Photo: Chris Jones
Jacob Abel, Jonathan Browne and Jack William Miller have announced their Indy Nxt plans for 2024.
Abel will drive for his family’s Abel Motorsports team, which he has been part of for almost all of his single-seater career. Their first venture was United States Formula 4 in 2017, and in one-and-a-half seasons he had a best finish of sixth.
He did two thirds of the 2018 Formula Regional Americas season and got four podiums, and doing two thirds of the next season resulted in two wins, six other podiums and fourth in the standings. Expanding to a full-time programme in 2020 led to a worse outcome, a single podium and fifth in the standings, then in a 2021 cameo with Newman Wachs Racing he took a win and a second place.
On the Road to Indy he did seven races in USF2000 – two of which were with Newman Wachs – and had a best finish of 10th, and from his first 21 races in USF Pro 2000 across 2019 and 2020 he made the podium once. A full-time effort in 2021 resulted in two podiums and sixth in the standings.
Since stepping up to Indy Nxt last year he has shown improved competitivity, getting two fourth places as a rookie and coming eighth in the standings, then taking a pole and four podiums this season to rise to fifth in the points table. The 22-year-old began 2023 by racing in FRegional Oceania with Kiwi Motorsport, coming third in the series with four podiums.
Irish driver Browne and second-generation talent Miller will be Indy Nxt rookies next year.
Browne has signed with HMD Motorsports, and steps up from USFP2000 where he came 12th in 2022 and eighth this year with two podiums. The 23-year-old won the 2019 Formula Ford Festival and made the podium on his GB3 debut before relocating his career to the USA.
“I’m excited to get started with HMD Motorsports,” said Browne. “They’re a very professional outfit with a winning programme. I very much look forward to being part of this team as I take the next step on the ladder. Indy Nxt will be a learning curve for me, but I’m up for the challenge and ready to work hard and add to HMD’s continued success.”
Miller is the son of Dr Jack Miller, a dentist who raced in IndyCar from 1997-2001 and has his own Miller Vinatieri Motorsports team.
The younger Miller has exclusively raced for them, taking one fifth place from two years in US F4, two podiums from two USF2000 seasons and then three poles and four podiums from three USFP2000 campaigns. He has come ninth in the standings the last two seasons.
“To say I am excited is an understatement,” Miller said of stepping up to Indy Nxt. “I did my time in the ladder programme, gaining experience along the way, and am ready for the future challenge. While we enter Indy Nxt as a single-car programme competing against some huge, multi-car efforts, there are some positives that we hope we can capitalise on being a smaller programme.”