Jacob Abel (born March 9, 2001) is an American racing driver who competes in the

IndyCar Series The IndyCar Series, officially known as the NTT IndyCar Series for sponsorship reasons, is the highest class of American open-wheel car racing in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of various sanctioning bodies sinc ...

driving the No. 51

Honda commonly known as just Honda, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate automotive manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in October 1946 by Soichiro Honda, Honda has bee ...

for

Dale Coyne Racing Dale Coyne Racing (DCR) is an American professional open-wheel racing team that currently competes in the IndyCar Series and Indy NXT. The team was founded in 1984 and is owned by former driver Dale Coyne. From 1995 to 2000, the team was known ...

. He previously competed in

Indy NXT Indy NXT (pronounced "Indy Next"), previously Indy Lights, is an American Minor league, developmental automobile racing series sanctioned by IndyCar, currently known as INDY NXT by Firestone for sponsorship reasons. Indy NXT is the highest step ...

for Abel Motorsports.

Junior racing career

Lower formulae

Abel began his senior racing career in 2017 at the age of 16, competing in the

F4 United States Championship The Formula 4 United States Championship is an auto racing series that is held under FIA Formula 4 regulations. The championship is sanctioned by SCCA Pro Racing, the professional racing division of the Sports Car Club of America, in conjunction ...

with Abel Motorsports. The following season, Abel stepped back to a partial-season schedule in both the

and the new-for-2018 F3 Americas Championship. Abel would score four podiums in his opening season in F3, en route to a fourth place championship finish. He took his first win in the series early the following season, scoring back-to-back victories at

Road Atlanta Road Atlanta (known for sponsorship reasons as Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta) is a road course located just north of Braselton, Georgia, United States. The facility is utilized for a wide variety of events, including professional and amateur spo ...

. In 2023, Abel stepped outside of North America for the first time in his racing career, taking part in the

2023 Formula Regional Oceania Championship The 2023 Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Championship was the inaugural season of the Formula Regional Oceania Championship. It was originally planned to be the eighteenth running of the Toyota Racing Series, the premier open-wheel motor ...

with Kiwi Motorsport. He claimed four podium finishes, completing the season with a third-place championship finish. He returned to the series in

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

, making his first appearance during Round 4 at

Euromarque Motorsport Park Euromarque Motorsport Park (often referred to as Ruapuna) is a permanent motor racing circuit owned and operated by the Canterbury Car Club Inc on land leased from the Christchurch City Council. It is located at 107 Hasketts Road in Templeton ...

Road to Indy

Abel made his Road to Indy debut in July 2017 at

Mid-Ohio Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is a road course auto racing facility located in Troy Township, Morrow County, Ohio, United States, just outside the village of Lexington, Ohio, Lexington. It hosts a number of racing series such as IndyCar Series, Indy ...

, driving for

Newman Wachs Racing Newman Wachs Racing (also referred to as NWR) is an auto racing team owned by Eddie Wachs and, until his death, Paul Newman. NWR was based outside of Chicago in Mundelein, Illinois. Newman and Wachs met when they both competed in Can-Am series in t ...

. After a part-time schedule in the series for 2018, Abel stepped up to the

Indy Pro 2000 Championship The USF Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires, formerly known as the Star Mazda Championship, Pro Mazda Championship, and later Indy Pro 2000 Championship, is an Open-wheel car, open-wheel racing series serving as the third step on the ...

in 2019. His opening season in the championship was quiet, as he finished 9th overall with no podiums and two top fives. He would compete in just seven races in 2020 to supplement a full-season drive in the

Formula Regional Americas Championship The Formula Regional Americas Championship powered by Honda (formerly the F3 Americas Championship powered by Honda) is an Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA Formula Regional racing series that competes in the United States, with pl ...

, scoring his first Indy Pro 2000 podium at Mid-Ohio that September. For 2021, Abel committed to a full-time schedule in Indy Pro 2000. Claiming two podiums, one each at

Road America Road America is a motorsport Road racing, road course located near Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin on Wisconsin Highway 67. It has hosted races since the 1950s and currently hosts races in the IndyCar Series, IMSA SportsCar Championship, Sports Car Club ...

and

, Abel finished his first full season sixth in the standings. For 2022, Abel stepped up to

Indy Lights Indy NXT (pronounced "Indy Next"), previously Indy Lights, is an American developmental automobile racing series sanctioned by IndyCar, currently known as INDY NXT by Firestone for sponsorship reasons. Indy NXT is the highest step on the Roa ...

