Hauger earns another Indy Nxt win at Portland with a double pass

Photo: Joe Skibinski

Andretti Global’s Dennis Hauger claimed his sixth Indy Nxt victory of 2025 at Portland.

Hauger took the lead of the race on the opening lap, as team-mate and title outsider Lochie Hughes got caught up in an incident.

After an early caution period, HMD Motorsports’ Caio Collet was able to stay with Hauger, but could not find a way past the race leader. Collet dropped back slightly in the closing stages of the race, and Hauger secured victory by 0.9353 seconds.

Hauger started third on the grid, behind Collet and Abel Motorsports with Force Indy’s Myles Rowe. As the front row starters went side-by-side into turn one, Hauger hung close to the pit wall and appeared to cross the pit exit line on approach to the opening corner.

That put Hauger on the outside at turn two, and he managed to hold on and pull off a double pass on Collet and Rowe to move ahead.

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Bryce Aron, who started fifth, was spun around midway through the corner. Several drivers took to the runoff area to try avoiding the incident, including Hughes. It did not go to plan for him, and he had to pit for a new front wing.

Others in the melee made it back to the pits but Aron was unable to restart and the pace car was brought out to clear his car.

After the caution period, there was little movement at the front of the order. Collet kept the pressure on Hauger early on, but the championship leader did not put a wheel wrong.

Collet had a buffer of around two seconds back to Rowe, who enjoyed a quiet race to collet another podium finish in third.

Andretti’s Salvador de Alba challenged Abel Motorsport’s Callum Hedge for fourth in the opening laps. He in turn was kept under pressure from HMD’s Tommy Smith.

Hedge managed to hold off de Alba then pull away to comfortably finish fourth, while Smith came under attack from those behind. Chip Ganassi Racing’s Niels Koolen was the first to find a way past him, and was soon followed through by Andretti Cape’s returning driver Michael d’Orlando.

Abel’s Jordan Missig, who suffered front wing damage in the lap one incident but opted to continue, was next to attack Smith. The loose front wing did not hamper him too much, as Missig found a way past Smith along with HMD’s Juan Manuel Correa. He then kept Missig under pressure until the chequered flag, with the pair separated by 0.5446s at the finish.

After his trip through the pits, Hughes managed to climb up to 10th by the chequered flag. He remains mathematically in the title fight with only two races remaining.

Race results (35 laps)