PLAINFIELD, Ill. Road to Indy graduate Jacob Abel will drive the Dale Coyne Racing No. 51 entry for the entire NTT IndyCar Series season.

After a year in which multiple drivers piloted the No. 51 and No. 18 cars at DCR, the team announced its first of two drivers for this season.

We are excited about running another Indy NXT by Firestone Vice-Champion here at Dale Coyne Racing, Team Owner Dale Coyne said. 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 No. 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.

Jacob Abel, from Louisville, Kentucky, has climbed the Road to Indy ladder with great success. After cutting his teeth in Formula 4 and F-3, he moved up to Indy Pro 2000 in 2019, where he competed for three years. Abel then entered the top rung of the ladder in Indy NXT for the next three years, showing improvement each season by finishing eighth, fifth and second in the year-long championships.

Lastyear, Abel competed at the front of the field, finishing on the podium in 10 of the series 14-race season and winning three races.

In the fall of 2023, Abel received a call from Dale Coyne to participate in an evaluation day at Sebring (Fla.) Intl Raceway. Abel adapted quickly to the pinnacle open-wheel IndyCar and impressed his suitors.

Its a lifelong dream come true I cant thank everyone whos helped out along the way enough, said Abel. Ive had a great relationship with Dale for the last couple of years, and Im 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.

Its going to be a fun but challenging journey, and I cant wait to get started.

Abel will begin testing at The Thermal Club in California at the end of January and will then participate in the Sebring open test in preparation for his rookie debut at the Streets of St. Petersburg (Fla.) at the end of February.