Written by Archie O’Reilly
Last year’s Indy NXT runner-up Hunter McElrea will be making his IndyCar debut in the No.18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda on the streets of Toronto this weekend. He completed his maiden IndyCar test with the team in some post-event running at Mid-Ohio last week.
Jack Harvey has spent the majority of the season in the No.18 entry, though his programme did not include the Indianapolis 500 or Toronto. Nolan Siegel was due to run Toronto as part of a four-event programme alongside his Indy NXT sophomore campaign before he chose to make a full-time step up to IndyCar with Arrow McLaren last month.
Logically, the expectation was that Harvey may continue in the car for Toronto. But the Briton has been suffering with neck and back pain since the Mid-Ohio weekend, which significantly hindered his performance. These physical issues were not resolved for the Iowa Speedway doubleheader.
Harvey told Peacock he was in “absolute agony” during Iowa qualifying. He planned to step aside for the first race but no special refresher session could be run for intended replacement Conor Daly, so Harvey took the start of that Saturday night race before parking his car on Lap 30. Daly replaced him for Sunday.
Whether pre-planned or not, Harvey will miss Toronto and also have the upcoming three-weekend Olympic break to recover from his ailments. This vacancy has given the opportunity for McElrea, the second-place finisher to Christian Rasmussen in Indy NXT in 2023, the chance for his IndyCar debut.
McElrea progressed through USF2000 and USF Pro 2000 before spending two years in Indy NXT, where he took two wins in each of his campaigns in the championship with Andretti Global. He impressively finished fourth in the standings as a rookie before his vice-champion campaign last year.
The New Zealand native has spent 2024 as an endurance driver for TDS Racing in the IMSA SportsCar Championship’s LMP2 category, achieving second in class in the Sebring 12 Hours. He now gets a shot at the opportunity he has really waited for.
It is not confirmed who will line up alongside McElrea in Coyne’s sister No.51 Honda, though there is some expectation that Toby Sowery may return after achieving the team’s season-best result on debut at Mid-Ohio.
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