Team owner Dale Coyne has thrown his name in the ring with aspirations of being part of Honda’s factory program.
As part of the new agreement with IndyCar, Chevrolet and Honda each receive a charter beginning in 2028, which aligns with the expected debut of the new car and engine. The manufacturers have the option to run a solo factory effort or partner with any team that does not possess three charters.
Honda Racing Corporation US President David Salters previously confirmed the manufacturer was already “in discussions” with Meyer Shank Racing (MSR). Honda, under the Acura name, already supports a factory effort with MSR in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
Of the teams that are powered by the Japanese manufacturer, Andretti Global, Chip Ganassi Racing, and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing are all at max capacity with three charters apiece, leaving MSR and Dale Coyne Racing – which each have two charters – as the only viable options.
“We’d like to be in the game for that,” Coyne told Motorsport.com. “You know, if they’re going to expand a two-car team to a three-car team, we’d like to be in the game for that. I know they’ve got a relationship with Meyer Shank Racing in sports cars, so that’s pretty solid.
“We’d love to be able to do something with them in the future.”
An opportunity to add Honda’s factory program to his current team would further resources for Coyne’s organization, having bolstered its 2026 endeavors with a technical alliance with Andretti Global. Of note, MSR also has a technical alliance courtesy of Chip Ganassi Racing.
Dale Coyne Racing also kicked it up a notch with its engineering presence, with veteran race engineer Michael Cannon – who returned to the team last year – back on the top of the timing stand to oversee rookie Dennis Hauger’s car. The team also added Bill Pappas, who recently left IndyCar as its Vice President of Competition and Race Engineering, to Romain Grosjean’s No. 18 Honda.
At this point, is there anything left Coyne feels like his team needs to show Honda in order to gain their interest?
“I just think keep what we’re doing, what we’re doing, and see what this year brings,” Coyne said. “A lot of promise for this year. They’re happy with what we’re doing this year, realizing that we’re more serious about this than ever.
“So, I think all that is good timing.”
When reached for a response to Coyne’s comments, Chuck Schifsky, Manager, Acura & Honda Motorsports for American Honda, confirmed to Motorsport.com the manufacturer’s commitment to partner with MSR for its IndyCar factory program.
“There are several options for Honda to use its IndyCar charter beginning in 2028,” Schifsky said. “One of those is to operate the Honda charter entry in conjunction with one of our two-car teams, either Dale Coyne Racing or Meyer Shank Racing.
“While we have a great deal of respect for Dale and what he’s accomplished in IndyCar racing, and he seems poised to have one of his best years in a long time as we enter 2026, we have chosen to work with MSR for the Honda charter entry.
“While we’re still a long way away from the start of the 2028 season and the running of the new car and engine package, we look forward to building on our successful IMSA partnership with MSR where we have a similar operation already is place with HRC US engineers and strategists calling the shots on the No. 93 Acura GTP entry.”
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