Tag: Hunter McElrea

McElrea to make IndyCar debut with Coyne in Toronto

Hunter McElrea will make his NTT IndyCar Series debut this weekend at the Honda Indy Toronto in the No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda. “It’s a dream come true for me to be making my NTT IndyCar Series debut,” McElrea said. “I’ve been working towards …

Hunter McElrea will make his NTT IndyCar Series debut this weekend at the Honda Indy Toronto in the No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda.

“It’s a dream come true for me to be making my NTT IndyCar Series debut,” McElrea said. “I’ve been working towards this for a long time, and I have to thank Dale for the opportunity.

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“I can’t wait to get to Toronto, which is one of the coolest events of the year. I want to thank JR Smart and Courtesy Corporation for making this possible for me.”

The Indy NXT championship runner-up from 2023 recently tested for the team at Mid-Ohio.

“Hunter impressed the team during our test last week at Mid-Ohio,” said Coyne. “He quickly got up to speed and helped run through our testing plan. I’m excited to see what he can do on the streets of Toronto, this weekend.”

The Toronto race in the No. 18 was originally scheduled to have new Arrow McLaren driver Nolan Siegel in the seat. McElrea not only fills that void, but also gives the injured Jack Harvey, who stepped out of the car on Sunday in favor of Conor Daly, more time to recover as the series moves into an extended break during the Olympics.

McElrea wins Indy NXT Laguna race 1, Rasmussen title all but won

Hunter McElrea timed his second pole position well as he tried to stay in the hunt for the Indy NXT title but, as ever, the Andretti Autosport driver was accompanied on the front row by Christian Rasmussen of HMD Motorsports. McElrea got away well …

Hunter McElrea timed his second pole position well as he tried to stay in the hunt for the Indy NXT title but, as ever, the Andretti Autosport driver was accompanied on the front row by Christian Rasmussen of HMD Motorsports.

McElrea got away well at the drop of the green with Rasmussen falling 1.7s behind by the end of the first lap. He had at least stayed clear of Danial Frost, who was being pursued by the Juncos Hollinger Racing car of Victor Franzoni, Kyffin Simpson (HMD) and Louis Foster (Andretti). Foster was under pressure from the fast-starting Jacob Abel of Abel Motorsports, who had jumped from ninth to seventh on the opening lap.

By lap 7, McElrea’s lead was out to almost 5s before Rasmussen started pegging it back, while also pulling 4s over Frost who was staying clear of the feisty battle for fourth between Franzoni and Simpson.

At the halfway point, McElrea’s lead was out to 6.8s, but that was deleted at half distance in this 35-lap race when Foster flew off the road at fast uphill Turn 6 while being passed by Abel (a battle for sixth). Foster believes Abel elbowed him off; race control concurred and demanded Abel serve a drive-through penalty.

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The restart came at the end of lap 22 and didn’t last long, as Cape Motorsports’ Kiko Porto went off the track at the final turn and Francesco Pizzi (Abel) suffered a punctured left-rear tire and went off at Turn 2. He limped around and got a new boot without losing a lap, but having run a strong eighth, it was destined to be a disappointing day.

The lap 26 restart saw McElrea flawless again ahead of Rasmussen, Frost, Franzoni and Simpson, but Abel’s drive-through penalty promoted Matthew Brabham to sixth in the second JHR car, ahead of James Roe, Ernie Francis Jr, Jagger Jones and Christian Bogle.

A third caution then flew for debris on the front straight, leaving the 18 contenders with a five-lap shootout. Approaching the final turn as the green flag flew, Simpson dived down the inside of Franzoni, and Brabham followed suit to go into fifth.

The race ended under yellow when Nolan Siegel (HMD) dived down the inside of Jamie Chadwick (Andretti) at Turn 10 — he claimed she brake-checked him — and the pair spun off into the gravel.

McElrea’s win means he is still technically in the hunt, but Rasmussen’s lead is now 51 points.

