Photo: Chris Jones
Hunter McElrea will make his IndyCar debut in this weekend’s Indy Toronto race, becoming the fourth different driver to pilot Dale Coyne Racing’s #18 car this year.
Nolan Siegel had been signed with DCR on a four-round deal that included Toronto, to go alonside his Indy Nxt campaign with HMD Motorsports, but last month he left both teams to join McLaren’s IndyCar line-up in controversial circumstances.
That left DCR needing a replacement driver for IndyCar’s only race outside of the USA, and 24-year-old Kiwi racer McElrea has been picked after impressing in Indy Nxt and more recently IMSA.
McElrea won twice in his rookie Indy Nxt season in 2022, and took two more victories last year en route to being championship runner-up. He switched to sportscar racing for 2024 by joining TDS Racing in IMSA’s LMP2 prototype class, and made the podium on his second start. Recently he picked up IndyCar test mileage too with DCR.
“It’s a dream come true for me to be making my IndyCar debut,” said McElrea. “I’ve been working toward this for a long time, and I have to thank Dale [Coyne] for the opportunity. I can’t wait to get to Toronto, which is one of the coolest events of the year.”
Team boss Dale Coyne added: “Hunter impressed the team during our test last week at Mid-Ohio. He quickly got up to speed and helped run through our testing plan. I’m excited to see what he can do on the streets of Toronto this weekend.”