Tristan Vautier, Dale Coyne Racing

The cast: Race engineer – Michael Cannon. Race strategist – Dale Coyne. Chief mechanic – Todd Phillips.

Twitter: @TristanVautier, @DaleCoyneRacing

The car: No. 19 Dale Coyne Racing Honda

The driver: Turned 26 on Aug. 22. … From France and resides in St. Petersburg, Fla. … Vautier earned the 2011 Star Mazda championship and the 2012 Firestone Indy Lights title. Made his Verizon IndyCar Series debut in 2013.

Video: Tristan Vautier reviews his season

Season stats: Competed in 11 races in the No. 19 Honda, starting with the Indianapolis 500 when he was asked to replace Carlos Huertas (inner ear condition) a few days before the race. Earlier in the month, Vautier qualified a Dale Coyne Racing Honda into the field for James Davison, who had a motorsports schedule conflict. He was on his way to Europe to compete in a sports car race when he was called back to Indianapolis. … Posted a best finish of fourth at Belle Isle-2, advancing 19 positions from his qualifying spot. Also made 18-position gain at Mid-Ohio, finishing sixth. … Had an average starting position of 20.3 and average finish of 16.5. … Led 10 laps at Mid-Ohio. … Was running at the finish in eight races (mechanical midway through Indy 500 for 28th place, mechanical at Texas Motor Speedway and contact at Pocono Raceway).

The gist: Vautier, the 2013 Sunoco Rookie of the Year, has competed in 30 Verizon IndyCar Series races. … Was teammate to Pippa Mann (ovals) and Rodolfo Gonzalez (road/street courses) this past season. … Also co-drove a Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 in the Blancpain GT Series this past season.

The chart (below): Looking at how Vautier finished relative to his qualifying position in his 11 races: