Mishael Abbott

Mishael Abbott is an American single-seater racer who rached as high as the IRL Infiniti Pro Series (Indy Lights) in 2005 and 2006.

Her best Pro Series finish was eighth at Miami, in 2005, after qualifying fourth. This was her first race in the championship, driving for Hemelgarn Racing. They ran Mishael in four events that year and she finished all of them: ninth at Phoenix and eleventh and twelfth in two races at Indianapolis. The eleventh place was in the Freedom 100, held on the oval. She was thirteenth in the championship and her results were on a par with her team-mate Jerry Coons Jr's. There was considerable media attention around her as she was the first woman to race in this particular iteration of Indy Lights, and because Danica Patrick was racing in Indycar that year.

In 2006, she did three races, two for Michael Crawford Motorsports and one for the SME team. She was thirteenth in her first race at Miami-Homestead, 17th at Indianapolis and twelfth at Watkins Glen. After that, her sponsorship money ran out.

At the same time, she acted as a spotter for Indycar driver Jacques Lazier on ovals.

Her time in single-seaters began in Formula Star Mazda, the third rung on the Indy ladder, after some years of karting and midget racing. She was particularly successful in 125cc gearbox karts. After growing up watching her father compete in club racing, she had wanted to race herself from the age of about six.

She first competed in cars in 2001, aged 20, racing a Formula Star Mazda car at club level. She took it more seriously in 2002, entering three rounds of Formula Mazda at Sebring, Pikes Peak and Road Atlanta. She finished the first two, with her best result being a 19th place at Pikes Peak. She finished 19th again at Road Atlanta in 2003, one of two races she did in the national series that year. Her programme also included the Eastern regional championship, where she scored her first podium at Watkins Glen.

After her Pro Series sponsorship ran out, she returned to national-level motorsport. Proving herself in a bigger single-seater, she raced a Formula Atlantic car in SCCA events in 2007 and 2008, with good results. Her best finish in 2008 was second, and she was rarely out of the top ten, finishing fourth in her championship. The car was a Ralt RT41, similar to those previously used in the Toyota Atlantic development series.

In 2008, she also substituted for her father in some SCCA Formula Mazda races. 

The previous year, she also raced sportscars in the IMSA Prototype Challenge series, in the L1 class. Her car was a spec Elan-Van Diemen DP-02. She was fifth in her first race at Sebring, although she was unable to start the second. She did four races that year.

At the end of 2008, she had to pull out of motorsport, due to health problems.

(Image copyright Indycar)