Photo Credit: Ashley McCubbin
Ryan Briscoe, who drove the No. 5 Arrow/Lucas Oil Honda for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports in place of the injured James Hinchcliffe in the Indianapolis 500 on May 24, returns to the team for the June 6 Firestone 600 at Texas Motor Speedway.
Briscoe has had considerable success on the 1.455-mile, high-banked oval. In eight starts, he has seven top-10 finishes — including a victory from the pole in 2010 and four other finishes in the top five.
In his lone Verizon IndyCar Series start this season, Briscoe advanced a field-high 19 positions to finish 12th in the 99th Indianapolis 500. He was pressed into service after Hinchcliffe suffered an upper thigh injury in a practice crash May 18 that required surgery. He was released from the hospital eight days later and is expected to make a full recovery.
Last weekend, Briscoe participated with Corvette Racing co-drivers Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia in practice for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. He’ll compete in the race June 14. The trio won the Rolex 24 At Daytona and the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring this year. A victory at Le Mans would make them the first drivers in 15 years to win all three endurance races in the same year.
Also returning for the Firestone 600 is Tristan Vautier in the No. 19 Dale Coyne Racing Honda. The 2013 Sunoco Rookie of the Year recipient is coming off a fourth-place finish — his best in 22 Verizon IndyCar Series starts — in Race 2 of the Chevrolet Dual in Detroit presented by Quicken Loans on May 31. In 2013, while driving for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, Vautier advanced six positions relative to his starting spot to finish 18th at Texas Motor Speedway.
The No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda will be driven by Pippa Mann, who drove the team’s third Indianapolis 500 entry to a 22nd-place finish. It will be her ninth Verizon IndyCar Series start and second at Texas Motor Speedway. She finished 24th (mechanical) in a Dale Coyne Racing entry in June 2013.
