With Dale Coyne Racing ride, Sting Ray Robb completes IndyCar's 2023 full-time grid

With Dale Coyne Racing's signing of Sting Ray Robb to drive its No. 51 Honda full-time this year, the 2023 IndyCar grid is now set.

Robb's signing, shortly following last week's addition of Agustin Canapino full-time at Juncos Hollinger Racing and this week's news of Takuma Sato running ovals only with Chip Ganassi Racing , gives IndyCar 27 full-time entries -- the most for the series in over a decade.

Robb, the 21-year-old American driver, is three weeks older than his new teammate and fellow former Lights runner-up David Malukas, who finished 16th in his rookie campaign a year ago and out-dueled then-teammate Sato. Together, they form easily the youngest tandem on the grid. According to Wednesday's release, Rick Ware Racing will continue to partner on the No. 51 Honda as it has since 2021.

"This is an opportunity -- a dream -- that has been long in the making," Robb, who completed his first test with the team earlier this month at Sebring, said in a release. "We had a great first test together, and I was very impressed with the efficiency of the DCR with RWR team and how well we worked together on our first day."

Robb follows in the footsteps of a string of rookies DCR has given shots to in IndyCar in recent years, including Malukas, 2021 title-winner Alex Palou, Romain Grosjean, Santino Ferrucci, Pietro Fittipaldi and Ed Jones. The latest rookie addition to the '23 IndyCar grid made a strong leap in his second Indy Lights season, registering eight podiums in 14 starts, including a win from pole in the season's penultimate race at Laguna Seca, in 2022 with Andretti Autosport. The year prior with Juncos, Robb logged a single top-5 across 20 races.

Robb will fight for the 2023 IndyCar Rookie of the Year with fellow full-timers Canapino and Benjamin Pedersen, who landed at A.J. Foyt Racing after taking 5th in Indy Lights in 2022.

"Dale Coyne Racing has a historically distinguished program that has seen success with many drivers, and most recently, young, talented drivers," Robb said. "I'm looking forward to continuing that trend and expecting some strong results as we enter my rookie season."

Added team-owner Dale Coyne: "I think (Sting Ray) and David will make a great pairing. With David continuing where he left off last year, and Sting Ray wanting to do well in his rookie season, we have two young and eager drivers who, I think, are a force to be reckoned with."

Notably, Wednesday's news means the end of any hope of 2022 Indy Lights champion Linus Lundqvist landing a deserving full-time ride the year after running away with a 92-point lead over Robb and more than 100 points over 3rd-place Matthew Brabham. Despite one of the more dominant runs of an Indy Lights champion in recent memory, Lundqvist took home just $500,000 in scholarship prizes from Penske Entertainment in the company's first year of fully running and operating the series -- compared to the $1.2 million of recent years that had guaranteed an Indy 500 run and at least two other series starts. Instead, Penske Entertainment shelled out individual race purses that had previously not existed to try and create more team stability.

Moving forward for 2023, Penske Entertainment has upped its total contributions in prize money and scholarships for what is now the Indy NXT series to $1.4 million, including an $850,000 scholarship to the champion to go towards a future 500 ride, another 2024 race appearance and various testing opportunities.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IndyCar: Sting Ray Robb completes 2023 grid with Dale Coyne Racing