Gutierrez not cleared by IndyCar to run at Texas

Rookie Esteban Gutierrez won't be allowed to compete at Texas this weekend because, frankly, it's in the best interest of the 25-year-old Mexican racer and his fellow drivers.

"Esteban isn't approved to run Texas because he has no oval-track experience and there's no time to test him between now and Friday," said IndyCar president of competition Jay Frye. "We have an approval process for ovals and it's as simple as that.

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"He did a nice job at Detroit and we're excited about his future and hope to see him at Elkhart Lake."

A veteran of three full seasons in Formula 1 (two with Sauber and one with Haas in 2016), Gutierrez made his IndyCar debut for Dale Coyne this past weekend at Belle Isle – starting and finishing 19th in the opener and qualifying 19th and finishing 14th on the lead lap in the second half of the doubleheader.

Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso had never run an oval when he came to Indianapolis last month but had one test day in early May to complete his rookie orientation and then ran ROP in addition to a week of practice.

Coyne will likely chose from Oriol Servia, Stefan Wilson or James Davison to drive Sebastien Bourdais' No. 18 Honda in Saturday night's race.