Race report
Indy NXT
Indy NXT Indianapolis: McElrea wins after clash with team-mate Foster
Hunter McElrea won a nail-biting Indy NXT race on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course, ending the winning streak of points leader Christian Rasmussen.
Charles Bradley
Edited: Aug 11, 2023, 9:54 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
But his victory was tinged by controversy when he collided with Andretti Autosport team-mate Louis Foster as they duelled for the lead with eight laps to go, which forced the British driver out.
McElrea had “burned up” his rear tires and only just held off his other team-mate, James Roe, for the win.
LA-born Kiwi McElrea led the 19-car field to green, heading Roe and Foster on the opening lap, the latter having swept around the outside of Kyffin Simpson at Turn 1.
Behind them, Josh Pierson picked up fifth from Reece Gold before falling back to eighth. Simpson also tumbled to sixth, as Gold and Jacob Abel moved ahead.
Foster passed Roe at Turn 1 on lap two to grab second, allowing McElrea to pull a second clear out front.
Championship leader Rasmussen qualified down in ninth but picked up a spot from Pierson. That put him in sight of his main title rival, Nolan Siegel, who ran seventh.
Siegel grabbed sixth when Simpson locked up and ran wide at Turn 1 just before half distance.
Foster chased down McElrea, causing him to defend for the first time at Turn 1 with 13 laps remaining. Foster then got a run on the back stretch but couldn’t find a way past there either.
With 10 laps to go, Siegel gave up sixth to Simpson.
McElrea then ran wide at Turn 7, so Foster attacked at the next opportunity but McElrea turned in and they collided. Although the contact was light, it damaged Foster’s left-front suspension and he was forced to retire.
“I went for a move and he turned in on me and I got damage,” said Foster. “It’s the second time it’s happened with that driver, and I expected more space from a team-mate.”
McElrea said: “I was surprised by the contact.”
That promoted Roe to second from Gold, Abel and Simpson. Rasmussen worked his way up to sixth, ahead of a charging Danial Frost, Pierson, Kiki Porto and Jamie Chadwick, as Siegel tumbled to 12th.
The drama wasn’t over at the front, however, as McElrea hemorrhaged time to Roe in the closing laps. They started the last lap less than 0.5s apart, but McElrea hung on by 0.437s at the checkered flag.
In other incidents, Victor Franzoni exited with a broken left-front corner at Turn 1 but managed to coast all the way through the run-off to oval Turn 4 so it didn’t cause a caution.
Rasmus Lindh punted Francesco Pizzi into a spin with five laps to go.
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Indy NXT Nashville: Rasmussen holds off McElrea to win drama-filled race
Next article Indy NXT St Louis: Rasmussen wins despite backmarker drama
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Charles Bradley
Mika Hakkinen on his darkest day in F1
Formula 1
Formula 1
Mika Hakkinen on his darkest day in F1
Dillon: Spotter was “wrong” to shout “wreck him!” before Hamlin clash
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Richmond II
Dillon: Spotter was “wrong” to shout “wreck him!” before Hamlin clash
Hamlin: NASCAR stripping Dillon of win would be “warranted”
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Richmond II
Hamlin: NASCAR stripping Dillon of win would be “warranted”
Latest news
Christian Horner opens up on Red Bull F1 exit: “Perhaps it was perceived I had too much influence over the team”
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1 15 min
Christian Horner opens up on Red Bull F1 exit: “Perhaps it was perceived I had too much influence over the team”
Jorge Martin: “I don’t feel I will struggle anymore” in MotoGP title run-in
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Indonesian GP
1 h
Jorge Martin: “I don’t feel I will struggle anymore” in MotoGP title run-in
"Extremely difficult": Calendar clashes threaten Marco Wittmann's DTM future
DTM
DTM DTM 1 h
"Extremely difficult": Calendar clashes threaten Marco Wittmann's DTM future
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe