Louis Foster – Syndication Server

Coyne, RLL teams complete 2024’s final testing laps at Laguna

The final laps of IndyCar action have been turned for 2024 with a two-car test featuring Dale Coyne Racing’s Toby Sowery and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing with Louis Foster at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on Wednesday. It marked the last …

Among the pair of Britons, Foster, the reigning Indy NXT champion, set the unofficial best time at 1m10.198s in the No. 45 RLL Honda, doing so on his 85th of 89 laps. Sowery was the most active, making up for a gremlin-filled November test at The Thermal Club where vehicular issues kept the NXT race winner in the paddock for most of the visit.

At Laguna Seca, Sowery completed 130 laps of the 2.2-mile road course, with his best of 1m10.409s coming on the 104th tour.

“There was obviously a lot of things that we didn’t get to test for at Thermal, so this test was about completing everything that we had lined up there, and looking at the lap count, we made up for that,” Sowery told RACER. “It was a strong test for us, and we didn’t go there specifically chasing pace. As you know, you can quite often end up chasing your tail when it comes to that, and the track was a mile off of what it should be in terms of race weekend pace. So we ticked a lot of boxes, spent a lot of time in the car, did a lot of laps, but everything productive and I think we learned quite a lot with the things that we threw at the car.”

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Sowery made three starts for Coyne across Mid-Ohio, Toronto and Portland, with a best finish of 13th, which equaled the top result for DCR in 2024. The 28-year-old hopes to find enough funding to return with Coyne in a full-time capacity.

“Opportunities don’t come about too often in IndyCar, so any opportunity that we get is one that we’re going to take, so when Dale reached out to test for him, obviously we couldn’t say no,” Sowery said. “It’s taking every opportunity that we get. And obviously the relationship between myself and the team is very strong and growing at a good solid rate. There’s two sides to the sport: There’s the driving, and then there’s the business side.

“There’s still a lot of work in progress behind the scenes to make it a full-time gig, and I’m thankful for the opportunity that Dale gave us to start the career journey for myself in IndyCar. These tests are very valuable for both the teams that get the opportunities and the drivers with lesser amounts of seat time. So it’s been fantastic for me, no pressure, and we’re continuing to work on making this a regular thing.”

RLL signs Indy NXT champion Foster

New Indy NXT champion Louis Foster will become Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s newest full-time NTT IndyCar Series driver as the Briton has been signed to a multi-year deal. The team did not specify which car Foster will drive and sponsorship for …

“I am really looking forward to working with the team,” Foster said. “Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing have Indy 500 victories, obviously Bobby has won an Indy 500 and there is a great wealth of knowledge with the team. I want to thank Bobby, David and Mike for their faith in my abilities and I want to I can’t wait to start my IndyCar career with the team and hopefully we can have a long and successful career together.

“I’m hoping that coming off the experience gained from winning the Indy NXT championship, that will leave me in a good stance to get the ball rolling. This is where the hard work starts. We will start the preparations and make sure we get hit the ground running in St. Pete.”

The 21-year-old is expected to be a quality addition to the three-car organization; Foster is the second driver confirmed by RLL along with team veteran Graham Rahal.

“We are very pleased that we have been able to come to an agreement with Louis to have him drive for the team for the next several years,” Bobby Rahal said. “He obviously dominated Indy NXT in 2024 and we feel he has a big future ahead of him and are happy to support the ladder system IndyCar has created. We look at this as a long-term relationship that will go beyond the existing terms and are very excited to get started on preparations for the 2025 season and his series debut.”

Foster closes out Indy NXT title year with eighth win at Nashville

Louis Foster was just too fast – Sunday, and all season long. Foster finished his Indy NXT by Firestone championship-winning season with his eighth victory of 2024 in the Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway. He drove his No. 26 …

Louis Foster was just too fast – Sunday, and all season long.

Foster finished his Indy NXT by Firestone championship-winning season with his eighth victory of 2024 in the Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway. He drove his No. 26 Copart/Novara Technologies entry from Andretti Global to victory by 0.3071s over rookie Yuven Sundaramoorthy in the No. 22 Optima Batteries/Clarios/Abel Motorsports car. It was a career-best finish for Sundaramoorthy.