, once again with Abel Motorsports. He finished eighth in the championship during his rookie season, finishing as high as fourth at Portland and Laguna Seca. For 2023, Abel returned to the series. He scored his first series podium in the opening race of the season at

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

, leading 27 of 40 laps before dropping to third on a late restart. He would finish a season-high second at Road America and

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

(where he claimed pole), finishing fifth in the championship. In November 2023, Abel embarked on an

IndyCar IndyCar, LLC (stylized as INDYCAR), is an auto racing sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The organization sanctions two racing series: the premier IndyCar Series with the Indianapolis ...

test with

Abel and his family's team returned for his third year in the series in

. Following a second place at the season-opener in

, Abel took pole at

Barber A barber is a person whose occupation is mainly to cut, dress, groom, style and shave hair or beards. A barber's place of work is known as a barbershop or the barber's. Barbershops have been noted places of social interaction and public discourse ...

, from where he led every lap to take his first victory in the category. Abel followed that up with another lights-to-flag victory at

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

, and claimed his third and final race win of the season later in the year at

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

. Abel finished the 2024 season second in the championship, with a career-high three wins, ten podiums, and three pole positions.

SportsCar racing career

In March 2021, Abel was announced as part of HPD's 2021 Junior Factory Lineup. As a result, Abel would compete part-time with Racers Edge Motorsports in the

GT World Challenge America The GT World Challenge America is a North American auto racing series launched in 1990 by the Sports Car Club of America. It has been managed by the SRO Motorsports Group since 2018, and has been sanctioned by the United States Auto Club since 20 ...

. Later that season, Abel joined Compass Racing for the

IMSA SportsCar Championship The IMSA SportsCar Championship, currently known as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship under sponsorship, is a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada and organized by the International Motor Sports Association (I ...

event at

WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca Laguna Seca Raceway (branded as WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, and previously Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for sponsorship reasons) is a paved road racing track in central California used for both auto racing and motorcycle racing, built in 1957 ...

, substituting for Jeff Kingsley. The following weekend, Abel scored his first class victory in GT3 machinery in race #1 of the GT World Challenge America event at Watkins Glen.

Stadium Super Trucks

In August 2021, Abel made his

Stadium Super Trucks The Stadium Super Trucks (SST), formerly known as Speed Energy Formula Off-Road, also known as the Boost Mobile Super Trucks in Australia, is an American short course off-road racing series created by off-road racer and former IndyCar and NASCAR d ...

debut at the

Music City Grand Prix The Music City Grand Prix, known as the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix for sponsorship reasons, was an IndyCar Series race held at the Nashville Street Circuit in Nashville, Tennessee. The race's most notable feature was its straightaway acro ...

, where he drove a truck sponsored by Crosley Brands. He finished runner-up in the second and final race of the weekend.

IndyCar Series

In November 2024, Abel took part in an IndyCar test at

Texas Motor Speedway Texas Motor Speedway (formerly known as Texas International Raceway from September to December 1996) is a quad-oval Oval track racing#Intermediate, intermediate speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. It has hosted various major races since its inaugura ...

, driving with

Chip Ganassi Racing Chip Ganassi Racing, LLC (CGR), also sometimes branded as Chip Ganassi Racing Teams, is an American auto racing organization competing in the NTT IndyCar Series. They have formerly competed in the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series, Global Rally ...

. During the test, Abel made a strong impression on Ganassi's managing director Mike Hull, who advocated for Abel to land a seat in the series for 2025. On January 13, 2025, it was announced that Abel would make the step up to the

NTT IndyCar Series The IndyCar Series, officially known as the NTT IndyCar Series for sponsorship reasons, is the highest class of American open-wheel car racing in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of various sanctioning bodies sinc ...

to compete full time in the No. 51

for

Personal life

A graduate of

Trinity High School Trinity High School is the name of high schools: United Kingdom * Trinity High School, Renfrew, Renfrewshire, Scotland * Trinity High School, Rutherglen, Lanarkshire, Scotland * Trinity High School and Sixth Form Centre, in Redditch, England * Trin ...

in Louisville, Abel attended college part-time at

Butler University Butler University is a private university in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1855 and named after founder Ovid Butler, the university has over 60 major academic fields of study within six colleges in the arts, business, communic ...

while pursuing his racing career. A marketing major, Abel stated that his education helped him understand the financial and business aspects of motorsports.

Racing record

Career summary

* Season still in progress.

Complete Formula 4 United States Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Stadium Super Trucks

( key) (Bold – Pole position. ''Italics'' – Fastest qualifier. * – Most laps led.)

Complete Formula Regional Oceania Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

American open–wheel racing results

U.S. F2000 National Championship

Indy Pro 2000 Championship

Indy NXT

IndyCar Series

( key) * Season still in progress.

=Indianapolis 500

References

External links

Jacob Abel
at the Indy Pro 2000 Championship {{DEFAULTSORT:Abel, Jacob 2001 births Living people Racing drivers from Louisville, Kentucky U.S. F2000 National Championship drivers Formula Regional Americas Championship drivers Indy Pro 2000 Championship drivers Indy NXT drivers WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers 21st-century American sportsmen Stadium Super Trucks drivers GT World Challenge America drivers Newman Wachs Racing drivers Toyota Racing Series drivers United States F4 Championship drivers IndyCar Series drivers Dale Coyne Racing drivers