First-year Indy 500 entrants ABEL Motorsports of Louisville, KY and Speedway, IN, and their rookie driver RC Enerson of New Port Richey, FL combined for a strong first few stints in their first appearance in the Memorial Day classic. Mechanical issues though forced an early exit from today’s 107th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge. Enerson was scored 32nd after completing 75 laps of the 200-lap distance.
The 26-year-old Enerson qualified the Abel Construction Chevy/Dallara 29th for the race last Saturday, an amazing performance for the Indy newcomers. Enerson rolled off from 28th spot in today’s 500-miler after a driver change was needed for another team.
“It’s still an amazing accomplishment for this team, considering we’ve been an IndyCar team for what, 7 days on track this month” noted the Rookie of the Year contender.
“To just be here, qualify for the race on the first day and avoid Bump Day, everything we’ve done here has been nothing short of amazing. Bill (Abel) and (Team Manager) John Brunner have put together an amazing crew. We’ve been flawless all month. We had settled into a nice rhythm by our second stint and we were much better in our third stint before the problem hit. It’s just a shame for this team and all our partners. A big thanks to Team Chevy and Firestone and all the partners that came on board with us these last few days.”
Team Principal Bill Abel was disappointed with the short day for his team but thrilled with the effort his driver and crew put in to make this year’s Indy 500
“For us, mission accomplished (just to qualify) We’d have loved to have gone a lot further in the race but for our first time out in IndyCar and the 500, that’s ok. I hate it for RC and the team but sometimes that’s just what happens in this
sport.This is the pinnacle of our sport, so just to be here with the car, with the team, to qualify, we exceeded expectations,” said Abel.
“We hope to be back, maybe next year, maybe the year after, just the fact that we’ve been here and had as much success as we have, hopefully that paves the way for us to come back.”
Team Manager John Brunner was disappointed as well but applauded the effort his squad put together at IMS. “The guys have all worked so hard on this car. We just hadn’t had any problems until today. The car has been flawless. It’s heartbreaking for these guys, it’s very disappointing, but the car’s in one piece. We’ll take this and learn from it and see what we can do in the future.”
ABEL Motorsports returns to action in the Indy NXT Series by Firestone at the Detroit Grand Prix next weekend. The team’s two-car effort featuring Jacob Abel in the #51 and Colin Kaminsky driving the team’s #57 entry will compete in a doubleheader weekend June 3 and 4.
Abel Motorsports PR