While Foster clinched the title in the IndyCar development series at the previous race, Aug. 31 at Milwaukee, he finally got a chance to perform celebratory donuts after his 10th career victory in Indy NXT, tying him for second all time with Tommy Byrne, Alex Lloyd, Paul Tracy and current NTT IndyCar Series star Kyle Kirkwood. Greg Moore is the all-time leader with 13 wins.

“I would have loved to have done them at Milwaukee, but we had to baby the car for one more weekend,” Foster said of the celebration. “But now we can. Yeah, it’s good. If in doubt, go flat out.”

Rookie Caio Collet finished third in the No. 18 HMD Motorsports entry, 1.7897s behind Foster on the 1.33-mile concrete oval. James Roe finished fourth in the No. 29 Topcon car of Andretti Global, and rookie Salvador de Alba Jr. rounded out the top five in the No. 2 Grupo Indi machine of Andretti Cape NXT and helped to put three Andretti-affiliated cars in the top five as the team capped its sixth championship in Indy NXT.

Foster earned his eighth win in the last 11 races as his list of superlatives continued to mushroom. He never finished lower than second in the last 11 races of this season, dating back to mid-May. He qualified on the front row in the last 10 races of the season.

In total, Foster led the series in wins (eight), poles (seven), laps led (362 of 640, 57 percent), top-five finishes (13) and top-10 finishes (14) in 14 races this season.

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Foster pulled away from the field Sunday after starting from pole. His gap held steady between 2-3s, first over Collet. Then Sundaramoorthy passed Collet in Turn 1 on lap 34 of the 65-lap race but couldn’t bridge the gap to Foster.

The complexion of the race changed on lap 52 when Jack William Miller in the No. 40 Patterson Dental Haven Go by SAAM car of Miller Vinatieri Motorsports and Jamie Chadwick in the No. 28 VEXT entry of Andretti Global made contact in Turn 1, triggering the only caution of the race.

Foster’s 3s lead suddenly evaporated. He got a good jump on the restart on lap 58, but Sundaramoorthy rallied to pull to within 0.2s on lap 59. Sundaramoorthy closed to within 0.1s on lap 63, but Foster drove away on the last two laps to hang on for victory. He led every lap.

“It was a strange race, really,” Foster said. “We were pinned for pretty much the entire race. Once I had a bit of a gap to Caio and Yuven behind, I was saving tires a bit.

“Yuven was really strong that race. I had to keep him behind at the end, and I was struggling with the balance of the car. I wasn’t sure if we had it, but luckily, I was able to keep him at bay and finish with a win.”

Foster on Indy NXT Nashville pole after qualifying rainout

Winning a championship has its privileges, even when it rains. 2024 Indy NXT by Firestone champion Louis Foster will start first in the Music City Grand Prix on Sunday, as entrant points set the starting grid for the final race of the season for the …

Winning a championship has its privileges, even when it rains.

2024 Indy NXT by Firestone champion Louis Foster will start first in the Music City Grand Prix on Sunday, as entrant points set the starting grid for the final race of the season for the IndyCar development series when qualifying was interrupted and eventually rained out Saturday at Nashville Superspeedway.

“Interesting session; I’m sure everyone would have preferred to qualify,” Foster said. “But it’s not what we got today. Hopefully the rain stays away tomorrow for the race. Should be an interesting race – not a lot of practice here today. We’ll see what happens.”

Andretti Global driver Foster will start at the front of the field for the seventh time in 14 races this season. He led both practice sessions Saturday on the 1.33-mile concrete oval before qualifying.

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Foster clinched the series championship in his No. 26 Copart/Novara Technologies car at the last event, Aug. 31 at the Milwaukee Mile.

Nine of the 18 drivers in the field made qualifying attempts before rain washed out the session. Rain already interrupted qualifying for a brief period after the first four drivers made attempts before the session resumed, only to be halted again.

The nine drivers who made attempts will receive a set of new Firestone tires so all cars will start the 65-lap race Sunday on sticker tires. Live coverage starts at 11:50 a.m. ET on Peacock and the IndyCar Radio Network.

Jacob Abel will join Foster on the front row, starting second in the No. 51 Abel Construction entry.

Row two will be comprised of rookie HMD Motorsports teammates Caio Collet in the No. 18 car starting third and Christian Brooks in the No. 39 machine starting fourth.

Rookie Callum Hedge will start inside the third row in fifth in the No. 17 HMD Motorsports car, with fellow rookie Salvador de Alba Jr. starting sixth in the No. 2 Grupo Indi entry of Andretti Cape Indy NXT.

