Indy NXT Laguna
Indy NXT Laguna Seca: Rasmussen claims title, closes out 2023 with win
Christian Rasmussen claimed the 2023 Indy NXT championship when he took the green flag from pole in Race 2 at Laguna Seca.
Joey Barnes
Published: Sep 10, 2023, 6:09 PM
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And he then proved untouchable, leading all 35 laps en route to winning by a staggering 17.8813s.
The Dane’s No. 6 HMD Motorsports entry made a clean getaway at the start and pulled away from the field, gapping to nearly more than 2.5s after Lap 2 of 35. Andretti Autosport’s Hunter McElrea, who won Race 1 on Saturday, dropped to third at the start to team-mate Louis Foster shortly after the start, but reclaimed it by the following lap.
On Lap 5, Kyffin Simpson made a late move on Reece Gold entering Turn 6 in the battle for sixth, with the pair coming together that led to former spinning out and bringing out the caution on the following lap. Simpson received a penalty for avoidable contact and was dropped to the back of the field.
Rasmussen launched away from McElrea on the Lap 7 restart.
Rookie Francesco Pizzi (Abel Motorsports), only racing his third weekend in the series, was on the early charge, moving up to eighth on Lap 10 from his starting position of 14.
Pizzi attempted a move on James Roe (Andretti Autosport) for seventh on Lap 18, but instead did his best Alex Zanardi impersonation and cut the corner, with the bumps bouncing his front wing on the asphalt and getting slightly damage. Roe was able to hold onto the position, while Pizzi remained in eighth.
On Lap 20, Rasmussen held a comfortable 4.3s lead over McElrea, with Foster 12s back in third.
Roe’s chances for a top 10 evaporated with 10 laps to go when he spun off course in Turn 10, dropping down to 17th from seventh. Although Pizzi was elevated to seventh, it was short-lived as he was black flagged by race control due to his damaged front wing.
Simpson’s day went from bad to worse as a broken front wing also led to him being black flagged with five laps to go, relegating him to 16th.
Jamie Chadwick (Andretti Autosport), who started 16th and finished 12th, was in the mix of several battles and made a race-high 25 on-track passes.
In the end, Rasmussen proved too much to handle as he closed out his Indy NXT career with a win at the 11-turn, 2.238-mile circuit. McElrea, who finished second in the championship, and Foster settled the rest of the podium.
Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Matthew Brabham and Abel Motorsports’ Jacob Abel finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
Read Also:
- Indy NXT Laguna Seca: McElrea dominates shunt-packed race
- IndyCar to host $1m non-points race at Thermal Club in March
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