Abel Motorsports – Syndication Server

Amid NXT expansion, Abel Motorsports eyes IMSA, Indy 500

Bill Abel’s team rose to Indy NXT prominence last season as his son Jacob Abel earned three wins, 10 podiums, two poles, and a runner-up finish in the championship behind Andretti Global’s Louis Foster. The two full-time cars for Abel – who is …

The two full-time cars for Abel — who is hunting for an IndyCar seat in 2025 — and Yuven Sundaramoorthy, and part-time efforts for a trio of other drivers, served as Abel’s largest footprint in NXT since it joined the series in 2022, and with their newfound success, the Indiana-based team is set to continue expanding.

Sundaramoorthy is signed for his second season with the outfit and Myles Rowe, who made his NXT debut in 2024 with HMD Motorsports, has moved across to the team. Abel intends to confirm more NXT drivers and is also looking at taking the team into a new territory.

“We’ve got two other seats that we’re going to fill, and we’ve got tons of interest because of the season we’ve had with Jacob,” Abel told RACER. “We’ll be a four-car Indy NXT team, and hopefully an Indy 500 team also. That’s where we’re headed to.”

Penske Entertainment’s recent formation of its charter program has thwarted Abel’s efforts to join the NTT IndyCar Series as a full-time entrant. Despite owning two Dallara DW12 Indy cars situated in his shop located next to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Abel sees partnerships with existing teams as the only avenue to take part in the series outside of the Indy 500.

“Everything that’s going on structurally within IndyCar has made it difficult for us to find a home as a full-time team, so I don’t know that that’ll be obtainable next year, but we’re talking to teams,” he said. “Jacob and I are having meetings with teams trying to find a home for him. I’m meeting with teams trying to figure out if there is a future for Abel Motorsports and IndyCar, and what that would look like. We’re having some pretty deep conversations. I don’t know where any of it is to wind up, but we’ll be in NXT next year.”

Much as Abel Motorsports might like to move up to IndyCar full-time, an Indy 500 partnership appears to be the maximum prospect for now. Brett Farmer/Motorsport Images

With the door to IndyCar all but closed as a standalone entrant, Abel has been taking a hard look at IMSA as a paddock where his team would be welcomed. Having attended the Sebring 12 Hours in March on a fact-finding mission and developed a range of possibilities partnerships to pursue in the NASCAR-owned sports car series, endurance racing could be part of Abel Motorsports’ future.

“We’ve got a company that’s talking to us about jumping into IMSA,” Abel said. “It’s not out of the realm of possibility. The choke point in our team is [team manager] John Brunner and what he wants to take on, or how we might take something on with some help.

“And part of it is thinking about Jacob, and if he’s not going to be in IndyCar, our motivation is greater to be in IMSA. I don’t know if that’s TCR, GT3, or LMP2. Nothing is off the table and that would be fun.”

Indy NXT season update with Andretti Global and Abel Motorsports

Coming up to the halfway point of the Indy NXT season, Marshall Pruett checks in with drivers Louis Foster and Jamie Chadwick of Andretti Global as well as Jacob Abel and Yuven Sundaramoorthy of Abel Motorsports. RACER’s Trackside Report at Road …

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Abel powers to flag-to-flag Indy NXT win at Indy GP

All it takes is one. Jacob Abel spoke to how much confidence his maiden Indy NXT by Firestone victory April 28 at Barber Motorsports Park did for his psyche. Friday, Abel scored win number two. Abel held off second-place finisher Nolan Siegel in a …

All it takes is one.

Jacob Abel spoke to how much confidence his maiden Indy NXT by Firestone victory April 28 at Barber Motorsports Park did for his psyche. Friday, Abel scored win number two.

Abel held off second-place finisher Nolan Siegel in a three-lap shootout on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course to score his second consecutive victory in the No. 51 Abel Construction entry.

“This is awesome,” Abel said after leading all 35 laps in this race. “Unfortunately, we don’t get to celebrate for too long here. We’re getting another chance tomorrow. That was a really great race, though.”

