Toby Sowery is eager to secure more opportunities in IndyCar after tying the season-best result for Dale Coyne Racing in what he called “the perfect debut” at Mid-Ohio last weekend.
Despite not having tested IndyCar’s hybrid unit, which was making its belated mid-season debut, Sowery impressed in advancing from 24th on the grid to match the 13th place finish achieved by Jack Harvey at Barber Motorsports Park which stands as Coyne's best result of 2024 to date.
The 29-year-old Briton hasn't competed full-time in single-seaters since 2019, when he finished third in Indy Lights (now called Indy NXT) with a win at Portland, and has pursued a sportscar career in recent seasons.
But speaking to Autosport after his debut, Sowery expressed a desire to return to IndyCar in the future.
“I’m super happy,” he said. “There was a point where I think we were P11 or P12 on track, I wasn’t sure how much of that was strategy, but we held our ground the whole way.
“For me, it’s just the perfect debut. Super happy with Dale.
“Eternally grateful for that opportunity. Hopefully, there’s a lot more because I think that’s a good effort [and] we can achieve more if we have more time. I want to thank everyone, especially Dale, for giving me the chance.
“A lot of the people don’t really give rookies an opportunity and Dale is a guy that consistently does that for people, so I’m eternally grateful and super happy.”
Sowery became the fourth driver this season to be given an IndyCar debut by Coyne after Colin Braun, his team-mate in the Algarve Pro Racing LMP2 team that competes in the IMSA SportsCar Championship, Nolan Siegel (now at Arrow McLaren) and Formula 2 stalwart Luca Ghiotto.
In all, the team has used seven drivers so far this year, with Katherine Legge returning to the cockpit for Iowa's double-header this weekend alongside Harvey after entering the Indianapolis 500 in the #51 vacated by Sowery.
Sowery, who is also racing in GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup with Century Motorsport, added: “It isn’t necessarily about on-track, it’s about what you can do with the tools you have on-track.
“Yeah, okay, people can jump in the best car and win, not taking credit away from anyone that does that because it’s still a really difficult job, but sometimes guys slip through that limelight.
“I’d like to think that’s me, but some people would likely disagree. Hopefully, more people get the opportunity to prove themselves.”
Sowery left Mid-Ohio and immediately flew to Italy for an LMP2 test on Monday. He admits he doesn’t know what’s next for him in the US as Coyne continues to revolve through different drivers in the #51 entry.
“I’d like to work on coming back to the ones I can,” he said.
“Obviously, there’s a few races vacant, but for me it’s filling the time and coming back to do some more IndyCar races.”
