for 2022,” said team co-owner Dale Coyne.

Hailing from Tokyo, Japan, Sato spent seven seasons in Formula 1 prior to his arrival in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES in 2010. He most recently spent the last four seasons with the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing team.

Team co-owner Rick Ware added: “I am excited to have Takuma join the Dale Coyne Racing with RWR Family for 2022. Takuma’s experience within motorsports is extensive, not just in the United States, but around the world. With Takuma’s experience, and vast knowledge of the cars, we are really looking forward to stepping up the program and having a successful season, and maybe even add another INDIANAPOLIS 500 win to his list of achievements.”

The 2022 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season kicks off on the Streets of St. Petersburg February 25 – 27, 2022.

Cody Ware Makes Indycar Debut at Road America

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It’s been talked about for awhile, and finally Cody Ware will get his chance to drive in an Indycar race. The announcement from Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing:

Plainfield, IL (June 15, 2021) – NASCAR driver Cody Ware will be making his NTT INDYCAR SERIES debut this weekend at Road America with Dale Coyne Racing with RWR aboard the team’s No. 52 Nurtec ODT (rimegepant) entry.

Ware, who drives full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series for Rick Ware Racing (RWR), got his first taste of an Indy car earlier this year during a test day with the team at Sebring International Raceway. He also turned his first laps at Road America two weeks ago as part of a rookie test day.

“To be a part of an NTT INDYCAR SERIES race is such an honor, and a surreal experience for me. I never would’ve thought that I would ever go down the open wheel route for a multitude of reasons,” expressed Ware. “But thanks to RWR, Dale Coyne Racing, and Biohaven / Nurtec ODT I am getting an opportunity to compete at the highest level of open wheel motorsport in the US. Road America is an ideal place to make my debut and I am so excited to learn and soak it all in. Having two great teammates such as Romain Grosjean and Ed Jones will help take some of the edge off the learning curve if only a little.”

In addition to his time in the NASCAR Cup and the Xfinity Series this season, Ware finished fourth in the LMP2 Class at the 24 Hours of Daytona earlier this year. The 25-year-old driver has a diverse racing pedigree, taking home rookie of the year honors in the 2014 Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America series and claiming the 2019/2020 LMP2 Asian Le Mans Championship.

“What started as a 3-4 race sponsorship to roll out a marketing program for BioHaven and Nurtec ODT (rimegepant) in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, turned into a full-season sponsorship commitment with the No. 51 Honda,” shared Rick Ware, Owner of Rick Ware Racing and co-entrant, Dale Coyne Racing with RWR. “Thanks to their continued partnership, we’re excited to add a few races for the No. 52 entry, starting with Road America this weekend.”

Cody Ware will take to the track on Friday, June 18 for his first official NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice session. The REV Group Grand Prix goes green at 11:45am local time on Sunday, June 20, 2021.

Grosjean Eager for Chance to Compete

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” I think the excitement comes in the fact that in Formula 1, after turn one, you normally know what’s going to be the race result just because you know the pace of the car, Mercedes is going to pull away,maybe the Red Bull is going to be there. Some things can change, but nowhere as much in INDYCAR.”

Romain Grosjean summed up his excitement for joining Indycar as the newest driver in the series. He will drive car 51 for Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing. Grosjean watch more than 18 hours of Indycar races on YouTube over the Christmas holiday.

“Mid-Ohio 2018 I watched recently was Sebastien Bourdais had an issue in qualifying and started back of the field. He came back like a bullet from the gun and finished sixth just behind Scott Dixon. The race was not over. The strategy was the alternative one. He started on the black tire, went for the reds, just came back from the back. That’s not something you’re going to see in Formula 1 unless Mercedes qualified in the back, which never really happens. That was great to see.”

Dale Coyne talked about why the team had interest in Grosjean despite his lack of wins in F1.

