Indian-American driver Yuven Sundaramoorthy will climb to full-time status in the 2024 INDY NXT by Firestone season with Abel Motorsports, team officials announced Oct. 19.

Wisconsin native Sundaramoorthy, 20, made four starts with Abel in 2023, recording a best finish of ninth in the season finale at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. He climbed to INDYCAR’s development series after racing most of the 2023 season in the USF Pro 2000 Championship, with an aim of becoming the first Indian-American driver to compete in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES.

“I’m extremely happy to have signed with Abel Motorsports for the 2024 INDY NXT season,” Sundaramoorthy said. “I had an amazing experience running the last couple of INDY NXT races with them to cap off my 2023 season, and I have a ton of confidence in the crew that we can create some solid results together next season. This wouldn’t be possible without my family, sponsors, and partners, so thank you to them.”

Sundaramoorthy, an engineering student at the University of Wisconsin, finished third in the 2021 USF2000 Championship with four victories.

“We are extremely excited that Yuven is going to be back with Abel Motorsports for the 2024 INDY NXT season and getting to build on what we learned together in 2023,” Abel Motorsports Owner Bill Abel said. “Yuven joined us toward the end of last season for a few races to get his feet wet in the series, and the poise and talent he showed spoke volumes for what he can bring to our team, so we can’t wait to see what he can do in 2024.”

Sundaramoorthy will be one of 21 drivers scheduled to turn laps during the Chris Griffis Memorial Test on Friday, Oct. 20 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. He will join series veteran Jacob Abel and newcomer Jonathan Browne in the Abel lineup at the test.