Abel Motorsports will not be fielding a car in this year’s Indianapolis 500 after failing to find funding to properly support the entry.
The team contested its first Indy 500, and first ever IndyCar race, last year for the 107th running of the great event.
RC Enerson drove the #50 without a major outside sponsor, starting 28th and completing 75 laps before mechanical issues ended the attempt prematurely.
Enerson was set to be the driver again for Abel’s second attempt this year, but the team has had trouble finding a major sponsor to fund the effort and has decided that it is now too late to continue pursuing for the race just over three weeks away.
Abel’s withdrawal, first reported by Motorsport.com, means that there will very likely be 34 entries in this year’s race, with one being bumped from the 33-car field during qualifying.
“We’re out,” team manager John Brunner told Motorsport.com. “We’re pulling the plug. We are absolutely done. I stretched Chevrolet out longer than they wanted.
“They’ve been awesome through this whole thing. They’ve been so supportive all the way from the time that we ended last year up until this morning.
“It is over as of this morning. I notified Chevrolet this morning at nine o’clock.”
The funding the team was looking for would have allowed the team to field the same Enerson family-owned Dallara chassis that it ran on track last year.
With that option falling through this week, and Abel’s own new Dallara chassis not quite ready to go yet due to parts shortages and delays, team owner Bill Abel decided to pull the plug on this year’s attempt.
The plan is for the team to continue preparations for a more consistent IndyCar presence by continuing to acquire all the parts and pieces needed to operate in the top level series.
The team is also still considering running a full season IndyCar entry in the near future, if part supplies and engine leases allow.
Aside from its IndyCar efforts, Abel Motorsports runs a successful IndyNXT program, which just earned its first victory with Jacob Abel behind the wheel this past weekend at Barber Motorsports Park.
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