The Indy NXT runner-up was a late addition to Dale Coyne Racing’s line-up on the streets of Toronto where he replaced Jack Harvey.
McElrea failed to finish the race after light contact with a concrete wall broke his suspension but ran competitive throughout the weekend.
Despite the DNF, he believes he “turned a lot of heads” with his efforts in practice where he was the fastest of the six rookies in the last session.
“Honestly, I think as a whole, that weekend was mega,” McElrea told Speedcafe.
“If you told me I would have had top 15 pace throughout the weekend, I would have been really happy.
“I literally got the opportunity and it was like, ‘OK, I’m just gonna throw myself in the deep end’.
“It’s arguably the toughest track on the calendar. To just rock up and have the speed that I had and being able to get a lot of hype and turn a lot of heads, that was awesome.”
In an ideal world, Hunter McElrea would like to be part of the silly season discussions.
The 24-year-old has put his hand up but there are a slew of Indy NXT and Formula 2 drivers waiting in the wings.
Nevertheless, McElrea believes his performance will put him in good stead to look at IndyCar opportunities, at least part-time, for 2025.
“On paper it wasn’t as good as I was hoping for, but at the end of the day my main goal is to raise my stock, which I think I did,” McElrea said.
“That’s the positive thing from it was that I got a lot of attention for my speed. I probably turned a few heads just from a few team bosses that came up to me like saying good job.
“This year I was very close to a few opportunities that I didn’t get because I had zero experience, so having a race weekend of experience under my belt and obviously showing the speed I have, I feel like showing some potential there hopefully makes me a bit more attractive to team owners.”
McElrea is currently competing in the IMSA SportsCar Championship with LMP2 outfit TDS Racing.
The Kiwi stunned commentators at the Sebring 12 Hour when he made a bold three-wide pass around the outside in the dark.
McElrea’s next IMSA race is at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Battle on the Bricks six-hour in September. That’s the second-to-last race of his season before Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta in October.
Continuing in IMSA remains an option for 2025 but McElrea said he cannot shy away from the fact he would like to be a full-time IndyCar driver.
“I’m confident that if I was given the right opportunity I could race to the front of IndyCar,” said McElrea.
“It’s obviously such a tough championship with so many good drivers. Next year for me, in a perfect world, I want to be full time in IndyCar.
“I’ve been loving the IMSA stuff. It’s been going well this year and I’ve really enjoyed that, but I’d be lying if I said IndyCar wasn’t my first preference. ,
“The driver market in IndyCar is so tough right now. I don’t really know what my future is.
“There’s so much to unfold still. Who knows? Maybe I could do a bit of part time in both, but just with the charter system right now and so many uncertain things, it’s hard to say exactly realistically where I’ll be.
“If I had my choice, it would definitely be full time Indy Car next year and at Toronto I feel like I showed that I can compete with these guys.
“It was a baptism by fire and I made mistakes. I was drinking through a fire hose all weekend and but I feel like now having that experience under my belt it’s definitely going to help me for my next shot.”
IndyCar resumes its season at Gateway on August 18 after an Olympics-induced break.
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