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The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of various sanctioning bodies since 1920 after two initial attempts in 1905 and 1916. The series is self-sanctioned by its parent company, INDYCAR, LLC., which began in 1996 as the Indy Racing League (IRL) and was created by then Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Tony George as a competitor to Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART). In 2008, the IndyCar Series merged with CART's successor, the Champ Car World Series and the history and statistics of both series, as well as those from its predecessors, were unified. The series' premier event is the Indianapolis 500, which was first held in 1911.

 

Palou Continues Domination of Laguna Seca, Series Standings with Eighth Win of 2025

MONTEREY, Calif. (Sunday, July 27, 2025) – WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca remains Alex Palou’s best track, and the NTT INDYCAR SERIES’ champion designation almost certainly will stay with him as well.

The driver of the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda proved both with a dominating drive in the Java House Grand Prix of Monterey. In leading 84 of the 95 laps, Palou won on the California road course for the second consecutive year – again from the pole – and scored his third win here in the past four years.

SEE: Race Results

Palou’s command of the sport is most evident in the season standings, where collecting the weekend’s maximum number of points, coupled with the fourth-place finish of Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward, swelled his lead to a whopping 121 points. Only three races remain.

The winner of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge still has work to do to clinch his third consecutive series championship and fourth in five years, but the effort required will be minimal. Effectively, O’Ward needs to win out for Palou to be threatened. Everyone else has been eliminated from contention.

“It’s been an awesome weekend, an awesome year (and) today was something else,” Palou said. “It’s super fun to be here – one of my favorite tracks for sure. I couldn’t be happier right now.”

This win gave Palou his eighth win in 14 races this season. Only three drivers in the sport’s history – A.J. Foyt in 1964, Al Unser in 1970 and Mario Andretti in 1969 – have won more races in a single year. Foyt and Unser hold the season record with 10 wins. Andretti had nine. Palou is one of six drivers with eight; he is the first to do so since Sebastien Bourdais in 2007.

The win also was the 19th of Palou’s still-young career – the 28-year-old Spaniard has made just 95 starts. Only 23 drivers in open-wheel racing history have been to victory lane more often, and the next race is at Portland International Raceway, a track where Palou won in 2021 and 2023.

Palou relinquished the lead on this 11-turn, 2.238-mile road course only to pit. Interestingly, the first time the driver taking the top spot was Arrow McLaren’s Nolan Siegel, who led the first 11 series laps of his career. On Palou’s second stop, Team Penske’s Will Power was briefly ahead of him, but Power pitted before he could officially lead a lap.

Palou’s margin of victory was 3.7965 seconds, but he frequently led by more than that. He lowered his average finish in five starts at this track to 1.6, the lowest of any driver in any event on the current calendar.

“It was not easy,” he said. “We had to push; we had to try to be ready for those (late caution periods). We knew that we were not on the (freshest) of tires … but luckily we had enough pace to open a small gap and get the win.”

Arrow McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard finished second with Colton Herta of Andretti Global w/ Curb-Agajanian third. The two had a memorable mid-race moment when Lundgaard muscled his way to the inside of Herta in the track’s final corner.

There were two incidents on the opening lap. First, a tussle between Conor Daly and rookie Robert Shwartzman shoved the latter into the Turn 3 gravel pit. Three corners later, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyffin Simpson ran into the back of Felix Rosenqvist, knocking the Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb-Agajanian driver through the gravel and against the tire barrier. Simpson ricocheted off the wall, sending his car into another part of the tires.

On Lap 11, Dale Coyne Racing rookie Jacob Abel appeared to have a mechanical failure as his car completely missed Turn 1 and sailed into the gravel. Later, Kirkwood ran into the back of Dale Coyne Racing’s Rinus VeeKay, drawing the penalty that effectively ended Kirkwood’s championship hopes.

The two late caution periods were the result of the Turn 6 off by Andretti Global’s Marcus Ericsson and AJ Foyt Racing’s Santino Ferrucci spinning at the top of the Corkscrew.

After five races over four July weekends, the series will take a short break before resuming Palou’s march to the Astor Challenge Cup. The BITNILE.com Grand Prix of Portland will be Sunday, Aug. 10 at 3 p.m. ET on FOX. 

 
 

Palou Continues Title March at Laguna Seca; O'Ward Starting Second

MONTEREY, Calif. (Saturday, July 26, 2025) – The NTT INDYCAR SERIES’ title fight will be easy to follow Sunday at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. The top two championship contenders will start the Java House Grand Prix of Monterey together on the front row.

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou and Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward will be 1-2 when the green flag drops shortly after 3 p.m. ET (FOX, FOX Deportes, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network). They happen to be the winners of the season’s past three races and four of the past five.

SEE: Qualifying Results

Palou’s best lap in Saturday’s Firestone Fast Six round was clocked at 1 minute, 8.3413 seconds, and that time was nearly three-tenths of a second quicker than O’Ward’s fastest tour of the 11-turn, 2.238-mile road course. O’Ward’s lap was 1:08.6280.

O’Ward called Palou’s performance in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda “a monster lap.”

“It felt amazing,” Palou said. “Honestly, the car has been amazing (all weekend). I’ve felt we had a ton of pace, like all year. Everybody at CGR has been doing a tremendous job making me look good on track.”

Last year, Palou won this race for the second time in three years, and his average finish in four races is 1.8. He won the 2022 race by more than 30 seconds. O’Ward’s average finish at this track is 7.5.

A win Sunday would all but cement Palou’s third consecutive series championship and fourth in five years. He holds a 99-point lead heading to the season’s final four races, and winning the pole will add another point to his accumulation.

Palou already has seven wins in the season’s first 13 races, and he is driving toward history. The record for most series wins in a season has stood since A.J. Foyt won 10 of the 13 races in 1964. Six years later, Al Unser matched that total in 18 races. Only eight drivers have won eight or more races in a given season.

The NTT P1 Award was Palou’s fifth of the season, tying his personal mark set in 2023.

O’Ward was pleased to earn his third front-row start of the season – he was on the pole at The Thermal Club in late March and qualified third for the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge – but he knows a massive challenge awaits him.

“(Palou) is the guy we have to beat, and he’s starting in front of us,” the driver of the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet said. “We’ll see what tomorrow has in store (for us).”

Like Palou, O’Ward has goals to pursue. He set a personal mark last year with three race wins; he has two so far this season. He also is seeking his first title at this level after winning the INDY NXT by Firestone championship in 2018.

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon, who won this event in 2023, is one of the four drivers to have won races this season. But the driver of the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda did not advance to the second round of qualifying and will start the race from the 19th position. Only once in the 27 previous series races has the winner started outside the top 11. Max Papis won the 2001 race from the 25th position.

Palou, Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood (three wins) and O’Ward are the other race winners this season. Kirkwood will start 18th in the No. 27 JM Bullion Honda after bobbling on the exit of the track’s famous Corkscrew corner.

The only incident of note in qualifying occurred when Felix Rosenqvist of Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb-Agajanian went wide in Turn 5 late in the second round. The driver of the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb-Agajanian was on pace to advance to the Firestone Fast Six until the slide into the gravel pit required a local yellow, which by rule disqualified the Swede’s fastest lap. He will start Sunday’s race from the 12th position.

“I went in (to Turn 5) a little hard and I couldn’t save it,” the event’s 2023 pole winner said. “It’s unfortunate. Yeah, it is what it is. My bad.”

Qualifying was the NTT INDYCAR SERIES’ first session of the day as the morning practice was cancelled amid lingering fog on the Monterey Peninsula. With the same weather expected Sunday morning, INDYCAR officials rescheduled the weekend’s third and final practice to the end of this day. 

 
 

O'Ward Still Fast, Leads First Practice at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca

 
MONTEREY, Calif. (Friday, July 25, 2025) – Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward is still on the gas in pursuit of his first NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship.

The winner of two of the past three races delivered a strong first step toward winning at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca by turning the fastest lap of the first day of practice (1 minute, 9.20269 of a second on the 11-turn, 2.248-mile circuit).

SEE: Practice Results

O’Ward, who earlier this month won an oval race at Iowa Speedway and the street race in Toronto, will try to add a road course victory to his hot streak in Sunday’s Java House Grand Prix of Monterey (3 p.m. ET, FOX, FOX Deportes, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network).

O’Ward enters the weekend with a 99-point deficit to three-time series champion Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing. Realistically, O’Ward still has a significant points hill to climb, but he vowed to keep charging as long as he remains mathematically eligible for his first career series title.

“We need to keep winning races because that guy (Palou) wins races, and he has won a lot more races than we have this year,” O’Ward said.

Palou has won seven of the first 13 races this season. O’Ward has won two.

Palou was fourth on the Day 1 charts, trailing two-time event winner Colton Herta of Andretti Global w/ Curb-Agajanian and Marcus Armstrong of Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb-Agajanian. Herta and Armstrong posted nearly identical times -- 1:09.3173 and 1:09.3174 – with Palou at 1:09.3679.

Statistically, this has been Palou’s best track, with four consecutive top-three finishes, including race wins in 2022 and 2024. The driver of the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda is bidding for his third consecutive series championship and fourth title in five years.

O’Ward is one of four drivers mathematically still eligible to win the Astor Challenge Cup, although Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood (minus-173 points) and Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon (minus-174) are hanging on by a thread. The four title hopefuls are the only four drivers to have won a race this season.

Herta is the only two-time Laguna Seca race winner in this 27-car field. He won in 2019 and 2021. Dixon won the 2023 race. Palou won last year’s race from the pole, something Herta did twice.

Friday’s practice saw several drivers push the track limits too far, and it began with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Devlin DeFrancesco bouncing through the gravel at the exit of Turn 4 and hitting the barrier. The impact of the No. 30 Mi-Jack Honda with the left side, the same side that Ed Carpenter Racing’s Alexander Rossi hit in Turn 6 with the No. 20 ECR Java House Chevrolet.

