Long Beach, California – Sunday, April 19, 2026
Dennis Hauger (No. 19 Ault Blockchain Honda) moved up through the field, gaining eight spots to finish P11, while teammate Romain Grosjean (No. 18 Bmax Honda) also gained positions, moving up two places during the race.
Dennis Hauger – No. 19 Ault Blockchain Honda, Dale Coyne Racing
- Starting from P19, Hauger approached the opening laps cautiously, trying to keep his nose clean.
- As the rookie settled into the race, he committed to a fuel-saving strategy to make it to the end on two pit stops. Running P16, Hauger came into the pits for full fuel and a set of Firestone alternate tires.
- Hauger took these tires to the Lap 57 caution, pitting for a final set of Firestone alternate tires and fuel to reach the end of the race. He entered the pits in P15, but the Dale Coyne crew got him out in P13, gaining two spots during the hectic pit road sequence.
- When the track went green again, the rookie gained two additional positions, moving up to P11 an eight-spot improvement on the day.
- During the closing laps, Hauger made a late push to break into the top 10, just falling short and finishing P11.
Post-Race Quote:
“Well, I couldn’t ask for more out of today. We had a good strategy going into the race, and we capitalized on it. At the end, I was fighting for the top 10, but the 8 car held on very well and I just didnt have enough to get around him. Overall, it was just a great day for the entire crew. This was a team effort we had great stops and strategy, just such a fun day. I was even thinking during the race how much I really love IndyCar. It’s so much fun, and there is so much to think about while the race is going on. We can build off today going into May and Indy, and I can’t wait to get started.”
Romain Grosjean – No. 18 Bmax Honda, Dale Coyne Racing
- Starting P23, the18 team elected to try a three stop strategy.
- Pitting on Lap 12 from P21, the team fitted Firestone alternate tires and filled the car with fuel.
- During this stint, Grosjean set the fifth fastest lap of the race at 1:09.4012
- Grosjean ran these tires until Lap 32, when he switched to Firestone primary tires. When the Lap 57 caution came out, Grosjean was running P24 and elected to pit again for Firestone primary tires, rejoining in P23.
- On the final stint, Grosjean gained two more positions, finishing P21 an improvement of two spots from his starting position.
Post-Race Quote:
“That was a frustrating day. We have been struggling for grip, and we couldn’t find it for the race. We got clean air, but the tires just wouldn’t hold on long enough. We can get a lot better results than this, we’ve been close to good results a lot this season, we just need to put full races together. I think we learned a lot, and we’re heading to the Indy road course next, where I got my first pole in my NTT INDYCAR SERIES career with this team, so I think we can turn our luck around there.”
