Quinn confirms Harvey and Brown for St. Petersburg

Dale Coyne Racing has confirmed its driver lineup for the NTT IndyCar Series season opener with seven-year IndyCar veteran Jack Harvey in the No. 18 Honda and rookie Colin Brown in the No. 51 St. Petersburg Honda. Many drivers will benefit from both vehicles year-round.

Harvey is scheduled to run 14 races in the No. 18 and will share the car with Nolan Siegel, who will drive for The Thermal Club, Long Beach, Indianapolis 500 and Toronto.

Brown, who will drive at St. Petersburg and Thermal, is among IndyCar's oldest newcomers in a long time as the 35-year-old arrives in the series after leading race-winning and championship-winning programs since his teens in Grand-Am, NASCAR, and IMSA.

His official IndyCar debut will occur in St. Petersburg with one day of experience to draw upon after his stunning test of Quinn on Tuesday at Sebring International Raceway, inspiring the team to sign the son of famed race engineer Jeff Brown to start the year. In its second entrance.

“It's been a busy off-season and we are very pleased with our driver lineup heading into the 2024 season,” Quinn said. “I think we have a great group of drivers that will work well together, as we showed in our testing at Homestead and Sebring. Jack brings a lot of experience to the team and he settled in immediately when he tested with us. Nolan, like Jack, is a pleasure to work with. He impressed us in testing Homestead with how quickly he got up to speed for the first time in the car. We look forward to seeing what they both do this season in our No. 18 car.

“We already know what Colin Brown can do in a sports car and it was great to see him join IndyCar last week. He's jumping in at the deep end with little time on board one of these cars before his first race but we're confident in his abilities and can't wait To see him again in the car this weekend in St. Petersburg.

For Harvey, the opportunity with Quinn is a chance for the 30-year-old to relaunch his IndyCar career, which ended prematurely when his two-year stint with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing was cut short with three races remaining on last year's schedule.

Of all the drivers likely to drive for Coyne in 2024, Harvey — a pole-sitter and solid performer during his five years with Meyer Shank Racing — will be the benchmark and mentor for most of those who will compete for portions of the calendar in Coyne's cars.

Beyond the first two races, it's unclear how many more races Brown might run in the No. 51.

IndyCar and sports car veteran Katherine Legge is rumored to be the team's choice for the Indy 500 and the car's other ovals, but that leaves plenty of races to fill throughout the 18-race season.