Dale Coyne Racing

The cast: Drivers – Carlos Huertas, Francesco Dracone. Chief engineers – Robert Ridgely (Huertas), Michael Cannon (Dracone).

Twitter: @Carlos_Huertas, @effediracing, @DaleCoyneRacing

The cars: Nos. 18 (Huertas) and 19 (Dracone) Honda

Snapshot: Huertas turned 23 on June 22, 2014 – six days before his initial Verizon IndyCar Series victory at Houston. … A native of Bogota, Colombia, he was among four first-year drivers in the series. … Dracone, a 31-year-old Italian, competed in 2010 Verizon IndyCar races at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and Sonoma Raceway for Conquest Racing, and most recently he's competed in Auto GP. ... Dracone is scheduled to compete in the first four races of the season with Dale Coyne Racing, with extending the number of races undetermined at this time.

The stats: In winning at Houston, Huertas advanced 18 positions from his qualifying position. Cumulatively, he made up 37 positions relative to his qualifying and finished better or tied his qualifying 12 times in the 18 starts. … He added two other top-10 finishes through and was running at the finish in 13.

They said it: “Last year was tough because some events I had never been to the place before and sometimes it was a two-day event of practice and then qualifying so it’s impossible to do miracles, especially on the ovals,” Huertas said. “I think I drove really well. I finished a lot of races, I was consistent and for a first year without any testing before the first race I think it was pretty good.”

Added Dracone: “It is good to be back in America and great to be back in IndyCar. I feel that it is the best single-seater series for a driver to be in. Working with Dale Coyne is an honor and a privilege because he is one of the most experienced team owners and he runs a great team.”