RACE REPORT: Indianapolis Grand Prix Race 1
Race Notes
- Leading every lap of today’s 35-lap race and starting from his first-ever INDY NXT pole position, Lochie Hughes went on to win his first INDY NXT career race and Andretti INDY NXT’s third win of the 2025 season in as many races.
- Hughes’ win puts the Andretti INDY NXT team on a five-race winning streak, dating back to the 2024 INDY NXT by Firestone Milwaukee 100. In addition, the team has won 12 of the last 14 INDY NXT races.
- After an impressive qualifying effort that saw rookie Lochie Hughes secure his first INDY NXT career poles in both Races 1 and 2 of the weekend, the Andretti INDY NXT team started this evening’s Indianapolis Grand Prix Race 1 with a front row lockout with Hughes in P1 and teammate Dennis Hauger in P2. Not far behind, Salvador de Alba started the race on the outside on Row 4.
- Dating back to last year’s INDY NXT by Firestone at The Milwaukee Mile, the Andretti INDY NXT team has started every race from the pole. This will make tomorrow’s race with Hughes at the front the sixth consecutive start from the pole for the team.
- Today’s Grand Prix of Indianapolis Race 1 saw two Full Course Yellows, which lasted for a total of four laps of the race.
Race Results
Lochie Hughes
No. 26 McGinley Clinic /
USF Championship Dallara
P1
| Started | P1 |
| Standings | P2 (130 points) |
- Following the morning’s practice session that saw Lochie Hughes record a fast lap time just inside the top five, the Aussie took what he learned in practice into qualifying, where he locked in the top two fastest laps of the session. This allowed Hughes to capture his first and second ever INDY NXT pole positions in the same session for Races 1 and 2.
- Starting from the pole, Hughes maintained his P1 position for the entire race, even through the two restarts, allowing him to record the fastest lap of the race, lead all 35 laps and record the first win of his INDY NXT career.
“It’s been an amazing weekend so far, and I can’t thank the whole Andretti team and my sponsor McGinley Clinic enough. It’s been a tough jump to this car, just a big step from what I was in, so I’ve been playing catch up for awhile. It’s nice to finally get a win, especially around here. What a day.”
Salvador de Alba
No. 27 Grupo Indi Dallara
P5
| Started | P4 |
| Standings | P6 (79 points) |
- Following a strong morning practice session that saw Salvador de Alba running in the top three fastest times, he carried that momentum into qualifying this afternoon, which saw him score the second fastest lap in his group and fourth overall for today’s race.
- De Alba maintained his position just inside the top five for the majority of the race. Determined to make it onto the podium, the Mexican driver attempted to make a pass going into Turn 1 for P3, but was unsuccessful, and was shuffled to P5 where he took the checkered.
- This result marks the seventh INDY NXT career top-five finish for de Alba.
“We came away with a top-five finish for the No. 27 Grupo Indi Dallara. It was a good day for us here at IMS. Obviously, we’re happy to be in the top five, but we made a move to go into the top three that didn’t play out. We’re just happy to have the pace to run up there in the front. We definitely have a good car for tomorrow starting sixth, and we’re looking forward to going again tomorrow. Also, congrats to Lochie on today’s win!”
Dennis Hauger
No. 28 Rental Group Dallara
P8
| Started | P2 |
| Standings | P1 (133 points) |
- The “Norwegian Nightmare,” Dennis Hauger, started the Indianapolis Grand Prix weekend off strong, leading the practice session this morning with a fast lap time four tenths of a second quicker than the official track record set by Ed Jones in 2016.
- Hauger took on qualifying in Group 2 today with teammates de Alba and Escotto, where he led the group with the fastest lap time. Despite Hauger’s quick efforts in Group 2, Group 1 ended the qualifying session quicker, slotting the Norwegian driver into the front row next to his pole-winning teammate for tonight and tomorrow’s races.
- Hauger was off the line quickly at the start of tonight’s race, but was unfortunately forced into the Turn 1 run-off on the opening lap after wheel-to-wheel contact with another car. The incident shuffled the two-time INDY NXT winner to the back of the field.
- The No. 28 Rental Group Dallara driver quickly and quietly worked his way back up the field as the race progressed, ultimately taking the checkered in eighth.
“We had a good start, but just got clipped in Turn 1, which was a shame, but that happens, it’s racing. After that, we got shuffled back to last and just did some damage control for the rest of the race. We managed to get back into the top 10, and it was important for us to get some points on the board. Obviously it wasn’t where we wanted to be today, but tomorrow is a new day and we have the pace, so it’s just about resetting and seeing what we have.”
James Roe
No. 29 Topcon Dallara
P19
| Started | P7 |
| Standings | P17 (41 points) |
- Starting his fourth spring-time Indianapolis Grand Prix INDY NXT weekend, James Roe maintained solid pace in practice this morning before qualifying in P7 for both races this weekend.
- As the green flag waved, Roe immediately jumped into sixth after teammate Hauger’s opening-lap incident, and by Lap 12, the Irish driver was back to his starting position of seventh.
- With just seven to go, Roe made contact with the wall coming into Turn 14 and was brought into the pits with left-side damage and nose. Unfortunately, the incident forced the No. 29 Topcon Dallara to retire from the race early.
“It was an unfortunate end to our day. We don’t know what happened yet – I just went straight there in Turn 14. It was looking to be a good points day for us, so we’ll just need to analyze and see what happened before tomorrow. “
Seb Murray
No. 2 Dream Racing Dubai Dallara
P12
| Started | P13 |
| Standings | P15 (45 points) |
- Making his INDY NXT debut this weekend on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, Seb Murray set out for the first time in practice where he posted his fastest lap time outside the top 10. Later on in qualifying, he ultimately couldn’t find the speed he needed to improve his time from practice, putting him outside the top-10 starting positions in both races this weekend.
- Murray maintained position for most of the race as he was not able to find many passing opportunities, finishing the day outside of the top 10.
- Today’s result is the Scottish driver’s best INDY NXT career finish.
“We’ve just finished up the first race here at Indy and it’s been a great experience so far. Overall, I think it was a really good race, maybe a bit scrappy. I think I was just too focused on saving the push-to-pass and kind of got out of position a bit and wasn’t able to push forward. We did have the pace and there was an easy top-10 finish in there, so it’ll be a big push for us tomorrow and we’ll see how it goes.”
Ricardo Escotto
No. 3 RedHot Dallara
P14
| Started | P16 |
| Standings | P12 (58 points) |
- Ricardo Escotto started his debut at the famed Indianapolis road course strong in practice as he rounded out the top 10 fastest lap times in the session. Although, Escotto struggled to find that same pace in qualifying, placing him in a P16 starting position for Race 1 and 2.
- From the beginning of the race, Escotto began moving up the field, running as high as P11 at one point. Although, while approaching Turn 1 he veered into the runoff, sending him to the back of the field. From that point forward, Escotto was fighting from the back and took the checkered two positions up from where he started.
“It was a disappointing finish to Race 1 in Indianapolis. We made a mistake in Turn 1 that cost us a good result, but we’ll take the positives into tomorrow and hope for a better race.”
Don Lambert
Team Manager
“It was a really good day for the Andretti INDY NXT team overall and an especially great day for Lochie. We know he’s been working very hard, and it was just a great day for him with a heck of a qualifying and great race this afternoon. Just a perfect day for him. Also, great job to Dennis for coming back and passing all those cars to work his way back into the top 10. We’re very happy with how today went and looking forward to another good result tomorrow.”