RESULTS

Indy NXT champ Foster ‘waiting and seeing’ for IndyCar options

Rarely has an Indy NXT champion demonstrated the kind of consistency and dominance as Louis Foster has done on the way to clinching the title in 2024. His seven wins and 11 podiums, including a current streak of 10 straight finishes of first or second and an average finishing position of 2.1, are nothing short of remarkable and made it possible for the Briton to seal the championship for Andretti Global with one race left on the calendar.

The mature-beyond-his-years 21-year-old heads into the Nashville Speedway season finale with a shot at securing his eighth victory from 14 events. Foster is also heading to Tennessee with the need to find a new home — one in the NTT IndyCar Series paddock –as teams narrow their options for 2025.

“We’ve had a very good season in Indy NXT; very happy with it, clearly,” Foster told RACER. “If you look at stats as well, I think we have the highest average finishing position in Indy NXT history, so I’m hoping that that translates to an IndyCar team wanting me.

“Obviously, we’ve had chats with different teams. At the moment, there’s nothing on the table, so we’re just waiting and seeing. It’s such a hard category to get into. It’s the best drivers in the world. But we’re working flat out trying to get a deal sorted.”

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By winning the NXT title, Foster will have $850,000 in advancement funds from series owner Penske Entertainment to bring to an IndyCar team, and could have some other sponsorship to offer, but like his championship-winning predecessors, he’s a talent to be hired for his skills. His hope is to show potential employers what he can do in a post-season test.

“We’ve got some ideas for tests, hopefully coming up soon, with a few different teams,” he said. “We should be doing a test; I imagine one, maybe two, with two different teams, maybe three. I need to perform in those tests, and reassure the team with what I’m about and what I can bring to the table. I’m very lucky that there are teams who are interested and who do want me.”

Foster became the poster boy for what a second season of NXT racing can do to develop young talent. He earned poles and two wins in his rookie year with Andretti — after winning the 2022 Indy Pro 2000 title — and took all he learned and turned it into an unstoppable force.

“We were quick last year; I think we were the best qualifier, but just the consistency in my driving, in the way I approached things, I was not very happy at all with the overall year,” he said. “The plan was to do a second year and from the guidance of Rob Edwards and Michael Andretti, they wanted me for a second year to go win the title with them. Looking back at it, it was definitely the correct decision.

“Had I moved up to IndyCar this year, I think I’d have done well, but I don’t think I would have done as well as I could have. I think the second year in NXT definitely gave me a lot more confidence, more understanding of the IndyCar paddock, the series, and also just a bit more understanding of myself as a driver. This year was the first ever time in my career that I had done a series back-to-back. I’d always progressed after one year. It was just about just being very clever with how to approach a second year and utilize the experience as much as possible.”

Dominant Foster clinches Indy NXT title with Milwaukee win

Louis Foster left no doubt, clinching the Indy NXT by Firestone championship with his series-leading seventh victory of the season Saturday at the Milwaukee Mile. Foster, 21, from Odiham, England, locked up the title for Andretti Global in the …

Louis Foster left no doubt, clinching the Indy NXT by Firestone championship with his series-leading seventh victory of the season Saturday at the Milwaukee Mile.

Foster, 21, from Odiham, England, locked up the title for Andretti Global in the IndyCar development series with one race to spare. His seventh win of 2024 was the most by any driver in Indy NXT since current NTT IndyCar Series star Kyle Kirkwood won a series record-tying 10 races en route to the title in 2021, the last championship for Andretti Global.

“It’s amazing,” second-year Indy NXT driver Foster said. “I’m just speechless. I’ve got to thank the team. They’ve been behind me the last two years. Massive thanks to everyone on the No. 26 crew, my sponsors. It’s been a crazy two years, and I’m super happy to cap it with a win.”

Foster started from the pole and led all 90 laps in the No. 26 Copart/Novara Technologies car fielded by Andretti Global, beating Jacob Abel in the No. 51 Abel Construction machine of Abel Motorsports to the finish by 4.3602s. Salvador de Alba Jr. finished third in the No. 2 Grupo Indi entry of Andretti Cape Indy NXT, his second podium result of his rookie season.

Bryce Aron placed fourth in the No. 27 Jaguar Land Rover Chesterfield car of Andretti Global. Jamie Chadwick was fifth in the No. 28 VEXT machine as Andretti Global and its partner teams put four drivers in the top five at the checkered flag.

