Aspiring Kiwi IndyCar racer, Hunter McElrea has been on fine form in the last few rounds of the Indy Pro 2000 championship and is confidence that he can snare that elusive maiden win before the season concludes at St. Petersburg next month.
Since the series’ first trip to Mid-Ohio back in July, McElrea has scored podium results in 55 per cent of races.
It is a welcome turn in results for McElrea after his baptism of fire to the championship. He spun out from a race-winning position and was tangled up in an opening lap crash in the opening round at Road America.
He has since climbed from dead last in the standings to fifth with five races left to play out. These results have seen the confidence within himself and the Pabst Racing team rise and he has been able to take the fight to the front runners at almost every race.
However, McElrea also conceded there is still room for improvements to be made, especially in qualifying, if he is to claim his first win.
“Yes, we have been improving a lot,” McElrea told Velocity News. “I have consistently been the fastest car in race trim and have had some really good drives through the field.
“From the middle part of the season, we have been the second biggest point scorer outside the championship leader.
“It is no secret that the qualifying trim car has been the biggest weakness. Though this has been improving a lot, and a lot of work is going into the next couple weeks to get on top of it with some testing.”
Still within a mathematical chance of winning the championship, it will take some effort to overcome his points deficit to runaway leader Robb, winner of four of the last five races.
But McElrea is adamantly maintaining his one race at a time mentality across the remaining five race weekends will bring about the best results.
“My focus for the next 5 races is just to keep pushing and maximising the result,” he added. “And I’m confident the rest will come.”
The Road to Indy series will deviate from the NTT IndyCar championship for its penultimate round when it heads to New Jersey Motorsport Park for a tripleheader of races over October 9-11.
The season will then conclude in line with the premier class with two races on the streets of St. Petersburg on October 23-25.
