Dale Coyne Racing announced on Wednesday that it is bringing on Toby Sowery to drive the team’s #51 entry at the upcoming Honda Indy 200 from Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
Sowery will be making his IndyCar debut with the run, stepping up from an on-and-off campaign in the IndyNXT feeder series over the past five seasons.
The soon-to-be 29-year-old has been competing in The GT World Challenge Endurance Cup this season, and also has raced a few events in IMSA’s LMP2 category with Crowdstrike Racing.
His return to open wheel racing will be a fresh challenge, especially considering his debut coincides with the introduction of IndyCar’s hybrid power system
“Racing in the NTT IndyCar Series is an exciting challenge for anyone, and I’m extremely fortunate to be given this opportunity by Dale [Coyne],” said Sowery in the announcement.
“This race adds to an already incredible season for me filled with two amazing programs in IMSA and Fanatec GT World Challenge.
“Dale Coyne has been fundamental to IndyCar in giving drivers opportunities to prove themselves, and I am eager for this challenge. It’ll be a difficult step to make having only one day in the car over a year ago, as well as adapting to the hybrid system, but I’m up for it.”
The signing marks the sixth different driver DCR has put in the #51 entry so far this season.
With the agreement with Sowery only covering a single race, there is a good chance that number will climb even higher before the conclusion of the season.
“I’ve been following Toby’s career for quite some time now,” Team Owner Dale Coyne said. “He’s shown that he can quickly adapt to whatever car he is driving and has a successful track record to prove it.
“We realize coming into the weekend at Mid-Ohio with no prior testing of the car in its hybrid form might be a steep learning curve, but we’re confident he will get up to speed quickly, and we look forward to seeing what he can do.”
The Mid-Ohio weekend gets underway on Friday, July 5, with the 80-lap race taking place on Sunday, July 7 at 1:45 PM eastern time.