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McElrea chasing IndyCar opportunities

Hunter McElrea’s chances of chasing down and overhauling Indy NXT championship leader Christian Rasmussen were dashed on the opening lap of last weekend’s Portland race when he and many others were taken out at Turn 1. “I’d need miracles at this …

Hunter McElrea’s chances of chasing down and overhauling Indy NXT championship leader Christian Rasmussen were dashed on the opening lap of last weekend’s Portland race when he and many others were taken out at Turn 1.

“I’d need miracles at this point to win [the title], so it’s just me trying to end the year as strong as possible with my Andretti Autosport crew and build off of this for my future,” the 23-year-old told RACER. “I was ahead of Christian at Portland and doing what I needed to do, but a bunch of us were wiped out into the chicane, so there’s nothing we can do about it. What’s done is done.

“But we’re still second in the points and we’ll keep fighting to the end. Before Portland, we were on the podium three straight times and got a win, so that’s where I’m aiming in Laguna Seca.”

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Despite the misfortune, the New Zealander has placed his full focus on landing some form of IndyCar opportunity next year and has been busy meeting with a sizable portion of the paddock to discuss his options for 2024.

“I feel really good about the work we’ve done now in two years of NXT,” McElrea said. “We raced hard against [2022 NXT champion] Linus Lundqvist last year and got a couple of wins, and I think people have been impressed by him and what he’s been able to do for himself with getting hired by Chip Ganassi, so that gives me a lot of hope.

“Unfortunately, my family doesn’t come from money so I’m not capable of bringing a huge budget to a team, but I do have some amazing supporters and investors who’ve taken me this far in NXT and that’s what I’m working on for next year, to keep building support to get to IndyCar.”

McElrea is taking a unique approach to IndyCar ride hunting which, he hopes, will pay off in the coming months.

“I’d love for someone to hire me to become a full-time IndyCar driver, but I don’t know if that’s realistic right away,” he said. “I’m talking with a lot of teams about doing tests just to get my foot in the door. And I’ve been honest with them about what kind of support I think I can bring, which isn’t enough for a complete year, but I’d rather do a partial season — however many races — with a good team than take whatever we can find. I know I’m ready for IndyCar, so I’m putting my energy into making it happen the right way and seeing where it takes me.”

McElrea wins intense Indy NXT battle on IMS road course

Hunter McElrea scored his first win of the 2023 Indy NXT season on the Indy road course, but only after limping to the finish with worn tires while staving off his teammate James Roe. From pole position, McElrea led all 35 laps but, having burned …

Hunter McElrea scored his first win of the 2023 Indy NXT season on the Indy road course, but only after limping to the finish with worn tires while staving off his teammate James Roe.

From pole position, McElrea led all 35 laps but, having burned off his rear tires too early, came under intense pressure in the closing 10 laps from Andretti Autosport teammate Louis Foster. The latter was up from fourth on the grid having gotten around the HMD Motorsports cars of Kyffin Simson and Roe.

On lap 28, McElrea slid wide at Turn 10, and with the expanse of curb now available at the apex, Foster saw the chance to put his car down the inside. McElrea turned in while Foster lost grip over the curb and no longer had the braking ability to stop hard enough to avoid contact. His left-front made contact with McElrea’s right-rear, and that was enough to knock the Briton’s steering alignment way out, giving him excessive positive camber. He would struggle around one more complete lap, but his pace was so reduced, his handling so bad, that he pitted and alighted from the car.

McElrea’s car was not apparently damaged by the impact, but his rear tires were now toast, and both Roe and Reece Gold of HMD ate into the Aussie’s lead, so that McElrea commenced the final lap with barely a 0.5s lead. Having hogged the inside line into Turn 1, forcing Roe to consider the long way – and lock his front tires – McElrea had just enough momentum out of Turn 6 onto the back straight to remain clear of his pursuer.

The eventual winning margin was 0.4370s with Roe scoring his first podium. Gold came home a further 1.2s adrift.

The three leaders (and Foster) were in a different ZIP code than their pursuers — Jacob Abel taking fourth for Abel Motorsport a quarter of a minute down, with Simpson clocking fifth, his mirrors filled by points leader Christian Rasmussen, as well as Danial Frost.

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