McElrea to test ECR IndyCar at Thermal

Hunter McElrea’s next run in an IndyCar will come with Ed Carpenter Racing at The Thermal Club on November 19. McElrea will share the track with Meyer Shank Racing’s Logan Sargeant, Team Penske’s Felipe Nasr, Arrow McLaren's Enzo Fittipaldi and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Louis Foster.

The New Zealander made his IndyCar debut in July at Toronto with Dale Coyne Racing and impressed with his immediate speed, which came after years of training on the USF Championships ladder and in Indy NXT, where he placed second in the standings in 2023.

Following his outing in Canada with Coyne, the 24-year-old continued to burnish his reputation in IMSA, where he won back-to-back WeatherTech SportsCar Championship endurance races in September at the Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis with the TDS Racing LMP2 team, and in October to close the season at the 10-hour Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta with TDS teammates Steven Thomas and Mikkel Jensen, where they clinched the Michelin Endurance Championship title.

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“We’ve been talking to Hunter for a while and we’re looking forward to running him,” ECR general manager Tim Broyles told RACER.

With its full-time lineup already set for 2025 with Alexander Rossi and Christian Rasmussen, McElrea isn’t in contention for a seat with the Chevy-powered team, but ECR chose to take advantage of IndyCar’s provisioning of driver evaluation days to have McElrea assist with chassis setup development and feedback as it prepares for the next season.

“I got a text from Ed asking if I wanted to drive, and it was super cool because without the weekend in Toronto with Dale, I don’t think I’d have been asked,” McElrea said. “So for that to lead to another opportunity to get into an IndyCar is amazing, and the opportunity has been earned. I’m super grateful to Ed and everyone at ECR for giving me a chance to drive their car.”