Siegel came in tied with Abel for the points lead and charged from a fifth-place starting position to bring his No. 39 HMD Motorsports entry home second, 0.5470s in arrears. He trails Abel by 14 points entering Saturday’s second race of the Indianapolis Grand Prix doubleheader at 1 p.m. ET, with live coverage on Peacock and the IndyCar Radio Network.

Friday’s result was the third time in as many races this season the duo finished 1-2, as Siegel won the season opener in March in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Andretti Global’s Jamie Chadwick scored the best finish for a female driver in Indy NXT by Firestone since Pippa Mann’s 2010 win at Kentucky Speedway on Sept. 4, 2010, when she brought her No. 28 VEXT entry home third. Chadwick’s previous best finish was sixth last September at Portland International Raceway.

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Rookie Callum Hedge finished fourth in the No. 17 HMD Motorsports entry, with fellow rookie Myles Rowe rounding out the top five in the No. 99 HMD Motorsports with Force Indy car.

Abel initially had the win on cruise control before a pair of late-race cautions caused by both Abel Motorsports teammates erased his advantage. He leaped to nearly a five-season lead over Siegel before the first caution flew for Yuven Sundaramoorthy stopping off course in his No. 22 S Team Motorsports/Abel Motorsports entry in Turn 4 on lap 21.

On the lap 26 restart, Abel led Siegel to the green on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course. Two laps later, his advantage grew to 0.9704s.

On lap 30, Jordan Missig (No. 21 Abel Motorsports) went off course after contact with the wall in Turn 7, sparking the second full-course caution.

Siegel had a second chance to pass Abel for the win. Even with a great launch on the lap 32 restart, Abel prevailed.

“Nolan and I had a great battle,” Abel said. “I had it under control the whole time. I had a big lead there, and unfortunately a lot of yellows really made me work for it at the end. I was just saving tires early on, so I was ready for that.

“Massive thanks to all the Abel Motorsports crew. They delivered an amazing car. We didn’t roll off 100 percent here, but we everyone figured it out in that one practice session that we had, and that’s almost more gratifying than last weekend, when we just rolled off perfect.”

The exciting race featured 165 on-track passes and 136 passes for position, both series records for this circuit.

RESULTS

Abel completes perfect weekend, dominating Indy NXT at Barber

The wait finally is over for Jacob Abel. He led all 35 laps from pole to claim his first Indy NXT by Firestone victory Sunday in the Indy NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park. The win came in Abel’s 30th career start in …

The wait finally is over for Jacob Abel.

He led all 35 laps from pole to claim his first Indy NXT by Firestone victory Sunday in the Indy NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park.

The win came in Abel’s 30th career start in the IndyCar development series and was the first win for the family-owned Abel Motorsports team. His previous best result was second, three times, including in the 2024 season opener March 10 at St. Petersburg, Florida.

Abel led both practices and qualifying at Barber before completing his dream weekend with a win.

“I’m speechless, man,” Abel said. “This team has been working for this for so long now, and to finally get it done and on such a picture-perfect weekend, it’s been lights out all weekend long. It was just up to me to deliver it.

“A lot of nerves all weekend long, but I can finally say that yes, everything went right this weekend. Super happy with it.”

Abel won under caution in the No. 51 Abel Construction entry when Jamie Chadwick spun into the gravel in Turn 1 on lap 34 and got stuck, triggering a race-ending yellow flag. Abel led Siegel’s No. 39 HMD Motorsports car by about a second when the yellow flew.

James Roe placed third in the No. 29 TopCon car of Andretti Global to earn his second career podium finish. Caio Collet was the highest-placing rookie, finishing fourth in the No. 18 HMD Motorsports car.

Louis Foster completed a stirring drive from 21st and last on the starting grid to round out the top five in the No. 26 Copart/Novara Technologies entry fielded by Andretti Global.

Siegel, who started second, ran in that position for the entire race. But he did pull side by side with Abel in Turn 5 on lap 10 after gaining ground after a lap six restart. Abel parried that move by Siegel, who fell back to 0.5510s of a second behind at the end of that lap.

Abel then controlled the race from that point, but it wasn’t without some anxiety.

