MotorSport
Andretti Global’s Louis Foster put his stamp on his championship-winning campaign in Indy NXT by going flag-to-flag from pole for all 65 laps to win the season finale at Nashville Superspeedway.
The Briton was untouchable despite late pressure and fended off Abel Motorsports rookie Yuven Sundaramoorthy by 0.3071s on the 1.33-mile oval. The performance marks the 10th win of Foster’s career, with eight of those coming this season, which also featured 13 top fives, 14 top 10s, six poles and 362 laps led over 640 total through 14 races.
HMD Motorsports rookie Caio Collet ended up third, with Andretti Global’s James Roe in fourth and Andretti Cape rookie Salvador de Alba Jr. rounding out the top five.
The Race
Foster started on pole after qualifying was rained out and the field was set on points. Abel was left to forfeit his second-place starting spot after returning to pit lane under pace laps for a steering issue, returning before the green flag but relegated to the rear of the field.
Foster got a clean jump at the start, with rookie Collet behind in second. Foster widened the lead to 1.7147s by lap 10.
Meanwhile, Myles Rowe and Callum Hedge had a close moment battling for sixth. The two had a wheel-to-wheel moment and then touched going into Turn 1 as Rowe went around the outside. Rowe continued on, but Hedge was forced to pit.
The gap at the front continued to grow as Foster held a 2.0328s back on the halfway mark over Collet. However, there would be a change for second as Sundaramoorthy climbed by Collet.
Foster held a 3.1744s lead over Sundaramoorthy by lap 40, with Collet in third and Roe in fourth.
Abel’s charge through the field remained steady as he vaulted up to ninth by lap 40, but 20s behind Foster.
The caution came out with 14 laps to go after Chadwick tried to get by the lapped car of Jack William Miller but the two made contact in Turn 1, which sent the former nearly into the wall before skating to the inside and through the infield grass. She returned to pit road with suspension damage, but fell out of the race.
Foster led the field to the restart with seven laps to go and jumped out while snaking to the top and bottom of the track to prevent a tow by Sundaramoorthy.
The battle for the win was on with three laps to go as Sundaramoorthy was right on the gearbox of Foster, with Collet a distant third at 1.7s back.
Despite the late pressure, Foster was able to hold on and take victory in his final race in Indy NXT.
1
–
2
Cla
Driver
#
Laps
Time
Interval
Mph
Pits
Points
Retirement
1
L. Foster Andretti Global
26
65
–
Active
2
Y. Sundaramoort Abel Motorsports
22
65
+0.307
0.3071
0.307
Active
3
C. Collet HMD Motorsports
18
65
+1.790
1.7897
1.483
Active
4
J. Roe Andretti Global
29
65
+2.090
2.0898
0.300
Active
5
S. De Andretti Cape INDY NXT
2
65
+2.954
2.9538
0.864
Active
6
M. d’Orlando Andretti Cape INDY NXT
3
65
+3.759
3.7591
0.805
Active
7
B. Aron Andretti Global
27
65
+5.003
5.0025
1.243
Active
8
J. Abel Abel Motorsports
51
65
+5.296
5.2964
0.294
Active
9
C. Brooks HMD Motorsports
39
65
+11.540
11.5396
6.243
Active
10
J. Pierson HMD Motorsports
14
64
1 lap
Active
11
C. Bogle HMD Motorsports
7
64
+1 Lap
0.2026
0.203
Active
12
J. Browne HMD Motorsports
23
64
+1 Lap
1.2661
1.064
Active
13
N. Allaer HMD Motorsports
10
63
1 lap
Active
14
M. Rowe HMD Motorsports
99
62
2 laps
Active
15
J. William Miller Vinatieri Motorsports
40
59
5 laps
In Pit
16
C. Hedge HMD Motorsports
17
54
10 laps
Active
17
J. Chadwick Andretti Global
28
51
13 laps
Cont.
Accident
18
T. Ferns Abel Motorsports
55
12
52 laps
DNF
Retirement
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