Matt Brabham, Jacob Abel provide SST flavour at Chris Griffis Memorial Test

The tenth annual Chris Griffis Memorial Open Test on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway infield road course took place on 30/31 October, seeing potential prospects driving Road to Indy cars across the three feeder series. Two drivers in the fourteen-person Indy Lights test came with experience in a radically different form of racing: Stadium Super Trucks. Matt Brabham, a former Road to Indy rising star, ran an official Indy Lights session for the first time since 2015 while Jacob Abel continues his ascent up the ladder.

Brabham, the two-time defending SST champion on the verge of securing a third, drove the #83 for Andretti Autosport in a four-car effort. He has raced in SST since 2015, shortly after his meteoric rise up the Road to Indy ladder came to an abrupt halt: despite winning the U.S. F2000 and now-Indy Pro 2000 Championships in 2012 and 2013 to reach Indy Lights with Andretti by 2014, he lost the ride three races into 2015 due to sponsorship issues. He scored one win in Indy Lights on the Indianapolis RC during his first yea. In forty-seven career Road to Indy starts, Brabham won eighteen for a win percentage of 38.3%, the highest in the system’s history before newly crowned Indy Lights champion and Andretti driver Kyle Kirkwood topped him at the end of 2021 with 62.5%. He would also make two starts in the IndyCar Series in 2016, including the Indianapolis 500.

With few open-wheel opportunities available outside of piloting the two-seater IndyCar and being a driving coach, Brabham has since made SST his playground. He has twenty-five career race wins and finished on the podium in every race in 2021 with a pair of victories. Until series founder Robby Gordon broke the trend at Long Beach, Brabham was riding a six-round streak of being the fastest in qualifying that dated back to the 2020 season opener in Adelaide.

Across the Open Test’s six sessions, Brabham was typically in the middle of the group, with his best effort coming in the fourth where he set the fifth-fastest time. Session 3 saw his best lap time in ninety-nine total laps of 1:25.78. At twenty-seven years of age, he was the oldest driver of the fourteen by a wide margin, which is to be expected as the feeder series generally has drivers in their teens or early twenties. Ernie Francis Jr., a seven-time Trans-Am Series champion and open-wheel newcomer, is the closest to Brabham’s age at four years younger.

“It’s just so good to be back at the IMS,” said Brabham in a video from Indy Lights. “It feels a little weird, especially for me, coming back. There’s a few memes online making fun of my age and stuff, but… I mean, I’m just having a blast. It’s been so long and I just got to blow the rust off, blow the cobwebs out, and it’s been so much fun.”

While Brabham was cutting his teeth in stadium trucks, Abel worked on his own climb through the Road to Indy ranks. After racing in lower formulae including USF2000, Abel began a part-time slate in Indy Pro 2000 in 2019 before elevating to the full championship in 2021. Driving for family-run Abel Motorsports, he finished sixth in points with two podiums. He also dabbles in sports cars by competing part-time in the GT World Challenge America.

The twenty-year-old made his SST début at Nashville in August. Learning the truck and finishing second-to-last in Race #1 placed him on the front row for the second race, which saw him battle with Robert Stout to the finish before finishing runner-up. Abel was the first driver since 2019 to score a podium finish in his maiden SST weekend. Incidentally, Brabham placed third to join Abel on the Race #2 podium. Abel also ran the Long Beach weekend but was plagued by mechanical issues.

In the #3 Abel Motorsports car, Abel got off to a quick start at the Open Test by leading Session 1 as one of four drivers to run more than ten laps. His times over the next five practices varied, with his best overall run coming in Session 3 with a time of 1:25.73 (fourth best in said test). He turned ninety-five laps over the two days of testing.

“[W]hat an amazing car, so fun to drive,” Abel posted on social media after the first day. “The team got the car just a week ago and to end up the first day 4th overall our first time on track is exceptional. The work has just begun, but I’m loving the challenge”.

Although the test allows for drivers to showcase their skills in their desired series, it does not necessarily mean they will commit to said division for the upcoming season, and Brabham and Abel have not confirmed their plans for 2022. In fact, only Kyffin Simpson and Sting Ray Robb have formally announced their intent to race in Indy Lights as of this article’s publishing. Simpson won the 2021 Formula Regional Americas Championship in addition to racing against Abel in Indy Pro 2000, while Robb won the 2020 Indy Pro 2000 title and finished seventh in the 2021 Indy Lights. Driving for TJ Speed Motorsports, Simpson led the sixth session while Robb set the third-best time in the same session for Andretti.

