Schmidt Peterson Motorsports was benched from today's Verizon IndyCar Series test at Texas over an engine rule technicality. The team was one of several Honda-powered operations who had planned to scale back their participation in the test as a precaution against overloading engines already high in mileage. In SPM's case, the plan was to park the No.7 entry used by driver Mikhail Aleshin, however the team reached an agreement with Honda and IndyCar to install a manufacturer spec engine into James Hinchcliffe's No.5 car, and have both drivers share cockpit time. That drew the ire of Chevrolet, which issued an official complaint that SPM had breached Rule 16.5.3, which states that no...
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