Photo: Travis Hinkle
Hunter McElrea, the 2023 Indy Nxt runner-up, boldly claimed he could have been “fighting with good pace at the front” on his IndyCar debut in Toronto last weekend.
The 24-year-old Kiwi was the quickest rookie in practice, and comfortably faster than Dale Coyne Racing team-mate Toby Sowery, but failed to set a lap in qualifying after crashing and lined up 25th on the grid for his first race at single-seaters’ top level.
He ran as high as ninth before completing his first pitstop, then 10th in his second stint, before retiring from 20th place.
“I’m just living the dream here,” said McElrea after practice. “I worked my bum off to be here for a long time. And I didn’t know if I’d really get a shot this year, so finally here! It’s fun. Just chipping away at it honestly, just trying to keep nice and calm. I feel like we’re getting better every lap and we’re learning a lot.”
Despite retiring, McElrea called his debut “an awesome race”. He did not comment on if he had used his weekend in the IndyCar paddock to start talks about landing further outings in 2024 or a full-time 2025 seat, saying “I have no idea what’s in store for me, but I would do anything for another shot in IndyCar”.
“We were moving forward, we had really good pace. Pretty much the same as the leaders, which was awesome,” McElrea said of his race.
“Did some cool moves. And then on my last stint, on my outlap I just got in the grey, and just brushed the wall, and then unfortunately a couple laps later the suspension failed from just that little brush. Really unfortunate.
“I think we were on for a really good result. Obviously not the end result we wanted, not the result the team deserved either, but honestly super proud of I think what we did as a whole this weekend. I think we made a splash and showed great pace.
“Had we not had to start at the back, I think we would have been starting comfortably inside the top 15 and then fighting with good pace at the front. So woulda, shoulda, coulda type of thing.”
He added: “Overall really proud of this weekend. Threw myself in the total deep end and reached a life-long goal of making it to IndyCar.