Abel and Brabham might be the only names at the forty-four-person Open Test who have raced in SST, but the trucks have a degree of separation with Jagger Jones who set the fastest overall time in the USF2000 test. Jones, who boasts a stock car-heavy résumé that includes being the 2019 runner-up in what is now the ARCA Menards Series West, is the son of four-time SST race winner P.J. Jones.

Test results

Session 1

Position	Number	Driver	Team	Best Time	Margin	Best Speed	Laps	Best Lap
1	3	Jacob Abel	Abel Motorsports	1:35.4380	Leader	97.320	14	14
2	15	Matteo Nannini	Juncos Hollinger Racing	1:35.5351	+ .0971	97.221	14	12
3	21	Kyffin Simpson	TJ Speed Motorsports	1:35.8225	+ .3845	96.929	15	11
4	51	Rasmus Lindh	Juncos Hollinger Racing	1:36.7351	+ 1.2971	96.015	10	7
5	2	Sting Ray Robb	Andretti Autosport	1:50.6489	+ 15.2109	83.941	1	1
6	28	Christian Rasmussen	Andretti Autosport	1:56.5664	+ 21.1284	79.680	1	1
7	83	Matt Brabham	Andretti Autosport	1:57.1693	+ 21.7313	79.270	1	1
8	11	Antonio Serravalle	Pserra Racing	2:02.0964	+ 26.6584	76.071	1	1
9	7	Christian Bogle	HMD Motorsports	2:02.3402	+ 26.9022	75.919	5	5
10	27	Hunter McElrea	Andretti Autosport	2:05.1441	+ 29.7062	74.218	1	1
11	24	Benjamin Pedersen	Global Racing Group with HMD Motorsports	No Time	N/A	N/A	0	N/A
12	59	Manual Sulaiman	HMD Motorsports	No Time	N/A	N/A	0	N/A
13	79	Danial Frost	HMD Motorsports	No Time	N/A	N/A	0	N/A
14	99	Ernie Francis Jr.	HMD Motorsports	No Time	N/A	N/A	0	N/A

Bold – Subject of article
Italics – Rookie

Session 2

Position	Driver	Best Time	Margin	Best Speed	Laps	Best Lap
1	Benjamin Pedersen	1:26.1408	Leader	107.823	22	21
2	Rasmus Lindh	1:36.2973	+ 1.565	107.628	22	18
3	Sting Ray Robb	1:26.5153	+ .3745	107.357	20	16
4	Danial Frost	1:26.5375	+ .3967	107.329	21	20
5	Manuel Sulaiman	1:26.6570	+ .5162	107.181	20	13
6	Hunter McElrea	1:26.6633	+ .5225	107.173	21	20
7	Christian Rasmussen	1:26.7134	+ .5726	107.111	24	16
8	Jacob Abel	1:26.9271	+ .7863	106.848	19	17
9	Kyffin Simpson	1:27.1241	+ .9833	106.607	22	22
10	Ernie Francis Jr.	1:27.1932	+ 1.0524	106.522	20	20
11	Matteo Nannini	1:27.3646	+ 1.2238	106.313	20	20
12	Antonio Serravalle	1:27.7190	+ 1.5782	105.884	18	10
13	Christian Bogle	1:27.8427	+ 1.7019	105.734	14	14
14	Matt Brabham	1:28.3154	+ 2.1746	105.169	22	18

Session 3

Position	Driver	Best Time	Margin	Best Speed	Laps	Best Lap
1	Benjamin Pedersen	1:25.4619	Leader	108.680	21	19
2	Hunter McElrea	1:25.5218	+ .0599	108.604	20	17
3	Danial Frost	1:25.7186	+ .2567	108.355	20	18
4	Jacob Abel	1:25.7317	+ .2698	108.338	21	18
5	Rasmus Lindh	1:25.7684	+ .3065	108.292	21	16
6	Matt Brabham	1:25.7868	+ .3249	108.268	23	18
7	Kyffin Simpson	1:25.7884	+ .3265	108.266	22	18
8	Matteo Nannini	1:26.0674	+ .6055	107.915	17	16
9	Manuel Sulaiman	1:26.0830	+ .6211	107.896	24	14
10	Ernie Francis Jr.	1:26.3269	+ .8650	107.591	22	20
11	Sting Ray Robb	1:26.5440	+ 1.0821	107.321	10	5
12	Antonio Serraville	1:26.5942	+ 1.1323	107.259	20	16
13	Christan Bogle	1:26.7779	+ 1.3160	107.032	23	16
14	Christian Rasmussen	1:26.9745	+ 1.5126	106.790	7	5