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Foster needed to finish only sixth or better to seal the title and a financial benefits package to aid in the advancement to the NTT IndyCar Series, but he never looked back from the green flag. Abel, who entered this race 79 points behind in second, fell from second to sixth at the start after contact from other cars in Turn 1, effectively ending his faint title hopes.

Abel still fought back from the early trouble to pass de Alba for second place with an outside move in Turn 1 with three laps remaining. He is 93 points behind champion Foster with just the Music City Grand Prix on Sunday, Sept. 15 at Nashville Superspeedway remaining this season.

There was no such drama for Foster.

He held steady with a lead of about 1s over teammate Chadwick for the first 35 laps of the race, including pulling away from her on the only restart, on lap 33. Foster then expanded that margin to 1.5s over de Alba with 30 laps remaining.

About the only tricky trap that Foster needed to escape was lapped traffic for the last 15 trips around the historic oval, where the series was racing for the first time since 2015. He navigated the slower cars with ease and strutted to victory over the final 10 laps.

Caio Collet finished ninth in the No. 18 HMD Motorsports entry, but that was enough to clinch third in the standings and honors as the top-finishing rookie in the series this season.

RESULTS

Foster continues Indy NXT domination with Portland pole

The beat goes on for Louis Foster – quickly, as usual. Foster continued his march toward the Indy NXT by Firestone championship Saturday by winning the pole for the Grand Prix of Portland with a top time of 1m2.1396s in the No. 26 Copart/Novara …

The beat goes on for Louis Foster – quickly, as usual.

Foster continued his march toward the Indy NXT by Firestone championship Saturday by winning the pole for the Grand Prix of Portland with a top time of 1m2.1396s in the No. 26 Copart/Novara Technologies car fielded by Andretti Global. Foster broke the track record he set by winning the pole last year with the quickest trip around the 12-turn, 1.964-mile road course in three sessions this weekend – all led by Foster.

“Turn 1 is just absolutely bananas here,” Foster said. “My goal this weekend, honestly, was just to get through Turn 1 safely. And the best way to do that is to sit on pole. Happy to have done that.”

Coverage of the 35-lap race starts at 1:15 p.m. ET Sunday on Peacock and the IndyCar Radio Network. Championship leader Foster has won six of the last eight races this season in the INDYCAR development series.

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This was the fifth pole of the season for Foster. It’s also the ninth of his two-season career in Indy NXT, tying him for sixth on the all-time list. The last driver to win as many poles in a season as Foster was current Chip Ganassi Racing NTT IndyCar Series driver Linus Lundqvist, who took six top spots en route to the Indy NXT title in 2022.

Foster, from England, leads the standings by 91 points over Jacob Abel and needs to expand that gap to 108 points after the race Sunday to clinch the title. There are only three races remaining this season.

Brazilian rookie Caio Collet was runner-up to Foster for the third straight session this weekend, qualifying second at 1m02.2922s in the No. 18 HMD Motorsports car. But Collet will start eighth in the race due to a six starting-spot penalty for blocking and avoidable contact in an incident with Jamie Chadwick in the race last Saturday at World Wide Technology Raceway.

Abel qualified third at 1m02.4418s in the No. 51 Abel Construction car fielded by Abel Motorsports, followed by James Roe at 1m02.7614s in the No. 29 Topcon machine of Andretti Global.

Reece Gold qualified fifth at 1m02.6777s in the No. 10 HMD Motorsports. Yuven Sundaramoorthy will join him in the third row after qualifying sixth at 1m02.8024s in the No. 22 S Team Motorsports/Abel Motorsports machine.

RESULTS

Foster closes on Indy NXT crown with flag-to-flag win at WWTR

It hasn’t mattered what type of circuit the Indy NXT by Firestone offers, Louis Foster has conquered it, especially recently. The 21-year-old Andretti Global driver from England won for the sixth time in the past eight series races, making the …

It hasn’t mattered what type of circuit the Indy NXT by Firestone offers, Louis Foster has conquered it, especially recently.

The 21-year-old Andretti Global driver from England won for the sixth time in the past eight series races, making the OUTFRONT Showdown at World Wide Technology his second consecutive oval victory. In this dominating stretch he has claimed three wins on permanent road courses (at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and twice at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca) and another on a street circuit (Detroit).

