INDYCAR 2016 Driver Review: Gabby Chaves

Just when you thought that the Verizon IndyCar Series had run out of ways to surprise, 2016 came along. The championship was won by a guy who looked all at sea 12 months earlier, his closest rival didn't even participate in the first race, and the winner of the 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500 was a recent F1 refugee who apparently figured out how to make a car work without fuel.

Twenty-four drivers made at least three starts during the 2016 season, and each one is a story. Join RACER.com each day as we retrace their journeys.

GABBY CHAVES

NO. 19 DALE COYNE RACING HONDA

2016 Best result: 12th (Detroit, race 1)
2016 Championship position: 22nd (121 points from seven starts)

Everyone already had an idea of what Chaves was capable of after having seen him in 2015. Was seven races with Coyne enough to tell us anything new?

PRUETT: No, but it reaffirmed the kid is bad-fast with the right car beneath him. Stepping in on short notice to wheel Mikhail Aleshin's car for SPM at Spring Training and matching Hinch's pace was yet another indicator of the raw talent Gabby's working with. He impressed, on occasion, in select outings with Coyne, and that's the unfortunate cycle he's fallen into. Without a big sponsor to help land a solid and consistent seat, Gabby could be stuck in making guest appearances, and that's no way to refine his skills. Like so many other young drivers, he needs time to develop, and without the benefit of that time, every opportunity has become a make-or-break scenario.

MILLER: Not really. When he was with BHA, they had one car and little money, so his number one goal was to bring it home in one piece and I doubt we ever got to see him extend himself. (Although he was going to be in The Fast Six at New Orleans before qualifying was rained out). And that was pretty much the party line at Coyne, too. When he hopped into Mikhail Aleshin's car for Spring Training at Phoenix the SPM crew was very impressed with his speed and feedback, and that echoed what Herta's people had said the year before.

To what extent did results matter in the races that Chaves did do? Was it more important to simply maintain a presence in the paddock?

PRUETT: He did marginally better than teammate Conor Daly on a few occasions, and struggled on the days where Daly had his best performances of the year. Being seen is definitely important, but the conversation would be a lot different if he'd been able to match results with Daly at most rounds.

MILLER: Nobody expected much in the way of results, so staying on the radar was definitely more important. Gabby missed out on a chance to replace Will Power in the season-opener because he didn't bring his helmet or uniform to St. Pete, and that taught him a valuable lesson. Plus, out of sight is out of mind in IndyCar, and he faithfully showed up everywhere he didn't have a ride, and did as much networking as possible. He even did some radio work on the iMS network, and it's clear he wants IndyCar to be his career.

With the exception of one of the Detroit races, Chaves' results this year were worse than at the same venues last season. Was that just rust? A performance gap between 2015-spec BHA and this year's version of Coyne? A symptom of the Chevy/Honda gulf in '16?

PRUETT: It was a classic case of having the odds stacked against a driver. Gabby had just two days of Spring Training on the Phoenix oval and zero testing on a road course with Honda's revised aero kit, was dropped into the team at the fifth round in May, met and started working with a new engineer who was also learning the Honda package, and had a teammate in Daly who did all the tests, built chemistry with his engineer, and was in a groove by the time Chaves arrived.

None of those items should be considered excuses - they're the basic reasons why a driver like Chaves, with one year of IndyCar experience, was unable to parachute in and look like a future champion.

He faced every disadvantage that can be thrown at a young driver, and despite the lack of stellar results, he showed his maturity by keeping the car off the walls and making the most of a compromised situation. Let's also keep in mind he wasn't drafted in to drive a Chevy for Roger Penske. Setting the bar of expectation at a realistic height with the team and challenges in mind should also help frame Gabby's output.

MILLER: He got caught out at Texas early in practice when he was maybe trying too hard and crashed, so that was a setback to his confidence. But basically, it was a combination of not being able to develop much of the rhythm or chemistry that he enjoyed at BHA, and the fact that always being in audition mode is tough on anyone. Only running a handful races sporadically with a small team in today's IndyCar competition is asking a lot, and is not a fair gauge of Chaves' talent. Like so many promising kids, past and present, he simply needs a full-time seat on a team that believes in him.

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