Session 4

Position	Driver	Best Time	Margin	Best Speed	Laps	Best Lap
1	Rasmus Lindh	1:25.5988	Leader	108.506	17	14
2	Kyffin Simpson	1:25.6400	+ .0412	108.454	20	5
3	Danial Frost	1:25.6569	+ .0581	108.433	19	18
4	Benjamin Pedersen	1:25.7144	+ .1156	108.360	19	16
5	Matt Brabham	1:25.8205	+ .2217	108.226	19	16
6	Christian Rasmussen	1:25.8841	+ .2853	108.146	12	10
7	Matteo Nannini	1:26.0392	+ .4404	107.951	16	12
8	Sting Ray Robb	1:26.0396	+ .4408	107.950	14	6
9	Hunter McElrea	1:26.0682	+ .4694	107.914	18	16
10	Ernie Francis Jr.	1:26.2441	+ .6453	107.694	18	18
11	Manuel Sulaiman	1:26.3887	+ .7899	107.514	18	17
12	Antonio Serravalle	1:26.7562	+ 1.1574	107.059	19	19
13	Jacob Abel	1:26.7860	+ 1.1872	107.022	7	6
14	Christian Bogle	1:27.0634	+ 1.4646	106.681	21	16

Session 5

Position	Driver	Best Time	Margin	Best Speed	Laps	Best Lap
1	Hunter McElrea	1:26.2405	Leader	107.699	16	11
2	Matteo Nannini	1:26.3271	+ .1316	107.535	16	10
3	Sting Ray Robb	1:26.4834	+ .2429	107.396	17	11
4	Christian Rasmussen	1:26.5027	+ .2622	107.372	16	9
5	Benjamin Pedersen	1:26.6423	+ .4018	107.199	17	10
6	Daniel Frost	1:26.7372	+ .4967	107.082	18	18
7	Ernie Francis Jr.	1:26.8533	+ .6128	106.939	16	6
8	Kyffin Simpson	1:26.9360	+ .6955	106.837	16	11
9	Manuel Sulaiman	1:26.9846	+ .7441	106.778	13	4
10	Matt Brabham	1:27.0965	+ .8560	106.640	16	11
11	Rasmus Lindh	1:27.1988	+ .9583	106.515	13	9
12	Jacob Abel	1:27.2186	+ .9781	106.491	16	11
13	Antonio Serravalle	1:27.7262	+ 1.4857	105.875	17	10
14	Chrstian Bogle	1:28.1788	+ 1.9383	105.331	15	10

Session 6

Position	Driver	Best Time	Margin	Best Speed	Laps	Best Lap
1	Kyffin Simpson	1:25.4850	Leader	108.651	21	18
2	Matteo Nannini	1:25.5425	+ .0575	108.578	15	14
3	Christian Rasmussen	1:25.5509	+ .0659	108.567	20	17
4	Sting Ray Robb	1:25.6578	+ .1728	108.431	19	16
5	Rasmus Lindh	1:25.8412	+ .3562	108.200	17	18
6	Hunter McElrea	1:25.8601	+ .3751	108.176	17	15
7	Danial Frost	1:25.9193	+ .4343	108.101	19	16
8	Matt Brabham	1:25.9631	+ .4781	108.046	18	16
9	Jacob Abel	1:26.0144	+ .5294	107.982	18	16
10	Manuel Sulaiman	1:26.0205	+ .5355	107.974	22	17
11	Ernie Francis Jr.	1:26.0566	+ .5716	107.929	20	17
12	Benjamin Pedersen	1:26.2320	+ .7470	107.709	19	17
13	Antonio Serraville	1:26.7100	+ 1.2250	107.116	21	17
14	Christian Bogle	1:26.9105	+ 1.4255	106.869	21	17

Best combined

Position	Driver	Best Session	Time	Speed	Total Laps
1	Benjamin Pedersen	3	1:25.4619	108.680	98
2	Kyffin Simpson	6	1:25.4850	108.651	116
3	Hunter McElrea	3	1:25.5218	108.604	93
4	Matteo Nannini	6	1:25.5425	108.578	98
5	Christian Rasmussen	6	1:25.5509	108.567	80
6	Rasmus Lindh	4	1:25.5988	108.506	100
7	Danial Frost	4	1:25.6569	108.433	97
8	Sting Ray Robb	6	1:25.6578	108.431	81
9	Jacob Abel	3	1:25.7317	108.338	95
10	Matt Brabham	3	1:25.7868	108.268	99
11	Manuel Sulaiman	6	1:26.0205	107.974	97
12	Ernie Francis Jr.	6	1:26.0566	107.929	96
13	Antonio Serravalle	3	1:26.5942	107.259	96
14	Christian Bogle	3	1:26.7779	107.032	99