The sixth win pushed Foster into a tie for 10th place in series history for wins in a season, and his eight career series wins is now tied for seventh all-time. In the past decade, only Kyle Kirkwood (10 wins in 2021), Pato O’Ward (nine in 2018), Oliver Askew (seven in 2019) and David Malukas (seven in 2021) have more frequently been to victory lane.

From the pole, Foster led all 75 laps of this race, and his margin at the finish line – 3.3406s – could have been larger had he pushed his No. 26 Copart/Novara Technologies machine harder.

“I built a really strong gap at the start and then once I realized my pace was really strong we just backed [off] massively,” he said. “I was just massively tire saving kind of halfway through the race.”

A late restart allowed Jacob Abel of Abel Motorsports – and others – to close the gap, but Foster again put them away in short order.

Said Foster: “When the caution came out it wasn’t the best thing in the world, but I knew I had a good car and could pull away again.”

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Abel finished second with Abel Motorsports, while teammate Yuven Sundaramoorthy ended third in the best series finish of his career.

“I think we fully maximized it today,” Abel said.

But there has been no keeping pace with Foster, who stretched his series lead to 91 points over Abel with three races remaining. Next up is the Indy NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Portland on Sunday, Aug. 25. Foster, who won last year’s race from the pole, will have the opportunity to clinch the season championship with a similar performance.

The last two races of the season are on ovals: Aug. 31 at The Milwaukee Mile and Sept. 15 at Nashville Superspeedway.

Saturday’s 75-lap race got off to a bumpy start. The initial green flag was waved off due to the field’s poor alignment. On the first lap at speed, rookie Myles Rowe spun his No. 99 HMD Motorsports with Force Indy car without contact in Turn 2 to bring out the caution.

Just after Foster completed the first full lap under green, an accident behind him sent Andretti Global teammate Jamie Chadwick, the No. 2 qualifier in the No. 28 VEXT entry, and rookie Caio Collet into the inside wall on the frontstretch.

Collet and his No. 18 HMD Motorsports machine were able to continue following repairs, but he was penalized for avoidable contact and blocking. Chadwick’s car was too damaged to continue.

“From my side, I didn’t move,” said Chadwick, who led all 20 laps in the June 9 race at Road America, one of two in the past eight races where Foster finished second. “The margins in this championship are so narrow. We were so close [on the front straightaway]. When we race close and well, it’s fine. Obviously, that is just a little too close.”

On lap 52, Josh Pierson lost control of his No. 14 HMD Motorsports entry as he turned in to Turn 4. The car slid into the wall, hitting with the rear. He, like Chadwick, was not injured.

RESULTS

Foster continues string of Indy NXT success with victory in Iowa

Louis Foster couldn’t have asked for a better ending to Saturday’s Indy NXT by Firestone at Iowa Speedway. After patiently conserving his Firestone tires early in the 55-lap race, the series points leader swiped the lead from Andretti Global …

Louis Foster couldn’t have asked for a better ending to Saturday’s Indy NXT by Firestone at Iowa Speedway.

After patiently conserving his Firestone tires early in the 55-lap race, the series points leader swiped the lead from Andretti Global teammate James Roe with six-plus laps remaining and cruised to another victory in the No. 26 Copart/Novara Technologies car.

Foster won for the fifth time in the past seven races, and his other two results in this stretch are second-place finishes. To cap Saturday, the 20-year-old English driver saw his series lead swell to 77 points as his two closest competitors – Jacob Abel and Caio Collet – incurred contact.

Abel was fortunate to keep his No. 51 Abel Construction machine out of further harm’s way, but he lost three laps with the pit stop for repairs. Earlier in the race, Collet spun his No. 18 HMD Motorsports entry in front of fellow rookie Myles Rowe, and their wall contact ended both of their races. Abel finished 15th, Rowe 18th.

Meanwhile, Foster motored on without issue.

“We discussed prior to the race we were going to save tires throughout, so I wasn’t trying to [challenge] James – I was letting him get a gap so I could save my tires,” Foster said. “Towards the end, there was enough laps left where I knew if I killed my tires it wouldn’t be too much of a big deal.

“I just kept [the car] on the outside and he lifted [off the throttle] and I stayed through. He gave me really good racing room.”

The victory was Foster’s first on an oval track. It was his seventh series race win over the past two seasons.

