IndyCar: Santino Ferrucci tipped to return to Dale Coyne Racing in 2020

Santino Ferrucci has been tipped to return to Dale Coyne Racing in the 2020 IndyCar season after an impressive rookie year in 2019.

Back in August, Dale Coyne Racing rookie Santino Ferrucci confirmed that he had a deal in place to remain with Dale Coyne Racing in the 2020 IndyCar season, but he also revealed that he was leaving the door open for other possibilities.

The 21-year-old Woodbury, Connecticut native was seen as a potential candidate to drive for Arrow McLaren Racing SP in one of their two cars after Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports joined forces with McLaren shortly after Ferrucci’s confirmation.

That ultimately did not come to fruition, as Arrow McLaren Racing SP confirmed earlier this week that 2018 and 2019 Indy Lights champions Patricio O’Ward and Oliver Askew are set to make up their two-driver lineup next year.

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Ferrucci had also been rumored as a potential for option for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing if they opted to expand to a three-car team. But as the chances of that third car have waned, the chances of Ferrucci returning to the cockpit of the #19 Honda have increased.

Now with James Hinchcliffe, who was originally under contract to drive for Arrow McLaren Racing SP, having been released by the team and potentially in the mix to sign with a Honda-powered team given his ties with the manufacturer and counterpart Honda Canada, Dale Coyne Racing team owner Dale Coyne has revealed that Ferrucci is expected to re-sign by the end of next week.

Here is what Coyne had to say in reference to Hinchcliffe’s release and Ferrucci’s deal, according to NBC Sports.

"“It’s interesting timing, we’ll see. I’m still confident we will have Santino back. It’s pretty close. I expect to have it completed by the end of next week. We test next Tuesday at Sebring, so right after that we plan on getting Santino’s deal completed.”"

Ferrucci finished his rookie season in 13th place in the championship standings, but he impressively placed fourth in the oval championship standings.

He recorded three fourth place finishes, a seventh place finish and a 12th place finish in the five oval races on the schedule for an average finish of 6.20, the third best among all drivers behind only Josef Newgarden (3.60) and Simon Pagenaud (3.80), the series champion and runner-up, respectively.

Dale Coyne Racing began competing back in 1984, and they entered the 2019 season with just four top four finishes in oval races. Ferrucci, who had pretty much no oval experience having spent several seasons competing in Europe prior to his arrival in IndyCar, recorded three in a four-race span.

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The confirmation of Santino Ferrucci to Dale Coyne Racing’s driver lineup for the 2020 IndyCar season would mean that their lineup is set to remain identical, provided they don’t add a third car for James Hinchcliffe. Sebastien Bourdais is set to continue driving for the team via a partnership with Vasser-Sullivan next year.