As Dale Coyne told RACER in early October, he hoped to have his second driver signed “by Halloween,” but with unanticipated delays that emerged, he says “Thanksgiving is my new target.”
Reigning Indy NXT champion Dennis Hauger from Andretti Global is already in place with Coyne as part of a new technical alliance forged with Andretti. Coyne has a solid Rookie of the Year contender with the Norwegian, who has completed two test days with his new team, and leaves the business of determining how Coyne wants the second seat to be filled as the main item left on his checklist.
“It has to be by Thanksgiving,” Coyne reiterated. “You can’t go to Christmas because you can’t get anything done in December, and now it’s the middle of January for getting done. That’s a month before the season starts. So it has to be before Christmas. I would say December 15 is the latest. Definitely before Santa.”
As RACER recently documented, everyone from former Coyne drivers Romain Grosjean and Abel and Conor Daly to 2024 IndyCar Rookie of the Year Linus Lundqvist are in play for the second seat which, as of mid-November, is one of the only IndyCar seat left to acquire.
With the Andretti-Hauger car sorted, it’s up to Coyne to decide how to fund the sister entry, be it through sponsorship or taking on an investor. In 2025, Coyne welcomed former Ed Carpenter Racing sponsor Todd Ault into the team through the askROI sponsorship provided for Rinus VeeKay’s No. 18 Honda and relied on the funding supplied by the Abel family for Jacob Abel’s No. 51 Honda.
“There’s still interest and talking and meetings,” Coyne added. “You know, new owners that want to come in, need to realize what we’re up against and that you there’s no guarantee of making money in this sport. If you get an owner who does it for the love of it, that’s great. If you get an owner who has a company that needs a marketing outlet, that’s great. But if you get a partner that wants to make money on it, good luck. I don’t think that’s working anywhere.”
