McElrea receives “dream” IndyCar debut

There will be another Kiwi on the IndyCar grid with Hunter McElrea making a “dream” debut at Toronto this weekend.

McElrea will drive the #18 Dale Coyne Racing car typically driven by Jack Harvey at the street race and joins fellow New Zealanders Scott McLaughlin, Scott Dixon and Marcus Armstrong.

The special announcement comes after the 2023 Indy NXT runner-up “impressed” at a maiden IndyCar test at Mid-Ohio last week.

McElrea has been chasing IndyCar throughout his career.

“It’s a dream come true for me to be making my IndyCar Series debut,” said McElrea.

“I’ve been working towards this for a long time, and I have to thank Dale for the opportunity.”

Having been karting since age seven, McElrea enjoyed a breakthrough in 2018 when he became the first non-Australian to win the Australian Formula Ford crown in 33 years.

Determined to chase the IndyCar dream, he moved to America in 2019 and finished second in the USF2000 Series before being fifth and third in the Indy Pro 2000 Championship across the next two years.

He then claimed the Rookie of the Year award in Indy NXT win 2022 before winning twice on his way to a safe second in 2023 behind Christian Rasmussen.

This year McElrea has been competing in the IMSA SportsCar Championship and took second in LMP2 at Sebring.

Team boss Dale Coyne said McElrea took no time getting up to speed in the IndyCar.

“Hunter impressed the team during our test last week at Mid-Ohio,” said Coyne. 

“He quickly got up to speed and helped run through our testing plan.

“I’m excited to see what he can do on the streets of Toronto this weekend.”

Dale Coyne Racing is no stranger to throwing youngsters in with McElrea being the team’s fifth different IndyCar debutante after Colin Braun, Nolan Siegel, Luca Ghiotto and Toby Sowery.

The Toronto IndyCar race begins at 5.00 AEST Monday morning.

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