Dale Coyne Racing has announced that Hunter McElrea will become its latest IndyCar Series debutant at this weekend’s round on the Toronto street circuit.
The 24-year-old American-born New Zealander will step into the team’s #18 Honda entry after completing his first-ever laps in an IndyCar last week during a one-day test at Mid-Ohio.
He becomes the fifth driver to make an IndyCar bow this season for DCR, after Colin Braun, Nolan Siegel, Luca Ghiotto and Toby Sowery.
The 2023 Indy NXT championship runner-up, McElrea has spent this year in the IMSA SportsCar Championship, driving the endurance rounds for TDS Racing in the LMP2 class. He finished runner-up in class at the Sebring 12 Hours in March.
“It’s a dream come true for me to be making my IndyCar Series debut,” said McElrea.
“I’ve been working towards this for a long time, and I have to thank Dale for the opportunity.”
Coyne has used a rotating pool of drivers in 2024, with Conor Daly becoming its eighth different driver of the year at Iowa last weekend when called up to substitute for Jack Harvey in the #18 entry as the Briton was experiencing neck pain.
The team has yet to announce the partner for McElrea at Toronto in the #51 driven most recently by Katherine Legge.
Following a karting career that began at the age of seven, McElrea stepped up to single-seaters in 2015 to compete in Formula Ford championships in Australia and New Zealand.
In 2018, he contested a second full season of Australian Formula Ford and amassed 13 wins and became the first non-Australian driver to win the title since 1985.
Prior to joining Indy NXT in 2022, where he captured Rookie of the Year honours, McElrea finished runner-up in 2019's USF2000 series and was third in the 2021 Indy Pro 2000 Championship.
“Hunter impressed the team during our test last week at Mid-Ohio,” said Coyne. “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.”
McElrea will make his race weekend debut with opening practice on Friday, 19 July at 3pm local time.