“We just lost it out of (Turn 4),” DeFrancesco said. “The grip’s super low, and I think the track is slipping away quite quickly. There are some patches that are quite grippy, so conditions change quite a bit. Conditions are tricky.”

Herta noted that Northern California’s wind and dust leads to the asphalt getting “chewed up and beat up” – thus the low grip for the racing tires.

Dixon spun the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda exiting Turn 5, and rookie Jacob Abel did likewise in Turn 3 in the No. 51 Abel Construction Honda of Dale Coyne Racing. Later, Rinus VeeKay and his No. 18 askROI Honda of Dale Coyne Racing spun off Turn 11 with Ed Carpenter Racing’s Christian Rasmussen nearly doing the same thing trailing him in the No. 21 Liquid Science Chevrolet.

“We’re trying to find the limit out here,” Rasmussen said with a smile.

The last of the incidents saw Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden lock his rear tires approaching the famous Corkscrew – that’s Turn 8 – and his No. 2 Astemo Team Penske Chevrolet slid off the track and got stuck in the gravel.

The weekend’s second practice will be held at 11:30 a.m. ET Saturday followed by NTT P1 Award qualifying at 2:30 p.m. ET. Both sessions will air live on FS1, the FOX Sports app and the INDYCAR Radio Network. Sunday’s action begins with the warmup practice at noon ET on FS2, the FOX Sports app and the INDYCAR Radio Network.

 
 

O'Ward Wins Toronto, Slices Alex Palou's Lead by 30 Points
TORONTO (Sunday, July 20, 2025) – Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward isn’t ready to concede the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship to Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou quite yet..

O’Ward drove that point home in Sunday’s Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto by winning his second race in eight days as Palou finished 12th.

SEE: Race Results

Palou entered the weekend with a 129-point lead over O’Ward, the largest leader’s margin this point system has ever seen this deep in a season. But 30 points evaporated at Exhibition Place, dropping their separation to 99 points with four races remaining.

A race win can be worth as many as 54 points.

“Oh, man, I can’t say I saw this (win) coming,” O’Ward said. “But I was feeling so good on the (primary) tires all weekend really. We were just struggling to get the alternates to work in qualifying. Sadly, that’s the one you need to transfer.

“But I knew we had a great car under me to race with, and (the crew) nailed it on the strategy.”

The win was the first for O’Ward in Toronto and his ninth in the series overall. He started the race in the 10th position but felt luck was going to be with him after a bird dropped an unlikely present on the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet and a crew member in the morning practice.

“That’s going to be a good day today, and it was,” the Mexican driver said. “I’m stoked for everybody (on the team). I would have never expected to have gone this much better in Toronto because it’s been the most challenging circuit for us in the past.”

Joining O’Ward on the podium were a pair of drivers scoring season-making finishes. Dale Coyne Racing’s Rinus VeeKay (No. 18 askROI Honda) finished second, with Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyffin Simpson (No. 8 Journie Rewards Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) finishing third. VeeKay scored his fifth career podium finish, but first since a race at Barber Motorsports Park in 2022. Simpson earned the prestigious spot for the first time in his two years in the series.

NTT P1 Award winner Colton Herta (No. 26 Gainbridge Honda), who won last year’s race, finished fourth to lead a contingent of Andretti Global drivers. Marcus Ericsson (No. 28 Delaware Life Honda) and Kyle Kirkwood (No. 27 Silver Gold Bull Honda) finished fifth and sixth, respectively.

This was a race of different strategies. O’Ward was in the majority starting with a set of the less-favorable alternate Firestone Firehawk tires, and he was able to have them removed with a stop just ahead of the Lap 3 caution. Thus, he only had to use that set for the better part of two green-flag laps and while that forced him into a three-stop strategy, he was able to run the primary compound the rest of the way.

Palou started second, and he and Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon were among the few starting on the primaries. Given an assortment and length of caution periods in the first half of the race, the strategy had a strong chance of working out. But ultimately, it didn’t, with both CGR drivers reduced to spending the final segment mid-pack. Dixon finished 10th in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.

“Well, I chose the strategy, so that’s what we did wrong today,” Palou said. “I was pushing for that strategy. I thought it was going to give us the best opportunity to win. I wanted to be up front, trying to avoid being trapped in traffic.

“Honestly, (days like this) happen. We knew it was going to be a risky strategy rather than starting on alternates. It was kind of working. We were able to open up a big gap after that first yellow, but it was not enough today. Not our day.”

Palou still has reason to be optimistic. Of the four races left on the schedule, he has won twice at each of the next two road courses: WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca (2022 and 2024) and Portland International Raceway (2021 and 2023). O’Ward won last year’s race at The Milwaukee Mile, which hosts the third of the season’s final four.

The combination of the various tire strategies in play and Toronto’s tight confines around the 11-turn, 1.786-mile street circuit created action aplenty, and there seemed to be contact of some degree at every corner. It was arguably the most exciting of the four street races this year.

Often in the middle of the action was Team Penske, which saw its challenging season continue. First, the left rear lug nut of Scott McLaughlin’s car came off following a pit stop, pushing the No. 3 Gallagher Insurance Team Penske Chevrolet into the Turn 2 wall.

Then, Josef Newgarden and his No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet were collected by an incident that started with Dale Coyne Racing rookie Jacob Abel (No. 51 Abel Construction Honda) taking light contact from fellow first-year Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver Louis Foster (No. 45 Droplight Honda) in Turn 1. In the mess that ensued, Abel’s car landed on top of Newgarden’s. Later, Will Power’s No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet lost a side-by-side battle in Turn 3, hitting the left-side wall. Roger Penske’s drivers finished 11th (Power), 23rd (Newgarden) and 26th (McLaughlin).

Ed Carpenter Racing also had a difficult day, with both Christian Rasmussen (No. 21 Splenda ECR Chevrolet) and Alexander Rossi (No. 20 Java House ECR Chevrolet) hitting the wall with right-rear tires. Rasmussen was side by side with Power at the time; Rossi appeared to veer to the right after bouncing over a bump.

The race ended under caution when the No. 60 SiriusXM Honda of Felix Rosenqvist wiggled and was struck from behind by Nolan Siegel’s No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. That ended Rosenqvist’s day as he had twice taken front-wing damage due to contact with Power.

Only 26 car-and-driver combinations took the green flag as Santino Ferrucci and his No. 14 Sexton Properties/AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet were held out of the race due to a damaged car and a bruised right hand in the morning practice. Ferrucci hit the Turn 7 wall on the left side, sending the car sliding into the Turn 8 run-off area. All four corners of the car were damaged, with only about three hours to make repairs.

Practice for the Java House Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca begins Friday at 5 p.m. ET (FS2, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network). The 95-lap race, the 14th of the 17-race season, is Sunday at 3 p.m. on FOX. A Spanish-language telecast will be available on FOX Deportes.

TORONTO - Results Sunday of the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto NTT INDYCAR SERIES event on the 1.786-mile Streets of Toronto, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, chassis-engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):

1. (10) Pato O'Ward, Chevrolet, 90, Running
2. (9) Rinus VeeKay, Honda, 90, Running
3. (13) Kyffin Simpson, Honda, 90, Running
4. (1) Colton Herta, Honda, 90, Running
5. (8) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 90, Running
6. (6) Kyle Kirkwood, Honda, 90, Running
7. (5) Graham Rahal, Honda, 90, Running
8. (11) Callum Ilott, Chevrolet, 90, Running
9. (15) David Malukas, Chevrolet, 90, Running
10. (17) Scott Dixon, Honda, 90, Running
11. (4) Will Power, Chevrolet, 90, Running
12. (2) Alex Palou, Honda, 90, Running
13. (19) Christian Lundgaard, Chevrolet, 90, Running
14. (3) Marcus Armstrong, Honda, 90, Running
15. (21) Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 90, Running
16. (20) Robert Shwartzman, Chevrolet, 90, Running
17. (25) Sting Ray Robb, Chevrolet, 89, Running
18. (12) Nolan Siegel, Chevrolet, 87, Contact
19. (16) Felix Rosenqvist, Honda, 86, Contact
20. (22) Christian Rasmussen, Chevrolet, 82, Retired
21. (7) Louis Foster, Honda, 67, Running
22. (26) Devlin DeFrancesco, Honda, 57, Retired
23. (27) Jacob Abel, Honda, 36, Contact
24. (18) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 36, Contact
25. (24) Alexander Rossi, Chevrolet, 29, Contact
26. (14) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 2, Contact
27. (23) Santino Ferrucci, Chevrolet, 0, Did Not Start

Race Statistics
Winners average speed: 88.972 mph
Time of Race: 01:48:23.9092
Margin of victory: Under caution
Cautions: 5 for 19 laps
Lead changes: 6 among 5 drivers

Lap Leaders:
Herta, Colton 1 - 3
Palou, Alex 4 - 40
VeeKay, Rinus 41 - 56
O'Ward, Pato 57
Ericsson, Marcus 58
Herta, Colton 59 - 61
O'Ward, Pato 62 - 90

NTT INDYCAR SERIES Point Standings: Palou 536, O'Ward 437, Kirkwood 363, Dixon 362, Lundgaard 317, Rosenqvist 309, Armstrong 283, Herta 278, Power 263, Malukas 259, VeeKay 252, Ferrucci 240, McLaughlin 239, Simpson 226, Rasmussen 217, Newgarden 213, Rossi 199, Daly 199, Ericsson 195, Rahal 195, Siegel 168, Shwartzman 159, Foster 159, Ilott 135, Robb 133, DeFrancesco 123, Abel 95, Takuma Sato 36, Helio Castroneves 20, Ed Carpenter 16, Jack Harvey 12, Ryan Hunter-Reay 10, Kyle Larson 6, Marco Andretti 5

 
 

Herta Claims Another NTT P1 Award on Streets of Toronto

TORONTO (Saturday, July 19, 2025) – Colton Herta gave Andretti Global all the credit for delivering another fast racecar at Exhibition Place, but let’s be honest: The second-generation NTT INDYCAR SERIES driver is wicked quick on this 11-turn, 1.786-mile street circuit.

