Dale Coyne Racing has signed Gabby Chaves to pilot its #19 Boy Scouts of America entry at this weekend’s Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis as well as for the 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500.
Chaves, who raced for Bryan Herta Autosport last season, won the 2015 Sunoco Rookie of the Year title and was also named Rookie of the Year at the Indianapolis 500 after qualifying as the fastest rookie and finishing 16th.
“What can I say, I’m really excited. It’s been the longest off-season of my life,” expressed Chaves. “Throughout my whole career I’ve always been on the grid in the first race of the season and this has been the first time that I haven’t. I thought I had many deals in place before and for some reason or another it never came through. I’ve been speaking with Dale for years now and I’m excited to get something going with him and the team. I’m just really looking forward to it. With my time out of the car, I’ve really been able to value what it means to me to be in a race car. I can now get back on track and enjoy it even more.
“The Angie’s List Grand Prix was a really good race for me last year. I believe this is where I led my first race lap, I think it was only one lap though but it counts and we were the second or third fastest Honda in qualifying so I’m pretty comfortable around here and I think I can do the job,” added the Columbian.
Chaves will be making his 17th Verizon IndyCar Series start this weekend and his first of 2016. He scored a best finish of ninth last year at the second race at Belle-Isle and placed 15th in the points standings.
The 2014 Indy Lights Champion placed 15th at last year’s Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis.
“We’re very excited to have Gabby join us for the next two races, we’ve been in communication for a long time and it’s all finally come together,” shared Team Owner Dale Coyne “He showed a lot of maturity last season, he was quick, mistake-free and made great decisions behind the wheel that you don’t normally see coming from a rookie. We look forward to seeing what he can do in our #19 car.”
Chaves, along with teammate Conor Daly, will be on track starting at 11:00 am ET Thursday, May 12 for the first practice session.
The fifth round of the Verizon IndyCar Series season will go green on Saturday, May 14 at 3:50pm ET with live television coverage on ABC starting at 3:30pm ET.
Live timing and scoring will be available at racecontrol.Indycar.com for all sessions with live streaming also available during practice and qualifying.
SOURCE: Dale Coyne Racing ♦ PHOTO: Brian Groce