IndyCar 2015 team preview: Dale Coyne Racing - MotorSportsTalk

We only half-jokingly wrote about Dale Coyne’s second car being a TBA last year before St. Petersburg. A full two weeks before the 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series season though, and Coyne had the TBA brothers pulling double duty.

Team: Dale Coyne Racing
Engines/aero kits: Honda
Sponsors: TBA (No. 18), Boy Scouts of America/Sonny’s BBQ (No. 19)

2014 STATS

Races: 18
Wins: 1 (Huertas)
Podiums: 1 (Huertas)
Pole Positions: 0
Fastest Laps: 0
Points: 730 (Wilson 395, Huertas 314, Mann 21)
Laps Led: 32 (Wilson 25, Huertas 7)
Championship Position: 15^th (Wilson), 20^th (Huertas), 33^rd (Mann)

2015 LINEUP (Engineers in parentheses)

18 Carlos Huertas (Rob Ridgely)
19 Francesco Dracone (first four races; Michael Cannon)

2014 RECAP (Wilson, Huertas driver recaps)

If you look at the above statistics and note a full-season lineup of Justin Wilson and Carlos Huertas, and also note the team’s only win and podium came from Huertas in Houston race one, you’d pretty much have your jaw drop. It was one of the most unexpected triumphs in IndyCar in years, but still a well-executed one from the DCR team, whose strategy rose to the fore. Wilson fought through a year where he lacked either luck or speed depending on the weekend; Huertas generally exceeded expectations on road and street courses, although outside of Indianapolis he struggled on ovals in his rookie season.

2015 OUTLOOK

The good news, as usual, is that Dale Coyne Racing will show up with a two-car lineup. The bad news, if any, is that as of March 15 the team hadn’t announced either of its drivers for the season. The personnel is there to support whoever winds up driving the cars, and the addition of Stuart Kenworthy for the team’s shock and damper development is a good one. Meanwhile Huertas, Dracone, and Rodolfo Gonzalez have tested the team’s two cars; Dracone had the disadvantage of running a 2015-spec floor with 2014-spec aero during the Barber open test. Huertas has some potential to improve upon his rookie season.

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In a continuing effort to help fans keep track of the on track action, SuperMotocross is in the process of developing and implementing leader lights for the unified series.

Currently Supercross (SMX) utilizes stanchions in the infield that are triggered manually by a race official. At least two stanchions are used in each race as a way to draw the eye to the leader, which is especially useful in the tight confines of the stadium series when lapping often begins before the halfway mark in the 22-bike field. This system has been in place for the past two decades.

Later this year, a fully automated system will move to the bike itself to replace the old system. At that point, fans will be able to identify the leader regardless of where he is on track.

The leader lights were tested in the second Anaheim round this year. An example can be seen at the 1:45 mark in the video above on the No. 69 bike.

“What we don’t want to do is move too fast, where it’s confusing to people,” said Mike Muye, senior director of operations for Supercross and SMX in a press release. “We’ve really just focused on the leader at this point with the thought that maybe down the road we’ll introduce others.”

Scheduled to debut with the first SuperMotocross World Championship race at zMax Dragway, located just outside the Charlotte Motor Speedway, a 3D carbon fiber-printed LED light will be affixed to each motorcycle. Ten timing loops positioned around the track will trigger the lights of the leader, which will turn green.

SMX’s partner LiveTime Scoring helped develop and implement the system that has been tested in some form or fashion since 2019.

When the leader lights are successfully deployed, SuperMotocross will explore expanding the system to identify the second- and third-place riders. Depending on need and fan acceptance, more positions could be added.

SuperMotocross is exploring future enhancements, including allowing for live fan interaction with the lights and ways to use the lighting system during the race’s opening ceremony.

Read more about SuperMotocross