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Siegel conserved his Firestone Firehawk tires and Push to Pass and started to close in on Abel with 10 laps remaining on the 17-turn, 2.3-mile circuit. Siegel pulled his machine within 0.479s on lap 27, but Abel was able to expand that gap to 0.840s by lap 30 and held on for the win.

“Congrats to Jacob,” Siegel said. “He did a great job all weekend. Honestly, I think we were faster today. The car was fantastic. We saved everything for the last lap; we saved all our P2P, saved our tires the entire race sitting there, and right as I started to go for it, that yellow came out.

“Super disappointed, but I think it’s a good day when you’re disappointed with second.”

The duel between Abel and Siegel not only was compelling for the fans watching from Barber’s manicured grounds, but it also set the stage for a potential championship battle all season. Abel and Siegel are tied atop the standings with 95 points after two races.

“Props to Nolan,” Abel said. “He kept me honest. The whole entire race, he was right there. He’s a great competitor, and I look forward to many battles like that throughout the season.”

Foster may have salvaged his championship hopes with a terrific drive from the back of the field. He barely completed any practice laps this weekend and didn’t participate in qualifying due to nagging electrical problems.

But the Andretti Global crew diagnosed and fixed the gremlins, and Foster diced through the field for a strong recovery. He is third in the standings, 30 points behind Abel and Siegel.

The next events for Indy NXT by Firestone are the Indianapolis Grand Prix doubleheader May 10-11 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

RESULTS

Abel continues dominance with Barber Indy NXT pole

Jacob Abel’s magic carpet ride continued Saturday at Barber Motorsports Park, as he drove to the pole for the Indy NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Alabama. Abel, from Louisville, Kentucky, grabbed the top spot with a lap of 1m11.3507s in the No. 51 …

Jacob Abel’s magic carpet ride continued Saturday at Barber Motorsports Park, as he drove to the pole for the Indy NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Alabama.

Abel, from Louisville, Kentucky, grabbed the top spot with a lap of 1m11.3507s in the No. 51 Abel Construction car fielded by Abel Motorsports. It was the second career pole in the IndyCar development series for Abel, whose first No. 1 qualifying position came in July 2023 at Iowa Speedway.

The pole continued a dominant weekend for Abel on the 17-turn, 2.3-mile natural road course. He has led every session, pacing practices Friday afternoon and Saturday morning.

“It was more of what’s been going on all weekend long,” Abel said. “The Abel Motorsports guys gave me a fantastic car today, so I just had to go and drive the thing. It felt pretty easy out there. It was awesome. I’ve just got to finish the job tomorrow now.”

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The 35-lap race starts at 11:05 a.m. ET Sunday, with live coverage on Peacock and the IndyCar Radio Network.

Abel’s cruise on Easy Street continued in qualifying, as he ended up 0.2239s ahead of No. 2 qualifier and championship leader Nolan Siegel, who turned a top lap of 1m11.5746s in the No. 39 HMD Motorsports car. Abel was 0.5158s ahead of the field in practice Friday, and he led practice Saturday morning by 0.2995s.

James Roe qualified third at 1m11.5971s in the No. 29 TopCon entry of Andretti Global, joined in row two by rookie Caio Collet after the Brazilian’s best lap of 1m11.7074s in the No. 18 HMD Motorsports entry.

Jamie Chadwick qualified a career-best fifth at 1m11.7240s in the No. 28 VEXT car of Andretti Global. Her previous best start was ninth in June 2023 at Road America. Rookie Michael d’Orlando also will start from row three, qualifying sixth at 1m11.9051s in the No. 3 Priority RSR Andretti Cape entry.

RESULTS

USAC standout Ferns joins Abel Motorsports for oval Indy NXT races

Abel Motorsports will welcome USAC midget, sprint car and Silver Crown talent Taylor Ferns to its Indy NXT team for a four-race oval program. She joins the three full-time drivers led by Jacob Abel, Yuven Sundaramoorthy and John Mason. Ferns will …

Ferns will make her debut at Iowa Speedway and return for the races at World Wide Technology Raceway, the Milwaukee Mile and Nashville Speedway.