Herta won the NTT P1 Award for the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto for the second consecutive year and the third time in four years. Only Dario Franchitti (five) and Sebastien Bourdais (four) have won more poles for this event.

SEE: Qualifying Results

Herta figures to deliver a strong performance in Sunday’s race, too, as he has finished second, third and first in the past three outings. The 90-lap contest is set for noon ET (FOX, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network).

“We have a great car here, it’s plain and simple as you see,” Herta said of the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda of Andretti Global w/ Curb-Agajanian that turned the only Firestone Fast Six lap under 1 minute (59.8320 seconds). “I’d like to think (the team’s drivers are) better than everybody else, but the cars are really just that good.

“I think (the cars) make us look really good.”

Herta won his second pole of the season, the other also coming on a street circuit (in last month’s Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear). He pushed his career pole total to 16, breaking a tie with Tony Kanaan and Juan Pablo Montoya on the all-time list. Herta’s total ranks 21st in history, with Emerson Fittipaldi next on the list with 17.

Herta’s goal now is to win his first race of the season. He won two races last year, including this one.

The surprise of this qualifying session was that Kyle Kirkwood didn’t join Herta on the front row. The teammates had the dominant cars of practice, and they finished 1-2 in last year’s race. But the rear of Kirkwood’s No. 27 Silver Gold Bull Honda slipped out from under him on his final qualifying lap, and he quickly aborted with the hope he’d get another lap. There wasn’t enough time.

“We just gave away a pole, without a doubt,” a disappointed Kirkwood said. “I started the lap and the first time all weekend, I got a huge snap. (The car) has been understeering and the one time I go through (Turn 2) when it matters for pole it bottoms (out) and I have the huge snap. It’s unfortunate.

“It feels like I’m throwing away poles left and right on street courses.”

Kirkwood was in a similar mood in Detroit after he qualified third. However, he recovered to win that race, the second of his street circuit victories this season. He also won the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach in April. He has three race wins this year.

Series leader Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing qualified second in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. He holds a 129-point lead over the field with five races remaining as he bids for his third consecutive season championship and fourth in five years. Palou finished fourth in this event last year, and this is one of the circuits where he has not won a race.

Rounding out the top six qualifiers were Marcus Armstrong (No. 66 SiriusXM/Root Insurance Honda of Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb-Agajanian), Team Penske’s Will Power (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet), Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Graham Rahal (No. 15 United Rentals Honda) and Kirkwood.

Palou’s teammate, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon (No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda), leads active drivers with four victories at Exhibition Place. Power has three race wins here while teammate Josef Newgarden (No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet) has two.

Arrow McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard (2023) and Herta (2024) are the other previous Toronto race winners in this 27-car field. The winner at Exhibition Place has come from the pole each of the past two years and three times in the past four years.

This is the fourth and final street race of the season. The last events on the calendar will be held on a pair of road courses (WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca and Portland International Raceway) followed by two oval tracks (The Milwaukee Mile and Nashville Superspeedway). 

 

Kirkwood Maintains Andretti Street Course Prowess on Opening Day in Toronto

TORONTO (Friday, July 18, 2025) – Once again, an Andretti Global driver was atop the speed chart in preparation for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES’ Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto.

But while last year it was Colton Herta leading the way in every session, including the race, this time it was Kyle Kirkwood in Friday’s opening practice.

SEE: Practice Results

Kirkwood posted the fastest time of the practice, a lap of 1 minute, 1.2054 seconds in the No. 27 Silver Gold Bull Honda. Herta, who won last year’s race from the pole, was 10th overall in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda at 1:02.0219.

Herta, who twice saw his car inadvertently venture into the Turn 8 run-off zone, said the 11-turn, 1.786-mile street circuit felt different to him year over year.

“It’s very low grip (now),” he said. “It is very difficult, and I’m sure guys had moments all over the place. It’s a different year, and it definitely feels like it out there.”

This track at Exhibition Place also has a history of changing as an event weekend continues, so expect the lap times to improve with each day.

It should not be a surprise that Kirkwood had the best lap of the session. He won the previous two street races this season (the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach and the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear). He finished second to Herta in this race a year ago, but, too, also said the track was challenging on this day.

“It’s certainly a tough one because that's probably the lowest amount of grip I've driven in INDYCAR in a very long time,” he said. “That's just due to the fact that we don't have a bunch of support series here.”

Team Penske’s Will Power, who had the fifth-quickest lap overall in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, agreed that “it’s a very difficult track.”

“There’s a massive new bump at the end of the straight into (Turn) 3,” he said. “It actually hurts (and it’s) right in the braking zone – boom!”

Turn 8 also proved tricky. In one instance, the cars of Scott McLaughlin (No. 3 Gallagher Insurance Team Penske Chevrolet), Pato O’Ward (No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet) and Santino Ferrucci (No. 14 Sexton Properties/AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet) ended up there at the same time, fortunately without contact.

Honda has won 11 of the season’s first 12 races, and it dominated last year’s race here as well with the top seven finishers. But while Kirkwood led this practice, McLaughlin was second overall at 1:01.3411.

Series leader Alex Palou (No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) had the third-quickest lap at 1:01.5987. He has a 129-point lead over O’Ward in pursuit of his third consecutive season championship and fourth in five years.

Up next is pre-qualifying practice at 10:30 a.m. ET Saturday, followed by NTT P1 Award qualifying at 2:30 p.m. (both sessions FS1, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network). The 90-lap race will be at noon ET (FOX, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network).

 

 

 

Palou Runs Season Win Total to Seven at Iowa Speedway

NEWTON, Iowa (Sunday, July 13, 2025) – Alex Palou hasn’t needed much luck in this historically strong NTT INDYCAR SERIES season, but he got some in a big way at Iowa Speedway.

Palou was in third place late in the Farm to Finish 275 powered by Sukup when it came time for the final round of pit stops. Josef Newgarden and David Malukas brought their Chevrolet-powered cars in for fuel ahead of Palou, but Palou’s Honda was able to stay out longer.

SEE: Race Results

Before the series points leader came for service, a caution flag waved for Colton Herta’s wall contact on the backstretch. That gave the advantage to Palou, who was able to stop under yellow as the other frontrunners did so under green.

The race resumed with 11 laps remaining, and the driver of the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda kept the lead and held on for his seventh race win of the season.

“Speechless, honestly speechless,” Palou said in victory lane. “It’s been an unbelievable day, an unbelievable weekend. More than anything, what an incredible year for us.

“I really cannot believe it, honestly.”

Palou became the first driver since Al Unser Jr. in 1994 to win seven of the first 12 races of the season. Unser Jr. won only one more race that season; Palou has five more opportunities, which means he is within striking distance of the all-time record.

In 1964, A.J. Foyt won 10 races. Six years later, Al Unser finished the 1970 season with the same number. Mario Andretti won nine races in 1969, and Unser Jr. is one of five drivers to end a season with eight race wins.

Still to come this season are two venues where Palou has won series races previously. He has won one race at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca (site of the July 27 race) and two at Portland International Raceway (Aug. 10). Two years ago, Palou finished second in Toronto, site of next weekend’s Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto.

It wasn’t as if Palou wasn’t a deserving winner on this day. He led 194 of the 275 laps, the second-highest total of the weekend. Newgarden, a six-time winner at the track, led 232 laps in Saturday’s Synk 275 powered by Sukup despite finishing second to Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward.

The win completed the INDYCAR cycle for Palou, this year’s Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge champion. He has now won races on street circuits, road courses, superspeedways and now short ovals. And in doing so, he pushed his series lead to a seemingly insurmountable 129 points over O’Ward. Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood is third, 173 points in arrears.

“Winning here is super special,” Palou said. “I’ve struggled on short ovals for so long. Today, although the strategy helped us a little bit there at the end when we were P3, we were trying everything that we could and (delaying the pit stop) worked for us.

“Yeah, super happy.”

Scott Dixon finished second in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda to give Chip Ganassi’s organization its third 1-2 finish of the season, although the recent race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course went in Dixon’s favor. Palou edged his teammate in the season-opening race on the Streets of St. Petersburg.

Marcus Armstrong finished third in the No. 66 SiriusXM/Root Insurance Honda. Armstrong drives for Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb-Agajanian, which has a technical alliance with Chip Ganassi Racing. Thus, it was a podium sweep for the combined group.

Malukas finished fourth in the No. 4 Clarience Technologies Chevrolet of AJ Foyt Racing while O’Ward came home fifth in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet.

Newgarden left disappointed for the second consecutive race. On this day, he twice had to restart deep in the field due to the unfortunate timing of caution flags. It happened the first time on Lap 130 when Andretti Global’s Marcus Ericsson hit the Turn 4 wall as Newgarden headed to pit road. Newgarden restarted 13th but fought back to take the lead on Lap 241.

Then, the caution on Lap 254 was again bad for Newgarden and Malukas. Newgarden’s No. 2 Astemo Team Penske Chevrolet faded in the late going, finishing 10th.

“We all got (disadvantaged) the caution,” O’Ward said.

Palou didn’t, which is why he remains solidly on his way to a third consecutive series championship and fourth in five years, a run of titles not seen since Dario Franchitti won three in a row in 2009, 2010 and 2011 after previously winning in 2007.

