Abel Motorsports is putting together a bold plan to launch a full-time NTT IndyCar Series operation alongside its successful Indy NXT program for 2025.
Abel Motorsports has decided to carry on with plans to establish itself as a full-time IndyCar team for the 2025 season after participating in the Indianapolis 500 single-race series last year.
Bill Abel who is the owner of the team made his debut as an IndyCar team owner last year at the Indianapolis 500, working with Neil and RC Enerson.He qualified 28th and completed 75 laps in the race before the team was forced to retire early due to technical issues.
The endeavor was reported to be successful, and the team owner is currently attempting to set up arrangements to run further races in the elite series.
Abel’s larger ambitions include becoming the newest full-season IndyCar entry in 2025, which includes investing in a Dallara DW12 and additional equipment required to compete at every event.
Abel, who additionally owns a construction company based in Kentucky intends to return in May marking Abel Motorsports’ second visit to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway using a new chassis he will receive from Dallara in the coming weeks.
“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.”
2019 saw Abel Motorsports graduate from Indy Pro 2000 to what was then known as Indy Lights, where they currently race.
The team intends to return for the prestigious event in May after assembling the various components required to compete in the Indianapolis 500 last year.
But Bill Abel has already set his sights on goals bigger than the Indianapolis 500, and he has decided to start making significant investments in team equipment so as to meet this goal.
“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 has made some additional hiring decisions under the supervision of team manager John Brunner, who will play a significant role in the developing IndyCar side of the business and gradually train one of the current employees to manage the NXT operation.
“We’ve actually hired a couple more folks this year with specific IndyCar backgrounds and experience,” Abel said. “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.”
Furthermore, Abel has a 22-year-old son named Jacob Abel who will be racing with the family team in his third season of Indy NXT. As the team aims to grow into the premiere series, Jacob Abel is probably a driver prospect for their IndyCar program.
“We’ve had a few conversations this year with folks about the 500,” he added. “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.”
