By Reggie Gatlin-Holt
WEST ALLIS, Wis. (Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024) – 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.
SEE: Race Results
“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 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 4.3602 seconds. 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.
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 a second 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 1.5 seconds 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. But 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.
COURTESY INDYCAR COMMUNICATIONS