Again in this Sukup INDYCAR Race Weekend, trouble found the field on the first lap. This time, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Devlin DeFrancesco spun his No. 30 Luther Automotive Honda entering Turn 4, and it collected Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin and his No. 3 Gallagher Insurance Team Penske Chevrolet. Both cars hit the outside wall and needed to be removed from the event on the hook of a tow truck.

McLaughlin had hoped to deliver a repeat of Saturday’s performance, when he advanced from the 27th starting position to finish fourth. But he was on the high side as DeFrancesco slid up in his path. “There’s only so much you can do to avoid it,” McLaughlin said.

Team Penske had more trouble soon thereafter. On Lap 21, Will Power and his No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet began fading from the fourth position, and he retreated to pit road. The third-place finisher in Saturday’s race was done with a mechanical failure.

On Lap 50, Sting Ray Robb crashed in Turn 2, hitting the outside wall with the rear of the No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet.

The race featured 26 car-and-driver combinations, one fewer than normal as Arrow McLaren’s Nolan Siegel was not cleared to drive following wall contact late in Saturday’s race.

The busy July continues next week in Toronto, which hosts the fourth of five races this month. On-track action begins Friday at 3 p.m. ET on FS2. The 13th race of the season is Sunday at noon ET (FOX, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network).

NEWTON, Iowa - Results Sunday of the Farm to Finish 275 powered by Sukup NTT INDYCAR SERIES event on the 0.894-mile Iowa Speedway, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):

1. (1) Alex Palou, Honda, 275, Running
2. (8) Scott Dixon, Honda, 275, Running
3. (12) Marcus Armstrong, Honda, 275, Running
4. (3) David Malukas, Chevrolet, 275, Running
5. (9) Pato O'Ward, Chevrolet, 275, Running
6. (22) Christian Lundgaard, Chevrolet, 275, Running
7. (2) Felix Rosenqvist, Honda, 275, Running
8. (17) Christian Rasmussen, Chevrolet, 275, Running
9. (11) Robert Shwartzman, Chevrolet, 275, Running
10. (4) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 275, Running
11. (25) Jacob Abel, Honda, 275, Running
12. (26) Rinus VeeKay, Honda, 275, Running
13. (18) Kyffin Simpson, Honda, 275, Running
14. (16) Louis Foster, Honda, 275, Running
15. (20) Santino Ferrucci, Chevrolet, 274, Running
16. (7) Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 274, Running
17. (15) Alexander Rossi, Chevrolet, 274, Running
18. (21) Kyle Kirkwood, Honda, 274, Running
19. (10) Graham Rahal, Honda, 272, Running
20. (19) Colton Herta, Honda, 252, Contact
21. (13) Callum Ilott, Chevrolet, 173, Contact
22. (14) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 127, Contact
23. (24) Sting Ray Robb, Chevrolet, 48, Contact
24. (6) Will Power, Chevrolet, 21, Mechanical
25. (23) Devlin DeFrancesco, Honda, 0, Contact
26. (27) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 0, Contact
27. (5) Nolan Siegel, Chevrolet, 0, Did Not Start

Race Statistics
Winner's average speed: 135.761 mph
Time of Race: 01:48:39.2641
Margin of victory: 0.5280 of a second
Cautions: 5 for 58 laps
Lead changes: 6 among 3 drivers

Lap Leaders:
Palou, Alex 1 - 64
Newgarden, Josef 65 - 128
Palou, Alex 129 - 182
Kirkwood, Kyle 183 - 191
Palou, Alex 192 - 240
Newgarden, Josef 241 - 248
Palou, Alex 249 - 275

NTT INDYCAR SERIES Point Standings: Palou 515, O'Ward 386, Dixon 342, Kirkwood 335, Lundgaard 300, Rosenqvist 298, Armstrong 267, Power 244, Herta 244, Ferrucci 237, Malukas 237, McLaughlin 234, VeeKay 211, Newgarden 207, Rasmussen 207, Rossi 194, Simpson 191, Daly 184, Rahal 169, Ericsson 164, Siegel 156, Foster 150, Shwartzman 145, Robb 120, DeFrancesco 115, Ilott 111, Abel 88, Takuma Sato 36, Helio Castroneves 20, Ed Carpenter 16, Jack Harvey 12, Ryan Hunter-Reay 10, Kyle Larson 6, Marco Andretti 5

 
 

O’Ward Outduels Newgarden to Win Synk 275 powered by Sukup at Iowa Speedway
 
 

NEWTON, Iowa (Saturday, July 12, 2025) – Pato O’Ward again celebrated a victory in a monumental race at Iowa Speedway, this time at the expense of his NTT INDYCAR SERIES rival.

In the 100th series start of O’Ward’s career, the Arrow McLaren driver overcame Josef Newgarden’s dominating performance in the Synk 275 powered by Sukup with late-race execution featuring a pair of restarts in the final 14 laps.

SEE: Race Results

This story is familiar. O’Ward and Newgarden continue to battle each other for race wins, with Newgarden’s signature win in the rivalry coming in the 2024 Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge. He passed O’Ward on the last lap.

This time, it was O’Ward making the winning moves. He had a quicker final pit stop to overtake the driver who led the race’s first 232 laps and seemed on his way to a record-extending seventh race win here. Then, following a red flag to repair the track’s Turn 4 wall, O’Ward kept the Team Penske driver behind him on restarts with 14 and nine laps remaining.

O’Ward’s margin of victory in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet was .2352 of a second, the closest Iowa finish since 2007 when Dario Franchitti edged Marco Andretti by .0861 of a second.

In oval races where these two drivers finished first and second, O'Ward last got the better of Newgarden in 2021 at Texas Motor Speedway. He had finished second to Newgarden in four other oval races since that day in Fort Worth.

“Josef is the master at these races – he rules around here, so I knew that we had to be spot-on,” O’Ward said. “I was so precise on the in lap to beat him at his own game.

“We’ve had so many duels, Josef and I, but he has a percentage that comes out on top more. Today is the day that changes.”

Coincidentally, O’Ward scored his first victory at this short oval in 2022, and it was the 50th series start. Also that day, O’Ward had Team Penske drivers in his mirrors – it was Will Power followed by Scott McLaughlin. This time, O’Ward led a trio of Roger Penske’s men to the to the finish line: Newgarden, Power and McLaughlin, respectively.

While O’Ward won his first race of the season, he denied Team Penske its first win of the year. One of the three of them had won eight of the past nine series races at Iowa, including doubleheader sweeps each of the past two years. McLaughlin had charged from the last starting position – 27th – after crashing in qualifying earlier in the day.

Chevrolet had its best result of the season, finishing 1-2-3-4 and winning the first time this year.

Newgarden led more than 100 laps for the 14th time in his career and the 10th time at this track. He was disappointed to let this one get away.

“O’Ward got track position and that was game over,” he said. “It was as simple as that.”

The dash to the finish was set up by the Turn 4 accident of O’Ward’s teammate, Nolan Siegel. After running in the top 10 most of the race, Siegel spun into the wall, contact that damaged the energy-absorbing SAFER Barrier. INDYCAR issued a red-flag stoppage to preserve the remaining few laps as workers patched the wall.

O’Ward got a noticeable jump on Newgarden on the first restart, but PREMA Racing’s Callum Ilott drifted high on that lap and brushed the Turn 1 wall. As Ilott was able to get to the pits without much trouble, the race restarted with nine laps remaining.

Newgarden got a better run on O’Ward on that try, but on the second time around the No. 2 Astemo Team Penske Chevrolet almost got away from him in Turn 1. O’Ward was able to slip away a bit, eating up laps that would have been valuable to Newgarden’s bid.

Trailing the Penske cars to the finish was Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou, the series points leader who finished fifth. Palou lost seven points off his lead as O’Ward used the victory to jump to second in the standings, but the driver of the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda still holds a 106-point cushion with six races to go.

Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood took a big hit in both the race and in points when his No. 27 Sukup Honda veered hard into the Turn 1 wall on Lap 153. An issue with the right-front corner of the car appeared to cause the excursion. That was the second accident of the day as he crashed at the other end of the track after appearing to get too low in Turn 3.

Kirkwood not only lost a standings position to O’Ward, Palou pulled away by another 27 points, putting the season’s three-time winner 140 points in arrears.

On the race’s 75th lap, series rookie Jacob Abel saw his No. 51 Abel Construction Honda drift high in Turn 2, where he, too, hit the wall. Neither he nor Kirkwood were injured.

The second half of the weekend doubleheader will be staged Sunday with the Farm to Finish 275 powered by Sukup with coverage beginning at 1 p.m. ET on FOX, the FOX Sports app and the INDYCAR Radio Network.

