Abel Motorsports is entering the 110th Running of the Indianapolis 500 with Jacob Abel, the team confirmed on Monday morning.
Abel, who has spent this year honing his craft in the Asian Le Mans Series and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, will run a Chevrolet-powered #51 entry. He competed in the IndyCar Series as a rookie last season with Dale Coyne Racing, earning a career-best finish of 11th at Iowa Speedway (Race 2), but was bumped from the Field of 33 in qualifying for the Indy 500.
“I am excited and grateful to be able to return to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to have a shot at the Indianapolis 500. It’s been a lifelong dream to compete in that race and to have the opportunity to do it with Abel Motorsports and Chevrolet makes it even more special,” Abel said.
This is also a homecoming for Abel, who returns to the team owned by his father, Bill Abel, since his 2024 success in Indy NXT when he claimed three wins and 10 podiums in 14 races en route to finishing runner-up for the championship.
“The Indianapolis 500 is the greatest race in the world and the teams that compete reflect that,” Jacob Abel said. “Having won races and competed for championships with Abel Motorsports over my whole career, I am very confident in the program that they put together.
“It is going to be amazing to share this experience with not only my actual family, but the team that has become my family over the years. The preparations have been ongoing for some time, and I’m eager to finally get on track,”
Additionally, it will mark the team’s return to the “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” for the first time since 2023 when RC Enerson qualified 28th and finished 32nd due to a mechanical issue after 75 of 200 laps.
For John Brunner, team manager of Abel Motorsports, the opportunity to run Jacob Abel with the Abel Motorsports team is something that brings a smile to his face.
“The opportunity to enter a car in the Indy 500 is always an exciting adventure but this is quite special to do it with Jacob as the driver,” Brunner said.
“The Abel’s hired me in 2021 to help build on the team that they had already assembled and to help Jacob with the next levels of his open-wheel journey. The Indy 500 was our goal and we are here thanks to the support of our crew and families, IndyCar, Firestone, and Chevrolet.”
For his part Bill Abel shared his thoughts on being able to have this opportunity to share running an entry with his son in IndyCar’s crown jewel.
“We’re all beyond excited to have Jacob back with us at Abel Motorsports and ecstatic to be returning to the ‘Greatest Spectacle in Racing,’” Bill Abel said. “It takes a lot of special people to make this happen, and I can’t thank Chevrolet and IndyCar enough for their help and belief in bringing this to life.
“We have a tremendous group at Abel Motorsports, with a lot of NTT IndyCar Series experience and we really feel like we are in a great spot to give Jacob everything he needs.
“To have the opportunity to compete in the Indianapolis 500 in 2023 with RC Enerson was so cool and I’ll never forget the moment immediately after we qualified and put RC in the show… It was really emotional and special to me. Now, to have the opportunity to come back here with Jacob as our driver, it doesn’t get any better than that!”
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