Photo: Gavin Baker Photography
Jordan Missig will make his Indy Nxt debut with Abel Motorsports in next week’s double-header round on Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course.
The 26-year-old American will take the place of Josh Mason, who has had to miss the event due to a lack of budget.
Mason currently sits 18th in the standings, having finished 17th and 16th in his first two races in St. Petersburg and at Barber Motorsports Park. The 22-year-old Briton is “working to secure additional funding” according to Abel Motorsports.
“I’ve worked with some top-level professional teams in my career, and Abel Motorsports is right up with those teams,” said Missig. “And I think it’s a great fit for me. We’re still in the relationship-building stage, but after my first trip to the shop for the seat fitting, I think we’ve started quite well. I appreciate all the hard work by the team.”
Abel has just taken its first Indy Nxt win with Jacob Abel, son of the team owner, while Missig is stepping up to the championship after two years in Formula Regional and then two in Indy Nxt’s immediate feeder series USF Pro 2000.
In FRegional Americas he came fifth in the 2021 standings with one win and five other podiums, and from his 37 races in USFP2000 with Pabst Racing the highlights were two third places, a fifth place and a fastest lap.
“It’s going to be a challenge for him to get up to speed quickly, but based on what he has shown jumping in and out of different cars over the years, it shouldn’t be anything he can’t handle,” said Abel’s team manager John Brunner.
“We have the team in place to support him and to help shorten the learning curve, so I’m looking forward to seeing what Jordan can accomplish with us.”
Missig has also had a parallel career in sportscar racing. He was 2019 Radical Cup North America runner-up, then raced in Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America.
One of the drivers he will be up against on the Indy Nxt grid is the joint points leader Nolan Siegel, who has recently been announced as part of United Autosport’s LMP2 line-up for the Le Mans 24 Hours. Siegel came eighth in IMSA’s LMP2 standings last year, and in France will share a car with 2022 IMSA champion Oliver Jarvis and USFP2000 graduate Bijoy Garg.