Photo: James Black
Indy Nxt champion Louis Foster is savouring the feeling of victory as he works on securing a future in IndyCar.
The Andretti Global driver has won seven races out of 13 this year, with one to go. Victory in last Saturday’s Milwaukee 100 clinched him the title, and therefore the prize of $850,000 (£645,532) to spend on contesting an oval test, the Indianapolis 500 and its rookie orientation programme, and one other round in IndyCar’s 2025 schedule.
“I’d love to keep winning. If we do move up to the big series next year, it’s a lot harder to come by, for sure. This might be my last year of being able to win quite often,” dwelled Foster after one of his recent victories.
IndyCar has not had a race-winning rookie since Colton Herta in 2019, and no rookie winners on an oval since 2016. Foster is unbeaten on ovals this seaon, but does not credit individual brilliance for that.
“Team chemistry really, really has a massive effect on ovals. Andretti is a great group of guys, and we work really hard together, and we figure it out.”
Fresh out of the car after becoming champion, Foster reiterated: “I love winning but I hate losing more.”
“We had a few bumps at the start of the year, but we kept our head down and just kept pushing, and I’m just over the moon.”
Foster is the fourth Andretti driver to take the Indy Lights title, and the team also competes in IndyCar.
“It’s been absolutely amazing being a part of Andretti. They have worked with us so closely, especially with the IndyCar team,” he told media including Formula Scout. “I have the luxury of being able to stand on Colton’s stand every weekend.”
He added: “I worked a lot this year outside of the car on mentally being in the right place for races. I’ve always [worked with] my dad [former touring car racer Nick Foster] with that. He helps a lot, because obviously he knows me best. I think just understanding where we are, staying cool in races. A lot of the races last year, some of the mistakes I made were from being a hotheaded rookie, whereas this year we’ve calmed it down a lot more and seen the bigger picture.”
Foster has “had talks with teams” in IndyCar, but has nothing signed ahead of next weekend’s season-ending Nashville Superspeedway race.
“I’m hoping that around Nashville, slightly after it, we can find something. I’ve done as much as I can this year to prove to the teams that I’m worthy of a seat.”
Foster rates that he has a “good chance of getting” a regular IndyCar seat, but knows “it’s just such a hard circus to get into”. He was asked if he felt the way he sealed the Indy Nxt title was a statement to IndyCar teams.
“I think we’ve made enough of a statement this year already. This is our seventh win, we’ve done enough of a statement.”