 

NEWTON, Iowa - Results Saturday of the Synk 275 powered by Sukup NTT INDYCAR SERIES event on the 0.894-mile Iowa Speedway, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):

1. (5) Pato O'Ward, Chevrolet, 275, Running
2. (1) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 275, Running
3. (7) Will Power, Chevrolet, 275, Running
4. (27) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 275, Running
5. (4) Alex Palou, Honda, 275, Running
6. (19) Christian Rasmussen, Chevrolet, 275, Running
7. (2) Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 275, Running
8. (9) Santino Ferrucci, Chevrolet, 275, Running
9. (11) Marcus Armstrong, Honda, 275, Running
10. (6) Scott Dixon, Honda, 275, Running
11. (14) Graham Rahal, Honda, 275, Running
12. (10) David Malukas, Chevrolet, 275, Running
13. (23) Colton Herta, Honda, 275, Running
14. (12) Louis Foster, Honda, 275, Running
15. (15) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 275, Running
16. (25) Rinus VeeKay, Honda, 274, Running
17. (3) Felix Rosenqvist, Honda, 274, Running
18. (22) Kyffin Simpson, Honda, 274, Running
19. (20) Devlin DeFrancesco, Honda, 274, Running
20. (16) Robert Shwartzman, Chevrolet, 274, Running
21. (21) Christian Lundgaard, Chevrolet, 274, Running
22. (24) Sting Ray Robb, Chevrolet, 274, Running
23. (17) Callum Ilott, Chevrolet, 260, Contact
24. (8) Nolan Siegel, Chevrolet, 246, Contact
25. (13) Alexander Rossi, Chevrolet, 236, Mechanical
26. (18) Kyle Kirkwood, Honda, 151, Contact
27. (26) Jacob Abel, Honda, 72, Contact

Race Statistics
Winner's average speed: 139.146 mph
Time of Race: 01:46:00.6760
Margin of victory: 0.2352 of a second
Cautions: 5 for 47 laps
Lead changes: 5 among 5 drivers

Lap Leaders:
Newgarden, Josef 1 - 232
O'Ward, Pato 233
Power, Will 234 - 236
Palou, Alex 237 - 240
Armstrong, Marcus 241 - 243
O'Ward, Pato 244 - 275

NTT INDYCAR SERIES Point Standings: Palou 461, O'Ward 356, Kirkwood 322, Dixon 302, Lundgaard 272, Rosenqvist 272, Power 238, Herta 234, Armstrong 232, McLaughlin 229, Ferrucci 222, Malukas 205, VeeKay 193, Newgarden 186, Rasmussen 183, Rossi 181, Simpson 174, Daly 170, Rahal 158, Ericsson 156, Siegel 153, Foster 134, Shwartzman 123, Robb 113, DeFrancesco 110, Ilott 102, Abel 69, Takuma Sato 36, Helio Castroneves 20, Ed Carpenter 16, Jack Harvey 12, Ryan Hunter-Reay 10, Kyle Larson 6, Marco Andretti 5

Thunderstorm Washes Out NTT INDYCAR SERIES Practice at Iowa Speedway

 

NEWTON, Iowa (Friday, July 11, 2025) – Inclement weather forced the cancellation of the first day of NTT INDYCAR SERIES action at Iowa Speedway, setting up a busy two days for the Sukup INDYCAR Race Weekend.

NTT INDYCAR SERIES races will be held as scheduled. The Synk 275 powered by Sukup is set for 5 p.m. ET Saturday followed by the Farm to Finish 275 powered by Sukup at 1 p.m. ET Sunday. Both races will air live on FOX, the FOX Sports app and the INDYCAR Radio Network.

The NTT INDYCAR SERIES will be first on the .894-mile oval Saturday with install laps beginning at 9:55 a.m. followed by 30 minutes of high-line group running. All cars will get 45 minutes of regular practice beginning at 10:45 a.m. FS2 will air live coverage of the sessions.

The 75-lap INDY NXT by Firestone at Iowa Speedway race will be held at noon ET on FS1.

NTT INDYCAR SERIES qualifying will move to 1:30 p.m. on FS1. Each car will be permitted two timed laps, the first helping to set the starting lineup for the Synk 275 powered by Sukup. The second lap will do the same for the Farm to Finish 275 powered by Sukup.

 

Dixon Takes Record-Extending Win at Mid-Ohio After Rare Mistake by Palou
LEXINGTON, Ohio (Sunday, July 6, 2025) – Scott Dixon combined masterful fuel saving and a rare mistake by teammate and NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship leader Alex Palou with five laps to go Sunday to win The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the All-New 2026 Passport.

Dixon continued two remarkable series-record streaks with his 59th career victory, first win this season in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda and seventh career win at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course: He has won at least once in 21 consecutive seasons dating back to 2005 and has recorded a victory in 23 seasons during his illustrious career.

SEE: Race Results

“It was definitely a tough race,” Dixon said. “We had fantastic cars. But just so much fun to try and pull off what we did and do it with what we had was fantastic.

“They were supposed to (remove downforce) from the front wing on the last stop. I just had to look at the corner, and the car was going to turn. I was just hoping the rear tires were going to hold on.”

Six-time series champion Dixon crossed the finish line just .4201 of a second ahead of Palou’s No. 10 Open AI Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, the closest result this season in the series. Christian Lundgaard placed third in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet.

Colton Herta finished fourth in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda of Andretti Global w/Curb-Agajanian, while 2024 Mid-Ohio winner Pato O’Ward rounded out the top five in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet.

NTT P1 Award winner Palou led Dixon by approximately two seconds and appeared to be headed to his seventh victory of the season on Lap 85 when he ran wide into the dirt adjacent to Turn 9 and slowed, with Dixon squeezing past for a lead he would not surrender.

“Just a stupid mistake, honestly,” Palou said. “A mistake on my part. The car was amazing all weekend, all race. I just lost it a little bit on (corner) entry and kind of really couldn’t get power going on.

“Nobody to blame but me. Just got a bit wide on entry and lost it completely.”

Palou pulled to within .356 of a second with two laps to go but could draw no closer as Dixon put on a master class of choosing lines that maintained speed while slyly and legally blunting the momentum of his trailing rival.

Dixon’s ability to adjust his racing lines on the fly was most evident in Turn 2, the famous “Keyhole” corner, on the last two laps.

On Lap 89, Dixon opened the low line for Palou to explore and then eased from mid-corner across Palou’s lower line on corner exit, taking advantage of the wider line in the turn to pull away on the back straightaway. On the final lap, Dixon instead chose the low line through Turn 2, eliminating a prime overtaking spot for Palou.

Dixon’s victory was as masterful as it was improbable.

With a starting spot of ninth, Dixon and strategist Mike Hull decided to capitalize on Dixon’s legendary ability to save fuel and attempt to complete the race on just two pit stops, one fewer than most teams attempted. The fuel mileage alchemy needed some laps under yellow to have a chance to succeed, and Dixon got that during the final caution period from Laps 31-34 when Christian Rasmussen’s No. 21 ECR Splenda Chevrolet stopped off course in Turn 8.

Dixon made his final pit stop at the end of Lap 61. Meanwhile, Palou was pushing hard up front in the lead, knowing he had to build a sufficient gap on track to keep the top spot from Dixon after his final stop and make a three-stop strategy work.

Palou entered the pits for his final stop at the end of Lap 72 and rejoined the 13-turn, 2.258-mile circuit ahead of Dixon on track. He expanded his lead to 1.8 seconds by Lap 77 and appeared to be headed to his seventh victory of the season.

Then Palou bobbled with five laps to go, and Dixon pounced.

“We still had to save fuel all the way to the end, so it was definitely very tight,” Dixon said. “I didn’t see what happened. I saw he went off in Turn 9. We got a little bit lucky with that.”

There was some solace for Palou despite the barbed disappointment of giving away a win. His championship lead, 93 points entering this event, grew to 113 points. That’s a gap of more than two races with seven races remaining this season.

The next NTT INDYCAR SERIES event weekend is the Sukup INDYCAR Race Weekend, a doubleheader July 12-13 at Iowa Speedway. The Synk 275 powered by Sukup is 5 p.m. ET Saturday, July 12, with the Farm to Finish 275 powered by Sukup at 1 p.m. ET Sunday, July 13. FOX, the FOX Sports app and the INDYCAR Radio Network will broadcast both races live.

LEXINGTON, OHIO - Results Sunday of The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the All-New 2026 Passport NTT INDYCAR SERIES event on the 2.258-mile Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):

1. (9) Scott Dixon, Honda, 90, Running
2. (1) Alex Palou, Honda, 90, Running
3. (2) Christian Lundgaard, Chevrolet, 90, Running
4. (5) Colton Herta, Honda, 90, Running
5. (14) Pato O'Ward, Chevrolet, 90, Running
6. (15) Felix Rosenqvist, Honda, 90, Running
7. (8) Marcus Armstrong, Honda, 90, Running
8. (7) Kyle Kirkwood, Honda, 90, Running
9. (26) Rinus VeeKay, Honda, 90, Running
10. (3) Kyffin Simpson, Honda, 90, Running
11. (4) Nolan Siegel, Chevrolet, 90, Running
12. (10) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 90, Running
13. (24) Callum Ilott, Chevrolet, 90, Running
14. (6) Louis Foster, Honda, 90, Running
15. (11) Alexander Rossi, Chevrolet, 90, Running
16. (17) Santino Ferrucci, Chevrolet, 90, Running
17. (13) David Malukas, Chevrolet, 90, Running
18. (19) Sting Ray Robb, Chevrolet, 90, Running
19. (12) Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 90, Running
20. (23) Devlin DeFrancesco, Honda, 90, Running
21. (27) Robert Shwartzman, Chevrolet, 90, Running
22. (25) Jacob Abel, Honda, 90, Running
23. (21) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 89, Running
24. (20) Graham Rahal, Honda, 89, Running
25. (16) Christian Rasmussen, Chevrolet, 36, Contact
26. (22) Will Power, Chevrolet, 11, Contact
27. (18) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 1, Contact

Race Statistics
Winner's average speed: 111.166
Time of Race: 01:49:41.0967
Margin of victory: 0.4201 of a second
Cautions: 2 for 8 laps
Lead changes: 8 among 4 drivers

Lap Leaders:
Palou, Alex 1 - 27
Simpson, Kyffin 28
Dixon, Scott 29
Palou, Alex 30 - 56
Dixon, Scott 57 - 60
Palou, Alex 61 - 72
Herta, Colton 73 - 75
Palou, Alex 76 - 84
Dixon, Scott 85 - 90

NTT INDYCAR SERIES Point Standings:
Palou 430, Kirkwood 317, O'Ward 305, Dixon 282, Lundgaard 263, Rosenqvist 259, Herta 217, Armstrong 209, Power 202, Ferrucci 198, McLaughlin 197, Malukas 187, VeeKay 179, Rossi 176, Simpson 162, Rasmussen 155, Siegel 147, Daly 144, Newgarden 142, Ericsson 141, Rahal 139, Foster 118, Shwartzman 113, Robb 105, DeFrancesco 99, Ilott 95, Abel 64, TAkuma Sato 36, Helio Castroneves 20, Ed Carpenter 16, Jack Harvey 12, Ryan Hunter-Reay 10, Kyle Larson 6, Marco Andretti 5

 

 

 

Palou Finds Even More Speed To Win Mid-Ohio Pole

 

LEXINGTON, Ohio (Saturday, July 5, 2025) – Amid one of the more surprising lineups for a Firestone Fast Six qualifying session this season, there was little shock over who won the NTT P1 Award on Saturday for The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the All-New 2026 Passport.

NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship leader Alex Palou claimed his series-leading third pole of the season and ninth career pole with a best lap of 1 minute, 5.0215 seconds in the No. 10 Open AI Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Palou also leads the series this season with six victories and brings a 93-point advantage over second-place Kyle Kirkwood into the race at 1 p.m. ET Sunday (FOX, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network).

SEE: Qualifying Results

“Ever since I started with CGR, we’ve had great cars,” Palou said. “But we’ve always struggled with qualifying up front. So, this year it has been phenomenal. The speed we have in the cars at every single racetrack we show up at is amazing.

“It’s all the work that everybody at Chip Ganassi Racing is doing, all our partners. Super happy. Tomorrow is going to be a great day, for sure.”

Christian Lundgaard will join Palou in the front row after qualifying second at 1:05.2126 in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, tying his season best set in March at The Thermal Club.

Palou’s teammate Kyffin Simpson also was a star of the show, qualifying a career-best third at 1:05.7555 during his first Firestone Fast Six appearance in the No. 8 Journie Rewards Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Simpson managed to produce that stellar performance despite using a used set of Firestone Firehawk alternate tires, shrewdly saving an extra set of new alternate tires for the 90-lap race Sunday.

Nolan Siegel, in only his second career appearance in the Firestone Fast Six, also qualified a career-best fourth at 1:05.9262 in the No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet as CGR and Arrow McLaren locked out the first two rows on the starting grid.

Colton Herta qualified fifth at 1:06.1218 in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda of Andretti Global w/Curb-Agajanian, while Road America pole winner Louis Foster earned his third trip into the Firestone Fast Six during his rookie season and qualified sixth at 1:06.2398 in the No. 45 Droplight Honda of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.

While Simpson’s gamble to use only a set of scuffed alternate tires paid off in the Firestone Fast Six, Palou’s desire to ensure good track position on the 13-turn, 2.258 roller coaster of a road course induced him and his team to opt for a new set of Firestone Firehawk alternates in the last qualifying group.

“We could have saved the last set of new soft tires here in the Fast Six to try and have an advantage tomorrow, but we were like, ‘Man, we really think that starting up front, top three, is always going to benefit us more. We know there are some cars that are going to save those tires, so they’re going to be a big threat tomorrow. But happy with our car and our starting position.”

Among the Firestone Fast Six, Palou, Lundgaard and Herta used a new set of Firestone alternates. Simpson, Siegel and Foster stayed on used alternate tires.

Kirkwood, quickest in Friday practice, was slowed by traffic during the second round of qualifying and will start seventh in the No. 27 Andretti Global Honda featuring a special Honda tribute livery this weekend.

That was disappointing for Kirkwood, the only race winner besides Palou this season. But starting seventh was nowhere near the same trouble suffered by Team Penske, which continues to endure a winless season despite being the most successful team in INDYCAR SERIES history.

Josef Newgarden was the team’s top qualifier, 18th in the No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet. Scott McLaughlin was next, 21st in the No. 3 Odyssey Batteries Team Penske Chevrolet, followed by Will Power in 22nd in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet.

A 25-minute warmup session precedes the race at 9:30 a.m. ET Sunday (FS1, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network).

 

Kirkwood Keeps Pressure on by Leading Mid-Ohio Practice

 
LEXINGTON, Ohio (Friday, July 4, 2025) – Don’t tell Kyle Kirkwood that Alex Palou will waltz to his fourth NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship this season.

Kirkwood, the only driver besides Palou to win a race in 2025, led an eventful opening practice Friday for The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the All-New 2026 Passport with a top lap of 1 minute, 5.8272 seconds in the No. 27 Andretti Global Honda featuring a special Honda tribute livery this weekend.

SEE: Practice Results

“We’re really fast right now,” Kirkwood said. “As long as we continue that, we’ll be in a really good spot. We’ve come here this year with maybe a different philosophy, and it seems to be working out.”

Reigning Mid-Ohio winner Pato O’Ward was second at 1:06.0160 in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. All teams are benefiting from this event being the first anniversary of the INDYCAR hybrid system as, for the first time on a road and street circuit, teams can return to their car setup notes from 2024.

Palou still lurks near the top as he seeks his seventh victory this season, ending up third at 1:06.0409 in the No. 10 Open AI Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Kirkwood has won three races in 2025 and is second in the championship, 93 points behind Palou.

Two-time Mid-Ohio winner Josef Newgarden made a good start by ending up fourth at 1:06.1791 in the No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet. Two-time Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge winner Newgarden is a disappointing 17th in the season standings and is looking to jump-start the second half of his season this weekend.

Another driver looking to salvage his season, Marcus Ericsson, rounded out the top five at 1:06.2324 in the No. 28 FOX INDYCAR Honda of Andretti Global. 2022 Indianapolis 500 winner Ericsson is 21st in points.

The tricky, roller-coaster nature of Mid-Ohio caught out a handful of drivers in the 80-minute session, which was split into two groups.

David Malukas backed into the tire wall hard in Turn 9 in his No. 4 Clarience Technologies Chevrolet of A.J. Foyt Enterprises, while Colton Herta backed his No. 26 Gainbridge Honda into the tire barrier in Turn 6. The Andretti Global w/ Curb-Agajanian team was able to fix Herta’s machine so he could return to the track. Neither driver was hurt.

2022 Mid-Ohio winner Scott McLaughlin spun into the gravel in his No. 3 Odyssey Battery Team Penske Chevrolet and continued. Felix Rosenqvist was forced to stop on track due to a mechanical problem in his No. 60 SiriusXM Honda of Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb-Agajanian, adorned with a special livery saluting hard rock icon Ozzy Osbourne and his band Black Sabbath.

Up next is pre-qualifying practice at 10:30 a.m. ET Saturday, followed by NTT P1 Award qualifying at 2:30 p.m. (both sessions FS1, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network). The 90-lap race starts at 1 p.m. ET Sunday on FOX, the FOX Sports app and the INDYCAR Radio Network.

 

 

 
 INDY NXT series

 

www.indycar.com/nxt.indyca

The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of various sanctioning bodies since 1920 after two initial attempts in 1905 and 1916. The series is self-sanctioned by its parent company, INDYCAR, LLC., which began in 1996 as the Indy Racing League (IRL) and was created by then Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Tony George as a competitor to Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART). In 2008, the IndyCar Series merged with CART's successor, the Champ Car World Series and the history and statistics of both series, as well as those from its predecessors, were unified. The series' premier event is the Indianapolis 500, which was first held in 1911.

 

MONTEREY, Calif. (Sunday, July 27, 2025) – Brazil’s Caio Collet completed a doubleheader sweep of the INDY NXT by Firestone weekend at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, thrusting himself into championship contention with three races to go.

The HMD Motorsports driver led all 35 laps in each of the Grand Prix of Monterey races, slicing his deficit to series leader Dennis Hauger by more than half as Hauger stumbled in Race 2. With nine laps remaining, Hauger had contact with Andretti Global teammate Lochie Hughes, sending both cars to gravel pit. Hauger finished 16th in the 19-car field.

SEE: Race Results

Hauger entered the weekend with a 94-point lead on Collet, who was in third place behind Hughes. But that advantage has been sliced to 42 heading to the Aug. 10 race at Portland International Raceway. Hauger finished second in Race 1. Hughes finished sixth and 15th in the two races and trails Hauger by 89 points.

Collet scored his third win of the season and his fourth overall. He also became the 12th consecutive series pole winner to win the race.

“It’s incredible and also we had some luck today as well for the championship,” Collet said. “Hopefully I’m in the fight right now, and we’ll keep it going.”

Collet admitted gratification when he came around the 11-turn, 2.238-mile road course and saw Hauger and his car stuck in the gravel.

“It’s hard not to think about the championship when you see your main rival going off (the track),” he said. “Obviously, there was still racing left. There’s always bad luck (in racing). I had it happen at Barber (Motorsports Park on May 4); now it’s happened to him.

“It’s a championship and hopefully we can fight until the end.”

Josh Pierson of HMD Motorsports finished second for his second straight podium result. He had not had a top-three finish in his first 32 series races; now he has them in consecutive races. Abel Motorsports driver Callum Hedge finished third, making it his first podium of the season and second of his career.

For the second consecutive day, Lap 1 presented trouble, and it seemed to start when Hauger dropped right-side wheels into the gravel, which kicked up dust. Deep in the pack, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Bryce Aron ran over the back of HMD Motorsports’ Liam Sceats. Tommy Smith’s HMD Motorsports car was collected. Smith later had contact of his own, bouncing off the tire barrier in Turn 6.

On a mid-race restart, Abel Motorsports’ Jordan Missig spun in Turn 11, creating a chain reaction as the trailing Smith got hard on the brakes. Behind them came three HMD Motorsports drivers -- Nolan Allaer, rookie Juan Manuel Correa and rookie Hallie Deegan – with the latter two receiving the most damage.

The ensuing restart had Abel Motorsports’ Myles Rowe spinning during a passing attempt on Hedge. In front of them was the skirmish between Hauger and Hughes. On the restart with five laps to go, Rowe had contact with Andretti Global’s Salvador de Alba in Turn 5, earning Rowe a drive-through penalty for avoidable contact.