“I’m so grateful to Abel Motorsports and everyone who helped put this together,” Ferns said. “Excited is an understatement. Indy NXT has been on my radar for several years and I’m so happy to have it come to fruition, especially with partners like Bradford Allen believing in me and giving me the resources to fulfill a life-long dream. I know the team has been strong on ovals, with Jacob (Abel) taking pole at Iowa last year, so I know we will have a strong effort.”

Team owner Bill Abel has seen his single-car team undergo meaningful expansion during the offseason to add rising stars from all forms of racing.

“Taylor is a true racer,” he said. “She understands what’s involved in transitioning from Silver Crown and sprint cars to the Indy NXT car, and I’m confident that she’ll do well.

“It would be great if her experience re-opens the pipeline from USAC to this form of racing — we’ve seen drivers be successful in the very recent past. I know we’ll be able to transfer a good deal of knowledge about the car to her, but I’m sure we’ll learn a lot from her as well. We’re looking forward to getting her started on a testing program and see how things turn out — I’m sure she’ll do really well.”

Enerson working toward Indy 500 return with Abel

RC Enerson and his father Neil are doing their best to make another run at racing in the Indianapolis 500 with Bill Abel and the Abel Motorsports team. Using the No. 50 Dallara DW12 owned by the Enersons, Abel and team manager John Brunner assembled …

RC Enerson and his father Neil are doing their best to make another run at racing in the Indianapolis 500 with Bill Abel and the Abel Motorsports team.

Using the No. 50 Dallara DW12 owned by the Enersons, Abel and team manager John Brunner assembled a stellar crew to prepare the chassis for last May’s race where the Mazda Road to Indy and Indy Lights race winner surprised the field by making it into the field of 33 and placing 32nd in the race after mechanical issues struck the Chevy-powered car.

Returning to the Speedway for a second attempt at racing in the Indy 500 is something all of the parties want to do, but it’s contingent upon the Enersons finding a primary sponsor to fund the endeavor.

“Last year, we defied a lot odds as a new team to IndyCar and we accomplished a lot,” the 27-year-old Enerson told RACER. “We made it into the 500 on day one, and that was that was probably the best part of it with not having to go through bump day. But trying to do it again, it comes down to finding a primary. I think we’re the only car that doesn’t have a primary slot filled. We have some associates on board, but the primary slot’s completely open. So it’s really coming down to getting that final piece of our puzzle solved to get running.”

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From the team side, Abel is fully committed to participating at Indy. To bolster their efforts, Abel ordered a new Dallara DW12 chassis during the offseason and it should arrive before the end of the month. Brunner’s squad will begin prepping the new car — while updating the Enerson’s car to the latest specifications — and if Enerson is able to raise the funds, Abel would run him in the Enersons’ chassis.

And if Enerson is unsuccessful in his fund-raising bid, Abel tells RACER the team would field its new car with one of the other drivers who are looking for a good program to join at the Speedway.

“We really hope RC finds a sponsor and if he does, he’ll be driving for us,” Abel said. “We’d love it to RC. “While he’s searching, we’re supporting him in that process and we’re also talking to other funded drivers.”

At present, 35 entries will try and qualify for the 108th running of the great race, and Enerson says he’s working tirelessly to find partners that will make it possible for him to contest his second Indy 500.

“We’ve been able to connect with a few sponsors that could be primaries and we’ve got some feelers out there, but it comes down to the timeframe we’re in,” he added. “We’ve got the Indy open test in a couple of weeks, and I don’t see us being there. It’s coming down to crunch time, really. There’s always one or two entries that are that are on a crunch time on getting primaries.

“I have confidence in the Abel guys that, especially with how our car performed last year, and how much rubbing they’ve been doing on the car from then till now, that we’d have a fast car. We’re trying everything we can to make sure we’re able to get in.”

With the likes of Charlie Kimball, Stefan Wilson and Devlin DeFrancesco among the names mentioned in recent months as those who are hoping to land a seat for the Indy 500, Enerson knows the clock is winding down on keeping his grip on the No. 50 Chevy.