“…we’re impressed what he did before he got to Formula 1. He won the GP2 series by 35 points. It was a year that I think nine drivers in that series made it onto Formula 1. It wasn’t a light year. He won six junior categories before that. He’s a winner. Formula 1, it’s difficult to be a winner unless you’re with the top two or three teams. So we’re going to get him over here with the fourth best team and show that he can still be a winner.”

Grosjean likes that in Indycar the driver has more input into the performance of the car.

“Well, this is something I’m very,very much looking forward to. I’ve been watching the races. The way you can follow the car in front of you, the way you can slide the tires, the way you can either try to play with your ‘push to pass’, the fact that the cars in qualifying are within 6/10ths of each other. This is all really exciting.You need to get the details right and so on. I think, yes, as you say, you don’t have the differential you can move, you don’t have the recovery and all the shaping and the braking, the systems you can have in Formula 1.I think the racing, yes, the car a little bit slower, but the racing looks much better from everything I’ve been seeing.”

Grosjean realizes he still has a lot to learn, and he wants to start sending his engineer, Olivier Boisson, data from iRacing to see if he has the right approach.

“I also told him that I can run on iRacing the INDYCAR. I can send him the data so he can see if it’s completely off the reality or not. I can learn the circuits in that aspect.”

The last five years of Foirmula 1 struggles habven’t dampened Grosjean’s enthusiasm for racing. h eis very excited to try a more competitive form of the sport in the United States.

Coyne, Rick Ware Racing Complete Full Time Grid

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A release from Dale Coyne Racing this morning. This is the last full time car for 2021. Tomorrow I will set the grid as it stands, including the part time entries.

Plainfield, Illinois & Mooresville, North Carolina (Friday, January 29, 2021) – Dale Coyne Racing announced today that it is entering into a collaboration with Rick Ware Racing for its No. 51 and No. 52 entries for the 2021 NTT INDYCAR SERIES.

The team, which will run under the Dale Coyne Racing with RWR banner, will field the No. 51 car (previously the No.19 and No. 55 cars) as a full season entry alongside its sister No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser Sullivan entry.

The team further plans to run the No. 52 car at the Indianapolis 500 as a third entry under the DCR stable. Additionally, the No. 52 car is set to do a selection of other races that are yet to be determined.

“We were introduced to Rick Ware at last year’s Indy 500 where he ran James Davison in our third entry,” reported Dale Coyne. “It was interesting to see how similar his efforts in NASCAR Cup and IMSA were to ours. We have talked ever since that event and we are excited to welcome Rick Ware Racing into our family at DCR.”

The primary sponsor of the No. 51 car will be announced in the coming month with the driver of that season-long entry expected to be announced next week.

“I met Dale last year through our Indy efforts with David Byrd and struck up a friendship with him and his team,” commented Rick Ware. “I have thought a long time about expanding into IndyCar from our efforts in NASCAR Cup, Xfinity and IMSA, so this collaboration, was an easy and logical step. We look forward to a competitive 2021 and beyond together.”

Dale Coyne Racing enters its 38th year of competing in American open-wheel racing. Team Owner Dale Coyne, a Midwestern entrepreneur who designed and built Route 66 Raceway and Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, IL, is known for taking on young drivers and mentoring them in the early stages of their careers. The team has claimed multiple victories, most notably, winning back-back races at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in the past few years.

Rick Ware, a former driver himself and owner of Rick Ware Racing, made his NASCAR Cup Series debut in 1990 and spent the next decade racing in series such as ARCA and the Busch Series (now known as Xfinity Series) before turning to full time team owner duties. Rick Ware Racing (RWR) currently fields four charters in the NASCAR Cup Series; No. 15, 51, 52 and 53. Located in Mooresville, North Carolina, RWR has competed within NASCAR’s top touring series since 2000. Over the past 20 years, RWR has competed in the Super Trofeo Series, IMSA, Asian Le Mans Series, ARCA and several other smaller series.