Andretti INDY NXT Grand Prix at Road America Race Report
Race Notes
The Andretti INDY NXT team wrapped up a thrilling race weekend in Road America on the podium with Jamie Chadwick’s first career win and a second-place finish by Louis Foster on the high-speed, 14-turn circuit this sunny afternoon. Today’s event saw three caution periods and one penalty.
Andretti INDY NXT driver Jamie Chadwick swept the Road America race weekend after securing her first career pole position in yesterday’s suspenseful qualifying session, leading all 20 laps to victory and clocking the fastest leader lap of the race with a time of 01:53.7800. Chadwick is the first woman in INDY NXT by Firestone history to win a race on a road course. She is also just the third woman to win in the Series, with the last win over a decade ago by Pippa Mann in September of 2010 at Kentucky Speedway.
Starting the race alongside teammate Chadwick, Louis Foster maintained fast pace on the road course and kept his position at the front of the field for the entirety of the race. Although the Brit challenged for the lead in the closing laps of the race, he ultimately took the checkered just behind Chadwick, capturing his 10th career INDY NXT podium.
Michael d’Orlando started today’s race just inside the top 10 and began making up positions near the middle of the race, but an early on-track error that saw the American lock up the right front and flat spot the tire ultimately affected the No. 3’s grip for the remainder of the race.
After a tough qualifying session yesterday, James Roe encountered more bad luck today as the No. 29 had contact on the first lap of the race forcing him back into pit lane for a new front wing. The unscheduled stop sent Roe to the back of the on-track action, where he was unfortunately not able to recover after going a lap down.
Bryce Aron made his Road America debut today where he started inside of the top 10 and maintained position for the majority of the race and began moving up. Although, Aron found himself struggling to find pace in the restarts, which pushed him back a spot behind where he began the race. He was able to tie his career-best finish in P8.
Yesterday’s qualifying session saw Andretti Cape driver Salvador de Alba struggle to find the speed he needed to start up on the grid today, but a strong start saw the Mexican quickly move forward as the race progressed. Although, misfortune struck the No. 2 Grupo Indi machine as it faced electrical issues on Lap 10 that caused the car to stop on track near the pit lane entrance. As this caused a yellow flag, de Alba was able to get to pit lane for repairs but was not able to get the car in fighting shape in time, forcing him to retire from the race early.
The INDY NXT by Firestone Series will take on a West Coast doubleheader weekend at Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California June 21-22 with coverage on Peacock and INDYCAR LIVE.
Race Results
Louis Foster No. 26 Copart / Novara Technologies Dallara
Andretti INDY NXT
P2
Started: P2
Standings: 2nd (237pts)
“First of all, massive congratulations to Jamie. She has done an amazing job and was the woman to beat this weekend. She was really fast, and I am very happy for the team. From our side of things, the move from Turn 1 we thought might stick, but it did not. So, that really hindered our ability to get back forward again. I had to use push-to-pass, and we were we were good on push to pass until probably Lap 10. We had 36 seconds more than everyone else around us, and then I think I just burned a bit too much in the middle stage of that race. We went into the last two laps with a lot less. So, it was all about surviving. However, it was a good move on Jacob, so I was happy about that. I barely stuck it but, we managed to get P2 and I’m happy about that. It was a good day for the Andretti INDY NXT team.”
Bryce Aron No. 27 Jaguar Land Rover Chesterfield Dallara
Andretti INDY NXT
P8
Started: P7
Standings: 15th (96pts)
“It was quite a positive race today. The boys worked really hard after Detroit, so a big thank you goes out to everyone here at Andretti for getting the car together and giving me such a package to fight with. Also, congratulations to Jamie. I’m really happy for her and for Louis. It’s great to see them secure that 1-2 result for the team. My race was good. I mean, we were up there for a while, but I made a few mistakes on the restart and ended up pushing us down a little bit. Still, P8 gives us some good points and a lot to build on. I’m looking forward to Laguna next.”
Jamie Chadwick No. 28 VEXT Dallara
Andretti INDY NXT
P1
Started: P1
Standings: 9th (141pts)
“I’m a little emotional right now. We’ve had an unbelievable car this year and I just haven’t been able to really do anything about it. So, I’m just so happy we held on there. With the red flag at the end, we started to lose the tires a little bit. I just knew I had to be aggressive. I really wanted to win today, and I’m just so thankful for the Andretti INDY NXT team. Last year was a tough year, but they’ve helped me so much and this win is for them.”
James Roe No. 29 Topcon Dallara
Andretti INDY NXT
P18
Started: P17
Standings: 11th (122pts)
“We worked our way forward at the start, but got hit from behind and taken out in Turn 7. We spun out and ended up in the wall, and that was it. It’s as simple as that. Our race was done at that point. We went a lap down right away and just couldn’t recover. Onto the next.”
Salvador de Alba No. 2 Grupo Indi Dallara
Andretti Cape INDY NXT
P21
Started: P14
Standings: 12th (118pts)
“Tough day for us. We DNF’ed the race with an electrical issue. We don’t know yet what happened, but we lost power in the car. Rough day, but congratulations to Jamie and Louis for the 1-2 finish. Now we’ll just refocus an look forward to the NXT testing on the oval and the Laguna race.”
Michael d’Orlando No. 3 Flatrock Motorclub Dallara
Andretti Cape INDY NXT
P11
Started: P9
Standings: 8th (143pts)
“The result wasn’t quite what we wanted it to be with the P11 finish. I had a little incident at the start where I locked up the front right going into Turn 3. I just had a little less grip than I thought there would be. It’s not like me to lock up tires like that. I was telling myself the whole race not to lock up and to save the tires, but it happened anyway. We flat-spotted the right front, but we were doing great at the beginning. I had a really good three-car pass in Turns 5 and 6, but I could tell just as I was catching up with the leaders that I was losing grip in the front. The car just fell away from me and the mistake I made at the beginning just caught up to me, so I had to use a lot of my push-to-pass defending other cars. I was basically just a sitting duck at that point. A big thank you to Andretti Cape and Andretti Global and a special thank you to Flatrock Motorclub and Rising Star Rising. I wouldn’t be here without them.”
Don Lambert Team Manager
“It was a pretty monumental day for Andretti Global. Today just shows that anyone can win a race in this Series if you try hard enough and really put in the work. Jamie has worked so hard with her strength and conditioning. We knew she was able to drive, so she just needed to put all the pieces together. It’s just such an incredible day. Great job also by Louis. He tried to pass her and just couldn’t get it done. It just shows that all of our cars are equal as they can be and we just want to go win races.”