“I don’t think there’s exactly a set deadline date; it’s just for us to keep plugging away at it and see what we can make of it,” he said. “Obviously, at some point, there’s going to be a date where I can’t make it, but I don’t think we’ve really set that date and it’s just coming down to trying every single day, all my waking hours trying to figure out ways to get back there.”

Abel aims to follow Indy 500 return with full-time program in 2025

Bill Abel is working on an ambitious plan to add a full-time NTT IndyCar Series program alongside his burgeoning Indy NXT effort. The Kentucky-based construction company owner made his first foray into IndyCar team ownership last year at the …

Bill Abel is working on an ambitious plan to add a full-time NTT IndyCar Series program alongside his burgeoning Indy NXT effort.

The Kentucky-based construction company owner made his first foray into IndyCar team ownership last year at the Indianapolis 500 in partnership with Neil and RC Enerson, and plans to return in May for Abel Motorsports’ second adventure at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with a new chassis he’s due to receive from Dallara in the coming weeks.

The investment in a Dallara DW12 and more of the equipment needed to compete at every round is part of Abel’s bigger plans, which involve becoming IndyCar’s newest full-season entrant in 2025.

“There’s a lot of stuff, a lot of moving parts, a lot of things that we’re talking about and trying to figure out how to make that step,” Abel told RACER. “A lot is going to happen between now and next year. Chevy has been really good to us. They’ve been in our corner. Hopefully they will be there with us in ’25 when we try to go do a full season. That’s not confirmed yet but that’s the direction we’re heading and that’s the momentum that we’ve got behind this now. So that makes the most sense.”

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Making use of the DW12 owned by the Enersons, Abel Motorsports starred on its Indy 500 debut as RC Enerson qualified and locked the team into the starting field on the first day of time trials. Having a chassis owned by Abel in the team’s Indiana-based shop was an important move to help ensure the squad is capable of racing in IndyCar without any limitations.

Although nothing is signed with the Enersons, it’s possible for them to continue with Abel in May — utilizing their chassis again — and it was when Abel was looking to field a second car at Indy where the wire transfer to Dallara was made.

“That’s really when we decided to make the jump to order our car,” Abel said. “We’re going to try to do it the right way. We can’t afford to fund this entire program ourselves, so we’re going to be reaching out to different people, trying to figure out how to make it happen. We’re investing a lot already. Buying cars and equipment — we bought a timing stand from McLaren — and trailers and things like that is one thing, but securing a budget to run the whole season is a whole different animal, and we are definitely going to have to have some help there.

“But everybody that we’ve been dealing with within the paddock has been really, really good to deal with, and our plan is to be there full-time with at least one entry, maybe two — if that’s by finding a funded driver, that would be terrific. That’s one way to do it and we would certainly be open to that. We’re looking for those opportunities.”

Abel Motorsports team manager John Brunner, pictured at right, will be focused more on the team’s IndyCar operations going forward. Michael Levitt/Motorsport Images

Having invested in a car and all of the complementary items it takes to drive around the country and run an IndyCar program, Abel has also done some additional hiring, done under the direction of team manager John Brunner, who will take a great role on the emerging IndyCar side of the operation and gradually train one of the current staff members to manage the NXT operation.

“We’ve actually hired a couple more folks this year with specific IndyCar backgrounds and experience,” Abel noted. “One or two of the guys were on our 500 effort last year, and we were able to get them on board full-time.

“We talked about bringing somebody on board that can maybe head up just the Indy 500 program for us, and so John’s been looking hard for that person. He talked to somebody at one of the other teams who said, ‘You’re the guy that needs to run that program, and bring somebody else up within the organization to head up the NXT team.’ He came back to me and said, ‘You know, I think this is what we need to do.’ And, of course, I said, ‘Yeah, that sounds very smart to me.’ That’s something we’ll transition into this year. John will be able to focus more on our IndyCar program.”

In the short term, Abel has his expanding NXT team in motion and an Indy 500 effort to finalize. Beyond that, he’s trying to ready the company for a bigger role in IndyCar in 12 months’ time.

