AUSTIN, Texas – Another one bites the dust.

For the third time in less than two weeks, a Honda-powered IndyCar engine blew up while on track.

At St. Petersburg, Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan driver Sebastien Bourdais and Andretti Autosport's Ryan Hunter-Reay each had their days derailed when their engines quit mid-race. The latest incident occurred during IndyCar's opening practice session Friday morning at Circuit of the Americas. Rookie Colton Herta and the Harding Steinbrenner No. 88 team were the unlucky parties who could do nothing but look on helplessly as smoke billowed and fire spat out the back of the 19-year-old's car.

"It just blew up," said Herta, who still managed to post the second fastest lap time of the session (1:48.7939) behind Team Penske's Josef Newgarden (1:48.6567). "There's obviously something not right. We're just not really sure right now. I'm not sure they know what's going on yet. It could be a completely separate thing that happened here (than what happened at St. Petersburg). It could just be a fluke."

Maybe, but the Honda camp certainly didn't treat it that way. Three engines in two weeks is "definitely cause for concern," said Honda spokesman T.E. McHale.

While the series' reigning manufacturer champion has yet to "fully diagnose the issue," McHale said, it's initial findings are that it's likely an internal part failure similar to what plagued Honda teams during the 2017 IndyCar season. That year, Honda dealt with a rash of engine failures throughout the beginning of the season, including most infamously during the Indianapolis 500 when the cars of Fernando Alonso, Hunter-Reay and Charlie Kimball all lost power during the race. (It should be noted, though, that despite the reliability issues, Honda-powered driver Takuma Sato still won the race).

Later that season, Honda identified the problem and was able to address it before distributing its next set of engines. However, there was nothing Honda could do to fix the flawed set of engines already in the pool (about 1-in-8) and simply had to ride out the storm.

That could be the case again this year if the issue is indeed similar.

The rash of failures to begin the season comes as a surprise to the engine supplier, McHale said, considering Honda teams made it through preseason testing and the first two days of practice at St. Pete without suffering any kind of failures.

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Andretti Autosport COO Rob Edwards admitted he is among the concerned members of the Honda family. He knows that even one DNF (did not finish) can be enough to cost a driver and his team their championship dreams. He and the rest of the paddock are well aware that the two drivers who finished atop the championship standings last season, Scott Dixon and runner-up Alexander Rossi, didn't endure a single DNF all season.

Edwards, however, is confident Honda teams and the supplier will learn for sure what's going wrong and do their best to address it.

"Obviously we would be happier if we weren’t in the situation we’re in," Edwards said. "But Honda does a good job. Obviously, they got something they’re working through at the moment."

Unfortunately for Herta, the engine failure cost him an opportunity to run in the day's second practice session. However, the HSR team did a magnificent job of getting the car ready in time for the day-ending, 30-minute pit stop "warmup" session.

Herta turned eight laps and was the second-quickest of the session (1:48.4341) behind Penske's Simon Pagenaud (1:48.3334). For the day, though, Herta's No. 88 car finished P9 with the rest of the field able to produce quicker laps during the day's second practice session.

Penske's Will Power (1:47.4401) and Chip Ganassi Racing rookie Felix Rosenqvist (1:47.6150) paced the field.

Follow IndyStar Motor Sports Insider Jim Ayello on Twitter and Facebook: @jimayello.