On Tuesday, McElrea realised his dream of driving an IndyCar when he tested with Dale Coyne Racing at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
That team has had a rotating roster of drivers this year with the No.51 entry driven by a slew of names including Colin Braun, Nolan Siegel, Luca Ghiotto, Katherine Legge, Tristan Vautier, and most recently Toby Sowery. McElrea could be the next name to join that list.
McElrea, who finished second to Christian Rasmussen in last year’s Indy NXT series, moved across to the IMSA SportsCar Championship this year to race in the LMP2 class.
The 24-year-old impressed at Sebring, making a bold pass that went viral on social media on his way to second in the 12-hour race.
Speaking with Speedcafe after the landmark test, McElrea said he’s hopeful a start in the IndyCar Series will materialise soon.
“All year I’ve just been pounding the pavement,” he said.
I just drove an #Indycar for the first time. That’s all ☺️
— Hunter McElrea (@HunterMcElrea) July 8, 2024
“It’s been almost impossible (to get a test) just with the driver market these days, it’s been so hard to get an opportunity.
“I got a call from Dale (Coyne). I was actually at Watkins Glen racing IMSA and he called me, said there was an opportunity to get in the car and I obviously took it with both hands.
“The test went amazing. I learned a lot but I honestly got up to speed pretty quickly. It wasn’t too difficult to adapt honestly, I slotted in and we got through a lot of changes.
“Hopefully this leads to something in the near future – we’ll see – but hopefully some exciting things come up in the next couple of weeks.
“I’m very happy with how it went, I’ll say that. It’s hard to know exactly where you are but I think generally speaking it was quite strong.”
Although McElrea has prioritised his IMSA program this year, the test comes with the intention of getting an IndyCar start.
Of the eight remaining races this season, just two are on road courses.
McElrea has Indy NXT oval experience but it would seem more likely that a start would come on the streets of Toronto or at Portland.
“That’s what I’m working towards, that’s definitely the intention,” said McElrea of a potential debut.
“So we’ll see, hopefully soon we can get something squared away. I think getting in the car and testing was the first step.
“So super excited to hopefully get something but we’ll see what we can make happen.”
McElrea has been trying all year to get a taste of IndyCar. Earlier this season he thought he was close to making his debut at Long Beach.
Having had to wait almost a year since the end of last year’s Indy NXT program to test an IndyCar, the Kiwi thought that opportunity might never come.
When he finally got in the car, McElrea said there was a sense of relief.
“I’ve been very close but for whatever reason the opportunity has not really landed on my lap yet,” he explained.
“I worked so hard for it and by the time the opportunity came, I felt like I had tried so hard to get something and I’d worked so hard for so long, it was more relief of like, ‘Thank God this is finally happening and I’m just excited to drive’.
“I wasn’t really nervous, surprisingly. I knew I was ready. It was special. It was really cool.”
McElrea’s next outing is scheduled to take place at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the six-hour Battle on the Bricks where he’ll join his LMP2 team TDS Racing.
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