The top 22 IndyCar entries earn themselves a whopping one million dollars at the end of every season, otherwise known as the ‘leaders circle’.
The problem is that there are more than 22 full-time IndyCar entries on the grid, leaving some teams outside of that threshold.
It’s somewhat rare for a team to miss out with more than one car, but it can happen and could happen to Dale Coyne Racing this year.
The American outfit have failed to finish inside the top 10 with either car, and now look set to miss out on much needed prize money to add to their troubles.
Why Dale Coyne Racing must perform better in 2025…
Currently, Dale Coyne’s cars sit 24th and 25th in the race to break inside the top two, but are going to need a top 10 finish at the final round in Nashville for either car to bring the prize money home.
Jack Harvey is a dependable driver, who has claimed a podium in the sport before, but he’s only made the top 10 once in his last three full-time seasons.
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Katherine Legge has been just about serviceable on ovals, but she only has one top 10 across 18 IndyCar starts.
Toby Sowery has shown promise with a couple of top 15 finishes as a stand in this season, and he could well have put himself in prime for a 2025 race seat with his performances.
The team are yet to confirm who will drive in either car next year, but if their standing is to improve, they’re going to want to put some experience behind the wheel of their cars.
What options do Dale Coyne have?
It would be unlikely for Dale Coyne to be able to secure one of the premiere IndyCar free agents like Alexander Rossi on Rinus VeeKay.
The fee that Rossi would command puts him out of the conversation almost entirely, but there’s also guys like Conor Daly with recent results and experience.
For a team that turned 40 years old this season, they will want to replicate some of the success they have enjoyed over the years, including returning to the top step of the podium.
They have done so six times, most recently in 2018 with Sebastien Bourdais at St Petersburg – but young talent could be their pathway forwards.
They had a rookie Alex Palou in their car during the 2020 – he’s the last driver to have taken a podium for them and went on to win two of the next three IndyCar championships.