“We’ve had a few conversations this year with folks about the 500,” he said. “Right now, we’re leaning towards RC. And we’re trying to position ourselves keep our ear to the ground and understand the process of a new team like us trying to get into IndyCar with the talks about charters happening.

“We’ve been told there will be a space there for us to race; we don’t want to buy a brand-new car or two and not have a place to take it and race it and we feel pretty good about that. IndyCar seems excited about the prospect of having us. So we’re just trying to put things together to make that happen.”

Abel looks ahead to IndyCar test debut with Coyne

Jacob Abel was one of the breakout performers of the Indy NXT series in 2023. Driving for the family-owned Abel Motorsports team, the Kentucky native earned his first pole position, led laps and stood on the podium four times on the way to placing …

He’ll return for one more season of open-wheel schooling next year, and after the 2024 NXT season, Abel hopes to graduate to IndyCar. To get a feel for what it’s like to wield a Dallara DW12 chassis with more than 700hp from a 2.2-liter twin-turbo V6 engine, Abel will head to Florida next week and participate in his first IndyCar test with the Dale Coyne Racing team at Sebring.

“There’s many goals with this test,” the 22-year-old told RACER. “Abel Motorsports owns one Indy car and an extra tub, so where that leads with the team isn’t known yet, but I know I want to get to IndyCar as a driver and I’ve always been willing to look at other options with other teams. This was just a great opportunity to get me into an Indy car early and experience what it’s like.

“Dale Coyne is a really cool team owner when it comes to young drivers, because he’s one of the only ones that truly pays attention to all the smaller series and all the younger drivers. So he was very familiar with me and all the driving I’ve done, which is refreshing because sometimes I get a little bit overshadowed by the team and everything they’re doing.

“So he reached out and basically said, ‘Hey, do you want to do this?’ Which was pretty cool to me, because it makes me feel like my development has been noticed. It’s basically just to get a taste. Next year, we are planning on doing NXT, but doing an IndyCar test opens the door to other opportunities.”

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Although he’s focused on fighting for the NXT title, Abel wants to be ready if an IndyCar team finds itself in need of a driver.

“Whether that could be a last-minute need, or maybe an Indy 500 thing with Abel Motorsports, even though I don’t know if that’s necessarily [team manager] John [Brunner] and my dad’s plans, but it’s always in the back of my head,” Abel said. “If there’s a substitute driver need, it puts me already in a good place on many fronts.

“It’s a childhood dream. I’ve been around the Road to Indy and on this path for four or five years now, so to get just a little bit of a taste of the big series and the big cars is an important thing. And if nothing else, it will motivate me to push harder and really attack the whole 2024 NXT season and then trying to get something for IndyCar in 2025.”

Sundaramoorthy joins Abel Motorsports for Indy NXT

Junior open-wheel talent Yuven Sundaramoorthy is taking the final step of his training to Indy NXT with the emerging Abel Motorsports team. A native of Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, the 20-year-old has been active on the open-wheel ladder since 2017, with a run to third in the 2021 USF2000 championship serving as his best season-long achievement where he earned four wins.

Having run four NXT races with Abel late in the 2023 season as a precursor to going full-time in 2024, Sundaramoorthy is primed to continue his journey with one of the series’ rising programs.

“I’m extremely happy to have signed with Abel Motorsports for the 2024 Indy NXT season,” said Sundaramoorthy, who aspires to become the first Indian-American IndyCar driver. “I had an amazing experience running the last couple of Indy NXT races with them to cap off my 2023 season and I have a ton of confidence in the crew that we can create some solid results together next season. This wouldn’t be possible without my family, sponsors, and partners, so thank you to them.”

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With Jacob Abel poised to turn his first NXT pole position and four podiums into a title run and the potential contained within Sundaramoorthy, Abel Motorsports enters the new season with another strong lineup to challenge its bigger rivals.

“We are extremely excited that Yuven is going to be back with Abel Motorsports for the 2024 Indy NXT season and getting to build on what we learned together in 2023,” said team owner Bill Abel. “You know, Yuven joined us towards the end of last season for a few races to get his feet wet in the series, and the poise and talent he showed spoke volumes for what he can bring to our team, so we can’t wait to see what he can do in 2024.”