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The race was shortened by 20 laps to help the drivers manage their tires on a hot afternoon at a track that recently had its corners repaved. Nearly the entire field eclipsed the series’ two-lap record in qualifying, and the pole was nearly 7mph quicker than the mark set by Colton Herta in 2017.

Roe, who earned his first series pole, led the first 49 laps of the race in the No. 29 Topcon entry and tied his career best with a second-place finish. Salvador de Alba Jr. finished third in the No. 2 Grupo Indi of Andretti Cape Indy NXT to give Michael Andretti’s organization contingent a sweep of the top-three finishers.

“Cool, sweet,” Foster said of the Andretti sweep. “Obviously, really good car, really good day for Andretti and really good for the championship. Super happy.”

Myles Rowe’s car was struck twice in the race’s first 13 laps. Coming to the green flag to begin the race, his No. 99 HMD Motorsports with Force Indy machine was struck from behind by the No. 40 Patterson Dental Haven Go by SAAM entry of Jack William Miller. Rowe spun to the inside without additional contact.

Rowe mounted a hard charge, advancing from the back of the 18-car field to grab the 10th position. But then, while following Collet, he didn’t have space to maneuver around Collet’s spinning car in Turn 1, and their contact took both cars to the outside wall. The damage to both machines was significant enough to end their days, although neither driver was injured.

With two laps remaining, Miller lost control of his machine in Turn 3 and hit the outside wall, causing the race to finish under caution. He also was not injured.

A pair of rookie drivers for HMD Motorsports rounded out the top five. Callum Hedge finished fourth, Christian Brooks fifth.

Four races remain in the season. Next up is the Aug. 17 race at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois.

RESULTS

Foster completes Indy NXT sweep at Laguna Seca

Louis Foster put in another flawless performance to capture his second Indy NXT victory at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna in as many days. The Andretti Global ace won by 4.4s over Caio Collet of HMD Motorsports, while title contender Jacob Abel was …

The start for the front-row drivers was identical to Saturday’s event, with Foster looking threatened by Caio Collet around the outside of the Turn 2 hairpin, but again fending him off. But this time, Reece Gold of HMD Motorsports didn’t drop a wheel in the dirt and retained third ahead of Jacob Abel (Abel Motorsports), Bryce Aron (Andretti) and Yuven Sundaramoorthy (Abel).

The big movers in the opening two laps were Myles Rowe (HMD Force Indy), up from 10th to seventh, Salvador de Alba Jr (Andretti Cape) up from 11th to eighth and Jamie Chadwick (Andretti), up from 14th to 11th.

In the opening five laps, Foster didn’t run and hide from Collet, opening the gap only to 1.5s, Collet apparently able to lap within 0.2s of the leader. That said, it wasn’t clear how much Foster had in hand. Almost 5s behind them, however, Gold was under heavy pressure from Abel, as the pair of them pulled away from Aron. The other interesting battle was Sundaramoorthy trying to retain sixth and defend from Rowe and de Alba.

On lap 13, Chadwick passed Roe for 10th but now had an 8.4s to make up and try and catch Jack William Miller. That gap effectively became zero a lap later when Callum Hedge spun and stalled at Turn 2 and the full course caution flew just before Hedge restarted his machine.

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The lap 18 restart was relatively uneventful with no order changes in the top 10. However, on lap 21, Miller made an error that allowed Chadwick, Brooks, Roe and Ricardo Escotto to pass him. On lap 25, Roe suffered a right-rear suspension failure exiting Turn 9 and went into the gravel, but he was able to limp to the pits without causing a caution period.

On lap 27, Abel dived up the inside of Gold at the top of the Corkscrew, pushing Gold into the sand and sending him yumping over the kitty litter and breaking Gold’s suspension. Abel ran wide on the exit which allowed Aron to move up two places into third, but he didn’t need to as Race Control gave Abel a drive-through penalty.

Thus Sundaramoorthy moved up to fourth, and it was de Alba who claimed fifth as Rowe was losing pace. That allowed Chadwick and Brooks to move past him, and then Rowe went off after locking his right-front tire and puncturing it at Turn 11, and had to run a whole lap with only three functional wheels.

Missing all the action was Foster, cruising with a 4s lead over Collet, who had 15s over Aron. Foster had proven what he had in the tank back on lap 25, when he turned a 1m13.6221s, about 0.4s under Collet’s fastest.

Foster’s win and Abel’s penalty puts the Andretti driver 35 points in the lead in the championship.

RESULTS