The championship pursuit is down to three races. Next up is the Grand Prix of Portland (1 p.m. ET, FS1, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network).

 
 Collet Keeps Pressure on Hauger, Holds Him Off at Laguna Seca

Monterey, Calif. (Saturday, July 26, 2025) – Brazilian driver Caio Collet is not letting up in his pursuit of the INDY NXT by Firestone championship.

Hours after scoring the top starting position for both Grand Prix of Monterey races this weekend at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, the HMD Motorsports driver led all 35 laps of the first race. Collet held off series points leader Dennis Hauger of Andretti Global for his second race win this season and his third overall over the past two years.

SEE: Race Results

Collet’s margin of victory was .2092 of a second, making it the closest INDYCAR-sanctioned INDY NXT by Firestone race at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Collet also is the series’ 11th consecutive pole winner to reach victory lane at this 11-turn, 2.238-mile road course.

“I think at the beginning of the race we had a really good car with pace,” Collet said. “I was just pushing, praying that everything would stay under control.

“But with a few laps to go I started to see a lot of vibration on my left front (tire), and I’m like, ‘OK.’ So, I worked with my tools, and I could see Dennis was catching me, catching me, catching me. I was counting down the laps, praying that the race was over soon.”

Collet also won the Grand Prix of Road America in June. He will start on the pole for Sunday’s second race, set for 1 p.m. ET on FS1, FOX Deportes, the FOX Sports app and the INDYCAR Radio Network.

Hauger entered the weekend with a string of five consecutive poles and a 76-point lead over Andretti Global teammate Lochie Hughes. With Hughes among the eight drivers collected in a series of first-lap incidents and finishing sixth, Hauger’s series lead grew to 81 points with Collet now in the second spot. Hughes is third in the standings, 89 points in arrears. Four races remain.

Hauger has finished first or second in eight of the 10 races this season. He also has finishes of fifth (at World Wide Technology Raceway) and eighth (in Race 1 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course). He will again start from the second position in Sunday’s 35-lap race.

HMD Motorsports’ Josh Pierson finished third, and he will start Race 2 from that position. It is his first career podium in 33 race starts. 

The cars of Abel Motorsports’ Jordan Missig and Andretti Global’s Salvador de Alba were out after taking contact in the race’s first few corners. Other drivers involved in the incidents but able to continue were HMD Motorsports’ Juan Manuel Correa and Max Taylor, Andretti Global’s Hughes and James Roe, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Niels Koolen and Andretti Cape Motorsport’s Sebastian Murray.

The race continued under green after that stoppage, which lasted four laps.

 

Collet Leads Practice as Hauger Makes Rare Mistake

MONTEREY, Calif. (Friday, July 25, 2025) – A pair of first-day INDY NXT by Firestone practices at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna left series leader Dennis Hauger with a damaged car and Caio Collet with a fast car.

SEE: Practice Results

Driving the No. 76 HMD Motorsports entry, Collet posted the quickest overall lap, a time of 1 minute, 14.0546 of a second that bested Andretti Global’s Lochie Hughes (1:14.3332 in the No. 26 McGinley Clinic/USF Pro Championship car) and HMD Motorsports’ Josh Pierson (1:14.6193 in the No. 14 HMD Motorsports entry). Hauger had the best lap in the first session – 1:14.7484 – but his opportunity to improve in the second practice was lost when he hit the tire barrier in Turn 6.

Hauger finished with the 16th-best lap overall in Andretti Global’s No. 28 Nammo car, a position he won’t want to be in when qualifying is held Saturday at 1 p.m. ET on FS1. That session will set the starting lineups for each of the two races held this weekend. The past 10 pole winners of the Grand Prix of Monterey have gone on to win the race.

Hauger, who leads the series with five wins and six poles, holds a 76-point lead over Hughes (two wins, two poles) with five races remaining. Collet, a one-race winner this season, stands 94 points out of the series lead.

Nineteen car-and-driver combinations participated after Andretti Cape INDY NXT and driver Ricardo Escotto parted ways.

The weekend’s first race is Saturday at 4:30 p.m. ET on FS2. Race 2 will be at 1 p.m. ET Sunday on FS1.

 

Rowe Breaks Through with First Series Win

NEWTON, Iowa (Saturday, July 12, 2025) – Myles Rowe took a historic INDY NXT by Firestone victory at Iowa Speedway and then took a bow.

Rowe earned the INDY NXT by Firestone at Iowa Speedway win by executing a stirring late-race pass for the lead, then held on to become the first Black driver to win a race in this series. His margin at the finish was 1.3927 seconds.

SEE: Race Results

This is the second season in the series for the 25-year-old Georgia native who resides in New York and in 2023 captured the USF Pro 2000 Championship.

“It’s so good,” Rowe said after driving the No. 99 Abel/Force Indy entry to victory lane. “We’ve been working a minute for this, and we knew we had the pace. It was about waiting for the last half of the race and seeing what we could do with it.”

Fourteen laps from the finish, Rowe went around series points leader Dennis Hauger on the outside in Turn 4 as they came upon lapped traffic. Rowe’s experience paid off as Hauger, a series rookie, was competing in just his second oval race.

“We don’t stop here -- I’m looking for a lot more than this,” said Rowe, who is fourth in the standings. “But I’m glad we could get this (win), for sure.”

The race featured 130 on-track passes and 55 passes for position, both figures ranking in the top three of INDY NXT by Firestone races staged at this short oval track.

Hauger’s strong run in Andretti Global’s No. 28 Nammo machine helped extend his series lead to 73 points over teammate Lochie Hughes, a rookie driving the No. 26 McGinley Clinic/USF Pro Championship entry. Hughes finished 16th in the 19-car race after being penalized for a Lap 3 incident with Rowe.

Hughes, the winner of last month’s oval race at World Wide Technology Raceway, was trying to hold off Rowe for second place when Rowe moved to the inside on the backstretch. Their cars touched, with Hughes’ left rear tire taking a brush from Rowe’s front wing. Race control deemed that Hughes moved defensively, drawing a drive-through penalty that dropped him down a lap to the field.

Andretti Global’s Salvador de Alba, who had turned the fastest lap in Friday’s practice, finished third in the No. 27 Grupo Indi entry.

Several drivers had spins off Turn 4 without contact. HMD Motorsports’ Josh Pierson tried to take the high line around teammate Caio Collet for third place on Lap 26, but he lost the back end of the car. On the ensuing restarts, Juan Manuel Correa of HMD Motorsports and Ricardo Escotto of Andretti-Cape Motorsport spun on Lap 30 while Davey Hamilton Jr. of HMD Motorsports did the same on Lap 34.

The series will be back in action at the end of the month when a doubleheader is staged at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on Saturday, July 26 and Sunday, July 27. Those represent the 10th and 11th races of the 14-race season.

 

Thunderstorms Send Hauger to Pole at Iowa Speedway
NEWTON, Iowa (Friday, July 11, 2025) – INDY NXT by Firestone points leader Dennis Hauger will start from the No. 1 position for the INDY NXT by Firestone at Iowa Speedway race after the qualifying session was rained out. The field for the 75-lap race will take the green flag based on entrant points entering the event.

SEE: Starting Lineup

Hauger had the third-fastest lap in Friday's abbreviated practice, turning a lap of 165.073 mph in Andretti Global's No. 28 Nammo entry. His lap was part of the Andretti organization's strong start to the weekend. Four of the team-related drivers turned laps among the session’s top five.

Hauger will start from the top spot for the seventh time in nine races this season. He started second in the other two.

Salvador de Alba posted the fastest lap of the 30-minute session at 165.518 mph in the No. 27 Grupo Indi car of Andretti Global. Myles Rowe was second driving the No. 99 Abel/Force Indy machine (165.421 mph).

“(A) shortened practice, but happy to be where we are,” de Alba said. “All the Andretti cars are pretty fast. We (turned) good laps at the very end with the used tires, so that gives us even more confidence.”

Ricardo Escotto was fourth in the No. 3 Frank’s Red Hot car of Andretti Cape Motorsports (164.623 mph). Rookie Lochie Hughes was fifth in Andretti Global’s No. 26 McGinley Clinic/USF Pro Championship entry (164.291 mph).

Andretti Global’s James Roe, who won the pole for last year’s race at this .894-mile oval, had the eighth-fastest lap in the No. 29 Topcon entry (163.267 mph).

Jordan Missig had the session’s only spin, a lazy excursion off Turn 2. He did not make contact with the No. 48 Abel Motorsports car, enabling him to continue after pitting.

The field was expected to include Sebastian Murray in the No. 2 DREAM RACING DUBAI entry of Andrett Cape Motorsport, but he was not medically cleared to participate in the wake of last weekend’s accident with Escotto at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

Saturday’s 75-lap race starts at 1:30 p.m. ET. FS1, the FOX Sports app and the INDYCAR Radio Network will have the broadcasts.

 

Hauger Pulls Away at Mid-Ohio for Fifth Win of Season

 

LEXINGTON, Ohio (Sunday, July 6, 2025) – Dennis Hauger stayed calm after an unexpected break Sunday and expanded his INDY NXT by Firestone championship lead with a victory in the Grand Prix at Mid-Ohio.

Hauger, from Norway, earned his fifth win in eight starts this season in the INDYCAR development series. His lead over fellow Andretti Global rookie Lochie Hughes grew to 47 points in the standings with six races remaining this season.

SEE: Race Results

Pole sitter Hauger led every lap to beat Caio Collet’s No. 76 HMD Motorsports car to the finish by 3.3220 seconds to earn the 300th overall win across all series in Andretti Global’s rich history. Hughes placed third in the No. 26 McGinley Clinic/USF Pro Championship car.

“The team did an amazing job getting the balance for the race,” Hauger said. “Huge congrats on the 300th win, really cool to be a part of that history.”

