Photo: Joe Skibinski
Andretti Global’s Louis Foster extended his Indy Nxt points lead with a dominant victory at Gateway.
The second oval race of the season was one of attrition, with six drivers failing to finish including HMD Motorsports’ title contender Caio Collet.
Foster was untouchable throughout. Despite multiple caution periods, he was able to extend the gap to the rest of the field each time. He eventually finished with a gap of 3.3 seconds to his main title rival Jacob Abel.
The drama started before the green flag was even waved, as Jack William Miller damaged his front wing as the field bunched up. Miller had a dramatic weekend, with a fire in practice meaning he could not qualify and putting him at the back of the field for the start. He made it back to the pits but was unable to rejoin the race.
Shortly after the race actually started, a caution was thrown when Myles Rowe spun on the opening lap. He managed to avoid any other cars and also made it to the pits, but he was slow exiting the pitlane and also would not continue.
At this point, second placed starter Jamie Chadwick was still running second ahead of Collet. They were unable to stay with Foster on the restart and began battling for position. Slight contact between the two sent them both into the inside wall and out of the race.
Abel was now up to second, but also could not stick with Foster and was left fighting Christian Brooks. He managed to shake Brooks in the second half of the race, but even with another caution period – this time caused by Josh Pierson – could not challenge Foster.
Brooks slipped backwards into fifth, then a three-way fight at the line relegated him to seventh at the chequered flag.
Callum Hedge suffered a big slide earlier in the race, allowing Christian Bogle and Salvador de Alba through. De Alba went on to finish fourth, following first-time podium finisher Yuven Sundaramoorthy past Brooks. Hedge managed to repass Bogle and then brought the fight to Brooks.
Brooks, Hedge and Bryce Aron were separated by less than two tenths of a second at the chequered flag, with Hedge prevailing in the fight for fifth.
Race result (75 laps)
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Louis Foster | Andretti Global | 43m57.4339s |
| 2 | Jacob Abel | Abel Motorsports | +3.3406s |
| 3 | Yuven Sundaramoorthy | Abel Motorsports | +4.6040s |
| 4 | Salvador de Alba | Andretti Cape | +4.7417s |
| 5 | Callum Hedge | HMD Motorsports | +9.5369s |
| 6 | Bryce Aron | Andretti Global | +9.6889s |
| 7 | Christian Brooks | HMD Motorsports | +9.7162s |
| 8 | Christian Bogle | HMD Motorsports | +11.0267s |
| 9 | Jordan Missig | Abel Motorsports | +11.2495s |
| 10 | James Roe Jr | Andretti Global | +13.2118s |
| 11 | Jonathan Browne | HMD Motorsports | +13.8266s |
| 12 | Reece Gold | HMD Motorsports | +16.1908s |
| Ret | Josh Pierson | HMD Motorsports | |
| Ret | Caio Collet | HMD Motorsports | |
| Ret | Taylor Ferns | Abel Motorsports | |
| Ret | Jamie Chadwick | Andretti Global | |
| Ret | Myles Rowe | Juncos Hollinger Racing | |
| Ret | Jack William Miller | Miller Vinatieri Racing | |
| Fastest lap: Foster, 28.1012s
Championship standings |
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