Abel Motorsports makes solid impression at Indy Open Test

As far as bingo cards go, nobody had Jacob Abel and Abel Motorsports making the IndyCar Series paddock stand up and take notice during last week’s Indy Open Test.

The four-car Indy NXT team, which made a single IndyCar start at the Indianapolis 500 in 2023 with RC Enerson, ran smoothly during its first IndyCar Series action in 1066 days. In the big drafting party that took place to close the test, Abel demonstrated considerable speed with the No. 51 Chevy, registering a best lap of 223.859mph, which was good enough to leave the Kentuckian 13th among the 33 runners.

“I was super happy with it, to be honest,” Abel told RACER. “We were just happy to get on track. We weren't really ready to do any sort of trimming at all and just ran the whole time, and if we ended up in in clean air, I would run a couple laps, but that was that, because we were solely focused on our race program and running in dirty air.

“Just getting the car out there, going through the inevitable issues that there were going to crop up, was our focus, but to be honest, there were a lot less than any of us really expected. It definitely was a thrash to get the car ready and built and put together over the past two weeks from where it was. The test exceeded any expectations that we had.”

Abel attempted to participate in his first Indy 500 last year with Dale Coyne Racing, but like Nolan Siegel the year before in the same entry, he was bumped from the field. It was a first for Abel, and took a heavy toll on his confidence throughout the remainder of his rookie season.

Smooth runs in testing helped Abel put last year's Indy qualifying struggles behind him. James Black/Penske Entertainment

Being 13th fastest at the Indy Open Test isn’t necessarily an indicator of how he’ll run when official practice gets under way next week, but at least the Butler University graduate knows the potential exists to show well with the family-run team.

“I've always believed that I’ve had the ability to do this at a high level,” he said. “I've taken well to the ovals in particular, and I've always really enjoyed that kind of racing, so yeah, to have the Indianapolis 500 last year not go to plan was a big bummer. Especially with how much I enjoyed the week leading up to it and the process and learning how to get better in traffic and manage that whole thing, and going through the various levels of trimming and of that, I genuinely enjoy.

“So to not be able to take part in the race was really difficult for me, because it took a lot of the joy out of racing for me. And one thing probably above everything else is I'm just so excited to get back on track at Indy. The open test was a start of it.”

With Abel’s season mostly dedicated to sports car racing, the return to Indy is being treated correctly – as a gift and as a chance to write a different ending to his Speedway story.

“I'm just trying to go out there and have a lot of fun,” Abel said. “I think the results and everything after that will come. To be back with the Abel Motorsports group, a group that I've won races with, I've had a ton of success with in my career. I just carry a different level of confidence with them in everything, from engineering to mechanical. I'm just so confident. If I have an issue, they're going to fix it.

“And it definitely feels like I do have something to prove, based on how last year went. I think I need to prove it to myself, just as much as I need to prove it to everyone else in the field.”