Salvador de Alba placed fourth in the No. 27 Grupo Indi machine, the third Andretti Global car in the top four. Josh Pierson rounded out the top five in the No. 14 HMD Motorsports entry.

The race, originally scheduled for 35 laps, ended up being a timed race due to a massive crash between Andretti – Cape Motorsports teammates Ricardo Escotto and Sebastian Murray that triggered a red flag on Lap 5 for repairs of barrier damage caused by the impact.

Hauger pulled away from Collet on the start, building a gap of around one-half second. Then, Murray and Escotto were racing side-by-side on Lap 4 through the fast “kink” section of the track between Turns 3 and 4 on the 13-turn, 2.258-mile circuit when their wheels touched, hurling the No. 2 DREAM RACING DUBAI entry of Murray and the No. 3 Frank’s Red Hot car of Escotto into the barrier, with Murray going airborne.

Both cars suffered heavy damage, but neither driver was hurt. The remaining field returned to pit lane and climbed from their cars as facility crews and the INDYCAR AMR Safety Team needed approximately 37 minutes to make the major repairs.

Once the race resumed, Hauger again held off Collet. With 20 minutes remaining, Hauger led by seven-tenths of a second.

That margin grew to more than a second over the next few laps. Then with about six minutes remaining, Hauger dropped the hammer and padded his lead to two seconds. He kept the pace high until nearly the very end of the race, turning his quickest lap of the event on the third-to-last trip around the track.

“It was not easy; the first couple of laps were not the easiest,” Hauger said of the resumption of the race. “Once we got into a rhythm, it was just spot on. We just had a perfect race, so we’re happy about that.”

The next INDY NXT by Firestone race is Saturday, July 12 at Iowa Speedway, the second of four oval races on the 2025 schedule.

 

Hauger Smashes Track Record To Take Mid-Ohio Pole 

 
LEXINGTON, Ohio (Saturday, July 5, 2025) – Dennis Hauger picked up two more accomplishments during his stellar rookie season, topping the track record and winning the pole Saturday for the INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix at Mid-Ohio.

Hauger, from Norway, earned his sixth pole in eight starts this season in the INDYCAR development series with a top lap of 1 minute, 9.7431 seconds in the No. 28 Nammo car fielded by Andretti Global. That smashed the INDY NXT track record of 1:10.2879 set by Caio Collet last season during qualifying.

SEE: Qualifying Results

“Super happy about the pole,” Hauger said. “Didn’t really expect it being in Group 1. It felt like the track evolution was quite big in our session. I hoped for (pole), and it came through. Time to get ready for tomorrow.”

The 35-lap race starts at 10:30 a.m. Sunday (FS1, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network). Hauger leads fellow Andretti Global rookie Lochie Hughes by 28 points in the championship standings after winning four of the first seven races this season.

Collet, who led practice this morning, didn’t repeat as pole winner but will join Hauger in the front row Sunday after qualifying second at 1:09.8612 in the No. 76 HMD Motorsports car.

Hughes will start directly behind his pole-winning teammate Hauger, qualifying third at 1:09.9894 in the No. 26 McGinley Clinic/USF Pro Championship car. Josh Pierson continued his recent improvement in form by qualifying fourth at 1:10.0315 in the No. 14 HMD Motorsports machine.

Salvador de Alba was the third Andretti Global driver in the top five with his best lap of 1:10.3916 in the No. 27 Grupo Indi entry. Callum Hedge will join de Alba in the third row of the starting grid after qualifying sixth at 1:10.2488 in the No. 17 Abel Motorsports car.

Hauger was the first driver in the opening group to break the 1:10 mark, dropping to 1:09.945 with six minutes remaining. He then laid down his best lap with two minutes left, and Hughes couldn’t top it.

“The track was getting better and better, so in the beginning, it was a bit weird,” Hauger said. “It felt like the tires and track really didn’t come together. The track was definitely better at the end. It was a good run. I maximized what I had with that lap.”

Collet wasted little time finding speed in the second group, dropping to 1:10.1 with nearly seven minutes remaining. He produced his best lap with six minutes left but couldn’t top it as the 13-turn, 2.258-mile track continued to bake under bright sunshine, which lifted track temperatures from 85 degrees this morning to over 120 degrees during qualifying.

 

Hughes Edges Teammate Hauger in First Mid-Ohio Practice

 

LEXINGTON, Ohio (Friday, July 4, 2025) – The duel for the INDY NXT by Firestone championship between Andretti Global rookies Lochie Hughes and Dennis Hauger stayed spicy even in practice Friday for the Grand Prix at Mid-Ohio, as Hughes produced a strong lap late in the session to take the top spot from his teammate.

Hughes was quickest at 1 minute, 11.0263 seconds in the No. 26 McGinley Clinic/USF Pro Championship car of Andretti Global. Hughes is second in the standings for the INDYCAR development series, 28 points behind series leader Hauger.

SEE: Practice Results

That top lap from Hughes came with 1 minute, 45 seconds remaining in the 45-minute practice at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. He trimmed more than six-tenths of a second from his previous best and jumped from 10th to first, supplanting Hauger.

“Decent first practice,” Hughes said. “Made some changes, changed the balance a little bit. Felt really good and ready for the rest of the weekend.”

Hauger ended up second at 1:11.1107 in the No. 28 Nammo machine. He and the Andretti Global crew continued to tinker with the setup throughout the session, as Hauger wandered off-track during the session on the 13-turn, 2.258-mile road course as he explored the limits of grip.

“This track is quite different compared to the test we had (here), so just trying to work on that, go for a few things,” Hauger said. “I think we did a really good job, and the pace is surprisingly strong. We didn’t go on the new tires at the end of the run, and we have those for tomorrow, and that’s good.”

Callum Hedge ended up third at 1:11.2255 in the No. 17 Abel Motorsports car. Like Hauger, Hedge also explored the outer reaches of grip and took a ride through the gravel trap in Turn 4 late in the session, barely missing the tire barrier.

Salvador de Alba was fourth at 1:11.3392 in the No. 27 Grupo Indi car as Andretti Global placed three drivers in the top four. Caio Collet, winner of the most recent round at Road America, rounded out the top five at 1:11.3983 in the No. 76 HMD Motorsports entry.

Up next is practice at 8:30 a.m. ET Saturday, followed by qualifying at 1:30 p.m. The 35-lap race starts at 10:30 a.m. ET Sunday. FS1, the FOX Sports app and the INDYCAR Radio Network are broadcasting all remaining sessions this weekend.

 

 

  indycar series INDY NXT  series

2025 INDYcar schedule
2025 Schedule
DATE RACE TV
Sun, Mar 2
Noon ET		 Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
Streets Of St. Petersburg		 FOX
Sun, Mar 23
3:00 PM ET		 Grand Prix of Thermal
The Thermal Club		 FOX
Sun, Apr 13
4:30 PM ET		 Grand Prix of Long Beach
Streets Of Long Beach		 FOX
Sun, May 4
1:30 PM ET		 Grand Prix of Alabama
Barber Motorsports Park		 FOX
Sat, May 10
4:30 PM ET		 Grand Prix of Indianapolis (Road Course)
Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course		 FOX
Sun, May 25
10:00 AM ET		 Indianapolis 500
Indianapolis Motor Speedway		 FOX
Sun, Jun 1
12:30 PM ET		 Grand Prix of Detroit
Detroit Street Circuit		 FOX
Sun, Jun 15
3:00 PM ET		 Grand Prix of Illinois
World Wide Technology Raceway		 FOX
Sun, Jun 22
3:30 PM ET		 Grand Prix of Road America
Road America		 FOX
Sun, Jul 6
2:00 PM ET		 Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course		 FOX
Sat, Jul 12
5:00 PM ET		 Grand Prix of Iowa Race 1
Iowa Speedway		 FOX
Sun, Jul 13
2:00 PM ET		 Grand Prix of Iowa Race 2
Iowa Speedway		 FOX
Sun, Jul 20
2:00 PM ET		 Grand Prix of Toronto
Streets Of Toronto		 FOX
Sun, Jul 27
3:00 PM ET		 Grand Prix of Monterey
Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca		 FOX
Sun, Aug 10
3:00 PM ET		 Grand Prix of Portland
Portland International Raceway		 FOX
Sun, Aug 24
2:00 PM ET		 Grand Prix of Milwaukee
The Milwaukee Mile		 FOX
Sun, Aug 31
2:30 PM ET		 Grand Prix of Nashville
Nashville Superspeedway		 FOX

 

2025 INDYNXT schedule

Rd. Date Race name Track Location
1 March 2 Indy NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg  R  Streets of St. Petersburg St. Petersburg, Florida
2 May 4 Indy NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Alabama  R  Barber Motorsports Park Birmingham, Alabama
3 May 9 Indy NXT by Firestone Indianapolis Grand Prix  R  Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course Speedway, Indiana
4 May 10
5 June 1 Indy NXT by Firestone Detroit Grand Prix  R  Detroit Street Circuit Detroit, Michigan
6 June 15 Indy NXT by Firestone Outfront Showdown  O  World Wide Technology Raceway Madison, Illinois
7 June 22 Indy NXT by Firestone Grand Prix at Road America  R  Road America Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
8 July 6 Indy NXT by Firestone Grand Prix at Mid-Ohio  R  Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Lexington, Ohio
9 July 12 Indy NXT by Firestone Iowa 100  O  Iowa Speedway Newton, Iowa
10 July 26 Indy NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey  R  WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca Monterey, California
11 July 27
12 August 10 Indy NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Portland  R  Portland International Raceway Portland, Oregon
13 August 24 Indy NXT by Firestone Milwaukee 100  O  Milwaukee Mile West Allis, Wisconsin
14 August 31 Indy NXT by Firestone Music City 100  O  Nashville Superspeedway Lebanon, Tennessee
O Oval track
R Road/street course
 
       

 

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