“I feel pretty confident”: IndyCar rookie signals readiness to take on veteran drivers in Thermal race

The Dale Coyne Racing driver Jacob Abel made his IndyCar debut at the Firestone Grand Prix of St Petersburg which took place on March 2nd. The rookie recently opened up about how he felt confident going into the second race.

For his maiden qualifying in the series, Abel qualified in 25th place and finished the race on Sunday in 23rd place. The young American is slowly adapting to the hybrid unit on the car.

While speaking in an interview with IndyCar staff writer, Eric Smith after the Barber Motorsports Park testing, Jacob Abel said:

“I feel pretty confident about things. This track I definitely got up to speed quicker than a lot of places.”

The #51 car driver opened up about how he is slowly trying to adapt to the hybrid unit.

“I think with the IndyCar, I’m trying to adapt to the hybrid. That’s the one thing that’s different for the IndyCar around here. We were trying to work our way around that and go through it pretty patiently," Abel said.

The rookie has had experience at the Barber Motorsports Park from his Indy NXT series days. He took his first victory in the series at the same road course.

“I pulled a lot from my experience in the INDY NXT car here. This is a track that I’ve always loved. I’ve always kind of known how to make a car go fast around here,” he added.

Along with Barber Motorsports Park, Abel has experience at the Indianapolis Motorspeedway. He won the Indy NXT series race at the track. The prior wins at these tracks helps able in gaining confidence going ahead in the competition.

Prior to joining the IndyCar series, the 24-year-old drove in the Indy NXT series, for Abel Motorsports. He finished second in the championship with three wins.

As Jacob Abel heads into his second race of the season at the Thermal Club Grand Prix, he will be eager to make some progress and understand the workings of the hybrid unit on his car.

The Thermal Club Grand Prix 2025 IndyCar Series start time.

This weekend the racing is back at Thermal Club Grand Prix in Thermal, California. It marks the second race of the season. The Grand Prix is set to air on FOX from 3 p.m. ET on 23rd March.

Spaniard Alex Palou won the Grand Prix last season. He also won the 2025 season opener at Firestone Grand Prix of St Petersburg which was held on March 2nd and is currently leading the championship by 51 points. As much as Palou will want to make it a back-to-back win, he will have drivers like Josef Newgarden, Scott Dixon and, Scott McLaughlin all looking for their first win of the season. All three drivers will be looking to make a mark going into the race.