Jacob Abel isn’t going to exit the INDY NXT by Firestone championship conversation quietly. The third-year driver secured a statement win Sunday at Portland International Raceway to keep his title hopes alive.
Abel drove his No. 51 Abel Construction entry of Abel Motorsports to victory lane for the third time this season and in his career, beating points leader Louis Foster by .4103 of a second. Abel trails Foster by 79 points entering Saturday’s INDY NXT by Firestone at the Milwaukee Mile. With two races remaining, Foster needs to lead by 54 points to clinch the title.
“The only way to really keep that (championship hopes) alive in any sense is to win races,” Abel said.
Ending a nine-race winless drought in the circumstances Abel faced at Portland exemplified his maturity as a driver.
Foster built a commanding championship lead entering PIR with six wins in the last eight races and a pair of runner-up finishes in the others. The defending Portland winner also earned the pole position for Sunday’s race. With what seemed like an insurmountable deficit, Abel could have conceded defeat.
That’s not in his DNA.
The Louisville native driving for a hard-working family race team wasn’t going to allow Foster and Andretti Global to be handed the championship trophy without a fight.
Abel dove inside of Foster Sunday in Turn 1 on the opening lap to take the lead and held him off for all 35 laps to deliver victory.
With two races at Milwaukee Mile (Aug. 31) and Nashville Superspeedway (Sept. 15) remaining to catch Foster, Abel is well aware the deficit will be challenging to overcome. However, he is going to enjoy the process of being the only driver mathematically eligible to steal the championship from Foster’s grasp.
“Trying to enjoy the last few races here, trying to go out and get race wins, as good of results as possible,” he said. “We're just trying to go out and perform, and hopefully opening eyes to some INDYCAR teams because that's where I'm trying to get to next year.”
Abel has displayed the talent to compete at the next level. The end-of-season run, with three podium finishes in the last four races, flashes to NTT INDYCAR SERIES teams that he can deliver in tense circumstances, too.
Returning for a third season in INDY NXT by Firestone instead of rushing to an NTT INDYCAR SERIES seat also allowed Abel to take another step in his progression as a driver.
That made the journey a rewarding process, no matter how this season ends.
“We've had a super, super strong year,” Abel said. “Just to even compete with teams and drivers like Andretti and Louis (Foster), Caio (Collet), HMD (Motorsports), it's a really tough feat. I think we've done it, and we beat them weekends, have been right there in the fight all year long.
“Super proud of the whole entire team. Really proud of our effort. Unfortunately, the championship kind of slipped away in the middle of the season with a little bit of bad luck, a little bit of mistakes here and there.
“I think at the end of the day, we're still a relatively small team and a relatively young team compared to these other organizations. For us to accomplish what we've accomplished, I think, is really impressive. Hopefully really indicative of what the future may hold for the program and hopefully for me as a driver.”