INDY NXT presented by Firestone vice champion Jacob Abel will make his NTT INDYCAR SERIES race debut with Dale Coyne Racing at the Firestone Grand Prix of St Petersburg presented by RP Funding on March 2.
Abel will drive the No.51 Dallara Honda for the entire 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season.
Team owner Dale Coyne said:
We are excited about running another Indy NXT by Firestone Vice-Champion here at Dale Coyne Racing. “We have watched Jacob over the years and did an evaluation test with him at the end of the 2023 season, where he showed great promise in these cars. It will be good to run one driver in the #51 car for the whole season, so that we can work on the consistency needed in the highly competitive NTT IndyCar Series. Our plans for our second driver are coming along quite nicely, and we will have more news on that in approximately three weeks.
In the fall of 2023, Jacob received a call from Dale Coyne to participate in an evaluation day at Sebring. Jacob adapted quickly to the pinnacle open-wheel IndyCar and impressed his suitors.
Abel, from Kentucky commented saying:
It’s a lifelong dream come true… I can’t thank everyone who’s helped out along the way enough. “I’ve had a great relationship with Dale for the last couple of years, and I’m very thankful for the confidence he has in me. The team has some very experienced personnel joining and returning to the program, and I have full confidence they will deliver a great race car and help me learn the ropes of the NTT IndyCar Series. It’s going to be a fun but challenging journey, and I can’t wait to get started.”
Coyne will announce their No.18 Honda driver at a later date.