Saturday May 20 will forever go down as a wonderful in history for the Abel Motorsports NTT INDYCAR SERIES team as on their debut they qualified for their first ever Indianapolis 500.
RC Enerson in the No.50 Chevrolet qualified 29th for ‘The Greatest Spectacle In Racing’ at the first time of asking.
Enerson set a four-lap average of 231.129 MPH.
Speaking following the action, Enerson said:
It’s a big stress reliever, that’s for sure. It went right down to the wire.
“I think we had something left in the tank if we’d had to go back out, but it’s super awesome to be in the show. I’m so excited for this team. They’ve worked extremely hard for the last few months to put this car together and in the 500. Now we can concentrate Monday on getting the 50 car right for the race, and we can look forward to Carb Day Friday. I’ll definitely be celebrating tonight!”
Team owner Bill Abel was delighted with the fact that his team made the field for the Greatest Spectacle In Racing and speaking following the action he said:
“I’m so proud of our guys. We have had so much help from so many in the paddock. It’s encouraging and gratifying to have that support and to have the team we’ve been able to assemble. I hadn’t even let myself get to the point of believing we had a shot to make the race. And now we have. It’s just amazing. The support we’ve gotten from Chevrolet has been invaluable. They’ve believed in us and we couldn’t have done this without their trust in what we wanted to do. They’ve provided so much support, it’s been awesome.”
Team manager John Brunner said:
“I’ve been knocking on wood all week, because this car we’ve prepared has not had a single issue. This thing hadn’t even turned a wheel at all until practice Wednesday. It’s crazy. I’ve been here with a lot of teams, and you always have problems.
“But not this team We have some of the very best people in the sport on our team, and we’ve added some guys with tremendous credentials and experience to the group for the 500. I’m surprised we qualified on Day 1, but I’m not shocked. These guys have built a great car and we’ll be ready for next Sunday.”
The team can now switch their focus to fine tuning their race car on Monday before the final practice on Carb Day on Friday.