Abel finished second to Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing-bound Louis Foster in the 2024 Indy NXT season.
The announcement takes the number of IndyCar rookies to three with Abel and Foster joined by Prema driver Robert Schwartzman.
Dale Coyne Racing ran nine different drivers across its two cars in 2024 but is set to field a stable line-up this year.
Abel will drive the #51 entry while the #18 has not yet been announced.
“We are excited about running another Indy NXT by Firestone Vice-Champion here at Dale Coyne Racing,” said team owner Dale Coyne.
“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 IndyCar Series.”
Abel said he appointment at Dale Coyne Racing was “a lifelong dream come true”.
The American worked his way up the ladder from Formula 4 to Formula 3 before moving to the Road to Indy ladder.
After several years of top 10 finishes, Abel finally broke through in 2024 with a standout campaign in Indy NXT with his own Abel Motorsports.
“I can’t thank everyone who’s helped out along the way enough,” said Abel.
“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 IndyCar Series. It’s going to be a fun but challenging journey, and I can’t wait to get started.”
INDYCAR 2025 W/ DALE COYNE RACING 🫶 pic.twitter.com/TnypPIcX8Q
— Jacob Abel (@jacobabelracing) January 13, 2025
With one seat remaining on the 2025 grid, there will be no shortage of drivers vying for the vacancy.
There is a high-profile list of drivers currently unsigned, which includes forme Ed Carpenter Racing driver RInus VeeKay.
Former Chip Ganassi Racing driver Linus Lundqvist is currently unaccounted for.
Pietro Fittipaldi drove full-time with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing but does not have a drive for 2025 yet.
Coyne said the team planned to announce its second driver soon.
“Our plans for our second driver are coming along quite nicely,” he said.
“And we will have more news on that in approximately three weeks.”
2025 IndyCar Series entry list
| Team | Engine | Num | Drivers |
| AJ Foyt Racing | Chevrolet | 4 | David Malukas |
| 14 | Santino Ferrucci | ||
| Andretti Global | Honda | 26 | Colton Herta |
| 27 | Kyle Kirkwood | ||
| 28 | Marcus Ericsson | ||
| 98 | Marco Andretti | ||
| Arrow McLaren | Chevrolet | 5 | Pato O’Ward |
| 6 | Nolan Siegel | ||
| 7 | Christian Lundgaard | ||
| Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | 8 | Kyffin Simpson |
| 9 | Scott Dixon | ||
| 10 | Alex Palou | ||
| Dale Coyne Racing | Honda | 18 | TBA |
| 51 | Jacob Abel (R) | ||
| Dreyer & Reinbold Racing-Cusick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 23 | Ryan Hunter-Reay |
| 24 | Jack Harvey | ||
| Ed Carpenter Racing | Chevrolet | 20 | Alexander Rossi |
| 21 | Christian Rasmussen | ||
| 33 | Ed Carpenter | ||
| Juncos Hollinger Racing | Chevrolet | 77 | Sting Ray Robb |
| 78 | Conor Daly | ||
| Meyer Shank Racing | Honda | 6 | Helio Castroneves |
| 60 | Felix Rosenqvist | ||
| 66 | Marcus Armstrong | ||
| Prema Racing | Chevrolet | 83 | Robert Shwartzman (R) |
| 90 | Callum Ilott | ||
| Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Honda | 15 | Graham Rahal |
| 30 | Devlin DeFrancesco | ||
| 45 | Louis Foster (R) | ||
| Team Penske | Chevrolet | 2 | Josef Newgarden |
| 3 | Scott McLaughlin | ||
| 12 | Will Power |
Discussion about this post