Dale Coyne Racing has a brand new headline for its future, having just signed 2026 INDY NXT by Firestone champion Nikita Johnson to compete in the NTT IndyCar SERIES for the 2027 campaign. That news naturally prompts a look back. Since its inception in 1984, the team has fielded an incredible mix of rookies and veterans, earning six victories with four different drivers and stringing together wins across three straight years with Justin Wilson in 2012, Mike Conway in 2013, and Carlos Huertas in 2014, alongside a broader run of five wins in a seven-year span from 2012 to 2018.
Curt Cavin points to 2009 at Watkins Glen as an absolute high-water mark for the squad. That Fourth of July weekend saw Justin Wilson hand Dale Coyne Racing its first ever IndyCar SERIES victory, beating out powerhouse machines driven by Penske drivers Ryan Briscoe and Helio Castroneves, as well as Ganassi’s Scott Dixon. Wilson started second because qualifying ended before he could use the red tires, yet he led 49 of the 60 laps. The celebration that followed at Seneca Lodge, where the crew drank bubbly from a silver cup like Formula One race winners, was fully earned by a group dubbed "Giant Slayers" in a magazine headline.
Eric Smith shifts the spotlight to 2019, when Santino Ferrucci stepped in and immediately delivered three top-five finishes and seven top-10 results across 17 starts. Combined with Sebastien Bourdais, who added two top-five finishes and nine top-10 results, the pairing secured five top-five finishes and 16 top-10 results. It tied 2018 for the team's most top-five finishes in a season since 2014 and set the highest single-season top-10 total since 2013.
Arni Sribhen reminds us of the chaotic 2020 NTT IndyCar SERIES season, which nonetheless served as the launching pad for Alex Palou. Brought over via a partnership with a Japanese team wanting to move its driver from Super Formula, the Spanish rookie turned up at preseason testing at Circuit of the Americas in February as an unknown quantity and was standing on a podium by his third race. Though he finished 16th in the standings behind Rinus VeeKay for rookie honors, Palou secured three top-four qualifying spots and a seventh-place qualifying effort at Indianapolis, performances that caught the eye of Chip Ganassi.
Finally, Paul Kelly highlights Sebastien Bourdais in 2017. The four-time IndyCar SERIES champion returned to the low-budget team and instantly won the season opener at St. Petersburg, Bourdais’ adopted American hometown, marking the team's first win since Carlos Huertas triumphed in 2014 at Houston. The partnership had climbed to fourth in the series standings before a brutal accident during Indianapolis 500 qualifying, where Bourdais' No. 18 Honda wiggled in Turn 2 and smashed the SAFER Barrier, left him with multiple fractures to his pelvis and hip. It remains one of the sport's ultimate "What if?" moments after Bourdais had dominated practice and early qualifying speed.
