Dale Coyne
NationalityAmerican
Born (1954-07-08) July 8, 1954
Minooka, Illinois
Retired1991
CART World Series
Years active1984-1989, 1991
TeamsDale Coyne Racing
Starts34
Wins0
Poles0
Best finish34th in 1986 & 1988

Dale Coyne (born July 8, 1954 in Minooka, Illinois) is an IndyCar Series team owner and former Champ Car auto racing team owner and driver.

Driving career

Coyne made his CART debut in 1984 at Portland and failed to qualify. He attempted to make 5 other races that year but only made the field in one of them, the race at Mid-Ohio where he finished 14th in his first race.

He returned in 1985 and again failed to qualify or had mechanical issues that prevented him from qualifying in the first five races he attempted. The first race that season that he made was his first oval start, at Michigan International Speedway and he was knocked out after 40 laps due to engine trouble. Coyne made four more starts that season and was sidelined in all of them by mechanical problems.

Dale Coyne and his team built their new proprietary chassis, the DC-1, for 1986 but results did not substantially improve. The car missed the field in its first attempt at Phoenix and caught on fire in pit lane at Long Beach. It wasn't until September that the car managed to finish a race, with Coyne bringing home a 12th-place finish at Sanair Super Speedway. Coyne was earlier credited with 12th place at Cleveland even though he was taken out of the race by a broken half-shaft. The 2 points that he earned for these races would be the most he would earn in a season in his career and he was credited with 34th place in the championship standings.

The DC-1 was disposed of for 1987 and Coyne switched to the more reliable year-old March 86C chassis. However, Coyne again missed the first three races of the season and made his first start in June at Portland. He made 8 starts but only finished one race and did not earn any championship points.

Coyne returned with the same now two-year-old March in 1988 and after failing to qualify for the Phoenix race, Coyne made his first attempt to qualify for the Indianapolis 500, in 1988 but he failed to make that race as well. He made 9 starts in 14 attempts that year and finished two of them. He was credited with a single point and 12th place in the Miami race despite being knocked out by engine failure.

Coyne attempted to make the Indy 500 again in 1989 but missed the field. He also drove in the Pocono Raceway race but was knocked out after 4 laps by gearbox failure.

He returned to the cockpit in 1991 when he had no pay driver to fill his seat and made two starts in 3 attempts but again suffered mechanical issues in both races.

Team ownership

Coyne largely retired from competition in 1989 to field other drivers and formed Payton Coyne Racing in 1988 with Walter Payton. In his early years of team ownership, Coyne launched some impressive careers, including that of Paul Tracy (1991) and Michel Jourdain Jr. (1997). The perennial hopeful never had substantial funding and scored a then-best finish of 3rd at the 1996 U.S. 500 at Michigan International Speedway with veteran Roberto Moreno. The result was matched in 2004 when Oriol Servia accomplished the feat at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Servia also scored the team's best finish in the points with 10th.

2007 was a breakout year for Dale Coyne Racing. With driver Bruno Junqueira behind the wheel, he posted three consecutive podium finishes (Zolder, Belgium; Assen, the Netherlands & Surfer Paradise, Australia) for the team and gave Dale Coyne Racing its highest finish ever with a second place in Zolder, Belgium in August.

With open wheel unification prior to the 2008 season, Dale Coyne Racing made the transition to the IndyCar Series for 2008 with Junqueira joined by rookie Mario Moraes

In 2009 season, Dale Coyne Racing entered one driver into the Indycar series, Justin Wilson in the #18. On July 5 Wilson won the Camping World Grand Prix at Watkins Glen and gave Coyne his first championship-level victory as either driver or owner.

In the current season, 2018, Dale Coyne Racing fields two cars. The number 18 entry is entered under the Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan banner and is driven by Sebastian Bourdais. The number 19 entry is shared between Brazilian driver Pietro Fittipaldi and Canadian Zachary Claman de Melo. In addition, Dale Coyne Racing intends to field further entries for the 2018 Indianapolis 500 for Pippa Mann and Conor Daly.

Racing record

American Open Wheel racing results

(key)

CART

Year Team Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Rank Points Ref
1984 Dale Coyne Racing Eagle 81 Chevrolet V8 LBH PHX INDY MIL POR
DNQ		 MEA
DNQ		 CLE
DNQ		 MIS
DNQ		 ROA
DNQ		 POC MDO
14		 SAN MIS2 PHX2
DNQ		 LS
DNQ		 CEA NC 0 [1]
1985 Dale Coyne Racing Lola T900 Chevrolet V8 LBH
DNQ		 INDY MIL
DNS		 POR
DNQ		 MEA
DNQ		 CLE
DNS		 MIS
24		 ROA
23		 POC
27		 MDO
28		 SAN MIS2
DNS		 LS
27		 PHX
DNQ		 MIA
DNQ		 NC 0 [2]
1986 Dale Coyne Racing Coyne DC-1 Chevrolet V8 PHX
DNQ		 LBH
23		 INDY MIL POR
21		 MEA
DNQ		 CLE
12		 TOR
DNQ		 MIS
DNQ		 POC
26		 MDO
23		 SAN
12		 MIS2
DNQ		 ROA
17		 LS
DNS		 PHX2
DNQ		 MIA
25		 34th 2 [3]
1987 Dale Coyne Racing March 86C Chevrolet V8 LBH
DNS		 PHX
DNQ		 INDY MIL
DNQ		 POR
17		 MEA
15		 CLE
25		 TOR
18		 MIS
DNS		 POC
24		 ROA
17		 MDO
20		 NAZ
DNQ		 LS
21		 MIA
DNQ		 40th 0 [4]
1988 Dale Coyne Racing March 86C Chevrolet V8 PHX
DNS		 LBH INDY
DNQ		 MIL
13		 POR
24		 CLE
25		 TOR
16		 MEA
22		 MIS
27		 POC
DNQ		 MDO
24		 ROA
DNS		 NAZ
DNQ		 LS
27		 MIA
12		 34th 1 [5]
1989 Dale Coyne Racing Lola T88/00 Cosworth DFX V8t PHX LBH INDY
DNQ		 MIL DET POR CLE MEA TOR MIS POC
27		 MDO ROA NAZ LS 51st 0 [6]
1991 Dale Coyne Racing Lola T90/00 Cosworth DFS V8t SRF LBH PHX INDY MIL
21		 DET
DNQ		 POR
23		 CLE MEA TOR MIS DEN VAN MDO ROA NAZ LS 46th 0 [7]

Indianapolis 500

Year Chassis Engine Start Finish Team
1988 March 86C Chevrolet 6.5L V8 DNQ Dale Coyne Racing
1989 Lola T88/00 Ford Cosworth DFX DNQ Dale Coyne Racing

References

  1. ↑ "Dale Coyne – 1984 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 16, 2023.
  2. ↑ "Dale Coyne – 1985 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 16, 2023.
  3. ↑ "Dale Coyne – 1986 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 16, 2023.
  4. ↑ "Dale Coyne – 1987 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 16, 2023.
  5. ↑ "Dale Coyne – 1988 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 16, 2023.
  6. ↑ "Dale Coyne – 1989 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 16, 2023.
  7. ↑ "Dale Coyne – 1991 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 16, 2023.
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