Andretti Global driver Louis Foster extended his INDY NXT by Firestone points advantage over Jacob Abel last Sunday at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course with his runner-up finish.
Following only HMD Motorsports driver Caio Collet to the finish line, Foster was also one spot ahead of the No. 51 Abel Construction entry driven by Abel, earning his sixth consecutive top-two finish on the season. Abel earned a third-place finish for the third time in the last four races.
The gap from Foster to Abel sprouted from 35 points to 41 entering a heavy oval stretch to the finish line of the 2024 season. Among the final five races remaining, four will contest on ovals, including the 75-lap INDY NXT by Firestone at Iowa Speedway airing at 2:05 p.m. ET Saturday on Peacock and the INDYCAR Radio Network.
SEE: Race Details
Oval tracks World Wide Technology Raceway (Aug. 17), Milwaukee Mile (Aug. 31) and Nashville Superspeedway (Sept. 15) follow, with the visit to Portland International Raceway on Aug. 25 serving as the only road course remaining.
“As a driver, I love oval racing,” Foster said. “We just need to stay calm and just deliver the best result we can. All year, the Andretti Global team have worked hard on any issues we’ve had, and we’ve become a better team for it. So that gives me faith we can overcome any challenges we’ll face.”
Here are some storylines for Saturday’s race.
New Track for Everyone
While there are 11 drivers among the 18 competing at Iowa Speedway this weekend who have never raced in an INDY NXT by Firestone oval event, just HMD Motorsports rookie drivers Callum Hedge, Collet and Niels Koolen have never raced on any oval.
The others have made junior category starts on ovals.
Collet leaped to third in points, 71 back of leader Foster and 30 behind Abel, after five podium finishes in the last six races.
Hedge climbed to fourth in points, eight ahead of Reece Gold and nine points ahead of Jamie Chadwick. Hedge has three top-six finishes in the last five races, including a fourth-place result at Mid-Ohio.
Koolen returns to the No. 33 HMD Motorsports entry after sitting out the race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in favor of Jagger Jones.
With veterans Abel and Foster having oval experience, do they pull away from Collet and Hedge or can the rookie duo keep ascending?
Luckily for them, the lack of oval experience and any track time at Iowa Speedway may not hurt as much this year. For the first time since the track was built in 2006, Iowa Speedway was repaved in the corners, which adds a new variable to the equation for all drivers to figure out.
Weather prevented the INDY NXT by Firestone field from testing at Iowa last month, so everyone comes to the .894-mile oval with just the series test at the Milwaukee Mile under their belts.
INDYCAR has countered and given the drivers an additional 30 minutes of practice Friday, for a total of 75 minutes this weekend.
Ferns Makes Debut
This weekend will be the INDY NXT by Firestone debut for USAC driver Taylor Ferns. Iowa Speedway serves as the first of four races she will drive for Abel Motorsports, with the Detroit-area native also joining the team at World Wide Technology Raceway, Milwaukee Mile and Nashville Superspeedway.
However, this won’t be her first race at Iowa Speedway. Ferns made her USAC Silver Crown debut at the track in 2012 at age 16, earning a top-10 finish.
With a test day at Milwaukee last month behind her, Ferns is ready to continue the admittedly significant learning curve.
“There’s so much that I’m looking forward to,” Ferns said. “The strategy, how the race evolves as the laps go on, learning more about the cars. When I started racing USAC at age 12, it was split evenly between pavement and dirt, and that taught me at a young age to be a diverse driver.
“Testing the INDY NXT car was like the first day at school, starting slow and building a steady progression through the day. When I left Milwaukee, I knew what I needed to work on, especially in terms of throttle control and corner timing – and I spent a good deal of time talking to drivers who have done this, like Kody Swanson and Jacob Wilson. While I wasn’t happy with my times from that test, I know there’s more in both me and the car.”
Ferns ranks sixth in USAC Silver Crown points after six races this season. She has earned many “firsts” in USAC, including the youngest woman to win a Sprint Car race, the first woman to win USAC Midget and Sprint Car races at multiple tracks, the most USAC Silver Crown starts by a woman and the first podium finish by a woman in USAC Silver Crown history. Ferns was also the second woman to win a USAC championship when she captured the 2011 Regional Midget Championship.
Can Abel Sweep Weekend?
The broom came out the last two INDY NXT by Firestone race weekends. Foster was quickest in practice at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, earned the pole for both races in the doubleheader weekend and led every lap en route to a pair of victories on June 22-23. Last weekend at Mid-Ohio, Collet followed suit being quickest in both Friday and Saturday’s practice sessions, earning the pole for Sunday’s race and leading all 35 laps en route to his first career victory.
Do we see another sweep this weekend?
Abel pushes his name to the top as the favorite to accomplish this feat.
He won the pole for last year’s race but finished runner-up to eventual season champion Christian Rasmussen by .1227 of a second. Following a third-place finish at Mid-Ohio, Abel vows for redemption in hopes of inserting himself back into the title fight.
“We didn’t get to test at Iowa with the new surface, which is going to be very different from previous years, based on what we saw at the NTT INDYCAR SERIES test,” Abel said. “It will come down to whichever team adapts the quickest, and I feel confident in my ability and the ability of the team to do that. It’s somewhere I can leverage my experience, especially in traffic: because even if you start on pole, you’re going to catch traffic within 10 or 15 laps and be in traffic the entire race. So that’s going to be the key, rather than optimizing single lap qualifying speed.”
Abel had a 1.5 average finish though the first four races of the season. That’s dropped to fifth over the last five.
With Foster boasting a 1.33 average finish over the last six races and Collet a 2.5 average, Abel needs to use his oval prowess to his advantage over the final five-race push.
Track Specs: .894-mile oval
Qualifying Record (One Lap): Colton Herta, 19.6441 (163.835 mph), July 9, 2017
Qualifying Record (Two Laps): Colton Herta, 39.3279 (163.670 mph), July 9, 2017