Gutierrez to complete season with Coyne

Dale Coyne has signed Esteban Gutierrez to drive the No. 18 Honda for the remainder of the season, starting this weekend at Road America.

"I'm very happy to finally announce my racing program for the rest of the season," said the former F1 driver, who raced for DCR at Detroit. "To represent Mexico in the Verizon IndyCar Series has a huge significance to all the fans that have been following the series through history and I'm very grateful to fill in this position."

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Sponsored by the Mexico City-based leasing company Unifien, the 25-year-old brings the elusive combination of talent and funding to a team that has gone from one misfortune to another since Sebastien Bourdais' big crash in qualifying for the Indy 500.

"We're very pleased that Esteban can join us for the remainder of the season," said Coyne. "Esteban did a very good job in Detroit despite having a lot to learn in a short amount of time. He fit in very well with the team and I look forward to our next races with him."

The question left to answer is whether the young Mexican will fill Bourdais' seat through the season finale at Sonoma Raceway. The Frenchman, who is making remarkable progress through daily physical rehabilitation, initially targeted Sonoma for his return.

With rehab going better than expected, a return at the penultimate round in Watkins Glen had become Bourdais' new focus, and provided the accelerated timeline holds, DCR could have its primary driver ready to go by late August and a hard decision to make on who will pilot the No. 18 Honda.

Would Coyne bar Bourdais from driving and keep him parked until next year? Could the team expand to run three cars as a trial to see how a lineup of Bourdais, Gutierrez and rookie phenom Ed Jones would look in 2018? Answers should be forthcoming later this summer.