Collet shows out in Arlington

Caio Collet was the latest IndyCar Series rookie to stand out during the busy opening month of races. Dale Coyne Racing’s Dennis Hauger stood the series on its head after qualifying third at St. Petersburg and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Mick Schumacher did the same after starting fourth at Phoenix.

Collet, who’d experienced two relatively quiet runs to start the season, took his turn at Arlington with a solid qualifying effort that left his No. 4 AJ Foyt Racing Chevy in 16th and on Sunday, the Brazilian delivered a clean run to 12th. Only Hauger’s 10th-place finish at St. Petersburg has been better across the trio of rookies.

"Good race. I think we suffered a bit on the first stint with the balance on the red tires, and I think if we could have gone three, four laps more, I think we could have finished in the top 10. But anyway, I think it was a good race, good strategy. We were really quick on the black tires. Struggled a little bit with the reds, but overall, a really positive weekend,” Collet said after leading the proud Texan team to the finish line as teammate Santino Ferrucci took 17th in the No. 14 Chevy.

"I think we definitely improved quite a bit, and we were really competitive all weekend long, like top 10 and top 12," he said. "So yeah, really happy and we'll just keep moving forward from there, and good progress from the previous races. Big thanks to everyone that supported us this weekend, and we'll keep pushing."

Hauger is 13th in the standings with 50 points after three races. Collet improved to 18th with his Arlington output (42) and Schumacher remains in 25th (25) after another rough weekend.