“It sucks” - Valiant Abel bumped from Indy 500 field

Credit: Dominic Loyer

Unfortunately, qualifying for the 109th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented a similar story for one of IndyCar’s smallest teams in 2025. Just like one year ago with Nolan Siegel, Dale Coyne Racing (DCR) have suffered the anguish of having a rookie driver bumped and miss the field of 33.

This year, it was 2024 Indy NXT runner-up Jacob Abel who failed to make the cut, despite a valiant effort to fight through a decided lack of speed from his No.51 machine.

“It sucks,” Abel said. “It’s awful. Our whole season has been pretty miserable so far. We’ve had issue after issue, week in, week out. It’s been tough. I’ve been working my whole life to get into IndyCar and this is what the first six or seven races have been like. 

“I remember about 12 months ago when I was sitting on this [press conference] stage because I got two poles and won the Indy NXT race. It’s a little bit of a different scenario now just trying to stay mentally as positive as I can because there are certainly some self-doubts that are trying to creep in.”

Abel has finished a best of 23rd in the first five rounds of the IndyCar season and sits last in the standings. But heading to the Speedway for a debut Indy 500, there was promise through practice. 

On Friday with the qualifying boost added, Abel was 26th on the no-tow speed charts with a 229.611 mph quickest lap. That would have been enough to make the field and Abel was confident all week that this would be the case. 

But that speed disappeared over qualifying weekend.

“It’s a bummer because the whole week felt like it was going really well,” Abel said. “We had pace. I was happy with the car. We were good in traffic. We were pretty good on the no-tows. 

“We had consistent, conservative runs on Friday with way more downforce than we had on [for Last Chance Qualifying]. They ended up being 3 mph faster than we ran today.”

Credit: Dominic Loyer

From working in the 229 mph range on Friday with even more to unlock, Abel was suddenly confined to being hardly able to break 227 mph over the qualifying weekend. The team was left searching - including on teammate Rinus VeeKay’s No.18 car.

On Saturday night, with a Bump Day appearance confirmed, it felt as though a breakthrough was found. But it was not to be.

“If there was a big red flag, we would have seen it and fixed it,” Abel said. “That’s what I was looking for [on Saturday]. I thought we found it. Ended up not being the case, unfortunately. We thought we found something that should have been pretty clear to help us. That ended up not being it. 

“It’s weird. It’s both Dale Coyne cars too. It’s not just me. Rinus isn’t happy either. I hope they find something, otherwise Rinus is probably going to have a pretty tough Sunday next week.”

VeeKay had never qualified lower than seventh in five Indy 500 attempts with Ed Carpenter Racing before switching to DCR this season. He had been inside the top four every year until last year, when he overcame a qualifying crash to heroically make the Fast 12.

But one year has made a major difference. As with Abel, VeeKay’s car lacked that inherent speed. 

Heading into the closing 10 minutes of Last Chance Qualifying, it was very much two teams within a team at DCR. The plan was for the No.51 to run as late as possible so VeeKay could not respond if Abel was to usurp him. But the No.18 had other ideas.

Having had an issue with hybrid deployment on his initial lap, VeeKay and his team were confident they could improve their initial time. So they took the bold, attacking decision to pull their time and try to raise the benchmark for Abel to usurp. 

That almost backfired dramatically. VeeKay went over 0.8 mph slower than his initial run with a 226.913 mph four-lap average and opened the door for Abel.

Credit: Dominic Loyer

Ultimately, Abel was unable to match VeeKay’s run and similarly went slower. The Dutchman came out on top in the DCR dogfight against his good friend and teammate. It was not a pleasant experience for either driver.

VeeKay scraped into the field at over 2 mph slower than next-best driver Marcus Armstrong.

“We got slower and slower each run,” Abel said. “I actually got excitement and then was a bit down in the dumps all day today. And then Rinus goes out and does a 226, I’m like: ‘Oh, we actually have a chance at this now.’

“Went out and fought all four laps, stayed on top of the tools to maintain the balance but just didn’t have any speed at all. It’s weird. The car doesn’t accelerate up to the same speeds that all the other cars do.”

Neither driver could put their finger on where the team-wide loss of pace came from. Abel drove cleanly and consistently, with neat, tidy runs with little fall-off lap to lap. The same applied to VeeKay - keeping it flat but lacking anything close to the top speed of the best.

“It was literally just outright speed,” Abel said. “You have a map that you run on the warmup lap that makes the car go slower. As soon as yesterday, we switched into the fast map and, starting with our warmup lap, it was already 5 mph down. 

“We had to start switching that map way earlier just to get our warmup lap going so we could build up to speed. It was weird. It felt like a drag thing. We changed the gearbox [on Saturday night]... that didn’t fix it. We looked everywhere - all the engine stuff. That looks fine. The car feels good. 

“We kept trimming out, trimming out. It didn’t feel super easy but we were still flat each lap, was able to stay ahead of the balance. But in the end we just didn’t have any speed. We’re 3 mph down in the corners and we’re 3 mph down at the end of the straight.”

Credit: Dominic Loyer

It is a cruel ending to Abel’s maiden Month of May. It has been a lifelong dream to race in the Indy 500 for a young driver who has attended the race since his childhood.

He had the honour of piloting a car with an iconic tribute livery to Danny Sullivan’s iconic ‘spin and win’ Indy 500 victory with partner Miller High Life. He still got to drive at the Speedway in May but brutally will have to wait for his chance to race.

“I’m going to try as hard as I can to not get emotional,” Abel said with a lump in his throat. “It’s a dream come true. I grew up Louisville, Kentucky - only a couple of hours away from here. I’ve been a fan of this sport forever. 

“In the past few years, poking my head in out of the paddock where I can get away with going. To finally have a purpose of being here and to be a driver, even in just four days of practice, was a really, really cool experience and something that I’ll forever remember.

“Driving the Miller High Life car too… it’s a real bummer that it's not going to be in the race. It sucks but it was cool while it lasted.”

Third-place starter Pato O’Ward made sure to embrace Abel as the pair crossed paths in the media centre after Sunday’s qualifying running. Arrow McLaren’s Mexican superstar has been in Abel’s shoes, missing the race for Carlin in 2019.

“You’re better off watching the race than racing in a s**t car,” O’Ward said. “It’s miserable - 200 laps in a car that sucks. You don’t want that. That’s horrible. So I was actually kind of relieved when I didn’t make it. 

“I hope he feels the same because, otherwise, he’s just going to be pounding around there. And it’s not like he’s pounding around at 100 mph - we’re going fricking fast and accidents can happen just in a blink of an eye. 

“When something is not really that comfortable, it’s obviously a heartbreak but I know exactly how it feels. I’m sure we’re going to see him here next year.”