Carlos Munoz, Andretti Autosport
The cast: Race engineer – Garrett Mothersead. Race strategist – Paul “Ziggy” Harcus. Chief mechanic – Rolando Coronado.
Twitter: @CarlosMunoz034, @FollowAndretti
The car: No. 26 AndrettiTV Cinsay Honda
The driver: Turned 23 on Jan. 2. … From Bogota, Colombia, and resides in Miami. … Completed second full Verizon IndyCar Series season with Andretti Autosport. … Was the 2014 Sunoco Rookie of the Year. … Competed in three races in 2013, including starting and finishing second in the Indianapolis 500 to claim Rookie of the Year honors, while also racing in full Indy Lights season for Andretti Autosport (third in championship with four victories). … Has competed in 37 Verizon IndyCar Series races.
Season finish: Placed 13th in Verizon IndyCar Series standings after finishing eighth in 2014 (five top-five finishes, with high of third at Long Beach, Houston-1 and Pocono).
Video: Munoz reviews his season
Season stats: Munoz recorded his maiden Verizon IndyCar Series victory at Belle Isle-1 after qualifying 20th. He added two other top-five finishes (fifth at Iowa and Pocono) in the final four races of the season. … Had an average finish of 10.3 on the six ovals, 13.8 on the five street courses and 12.4 on the five road courses. … Best qualifying was fourth at Texas Motor Speedway, where he finished sixth. … Led three races for total of 25 laps. … Was running at the finish in 14 of the 16 races and completed 2,151 of the 2,232 total laps.
Year over year: 2015 best qualifying fourth at Texas Motor Speedway (14.0 average), best finish first at Belle Isle-1 (12.1 average). 2014 best qualifying third at Pocono Raceway (10.5 average), best finish third at Long Beach, Pocono and Houston-1 (12.6 average).
The gist: A couple of mechanical issues and late-race contact in the finale at Sonoma Raceway derailed what could have been a solid follow-up to his rookie season. The victory in the rain in the middle or the season was the highlight. … Teammate to full-time drivers Ryan Hunter-Reay (two wins) and Marco Andretti. All three are scheduled to participate in a team test Oct. 26 at Barber Motorsports Park.
The chart (below): Looking at how Munoz finished relative to his qualifying position in the 16 races:
