Louis Foster – INDY NXT by Firestone at the Milwaukee Mile – Photo by Chris Jones

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio

Englishman Louis Foster’s title-deciding drive in the INDY NXT by Firestone Milwaukee 100 was an absolute no-doubter.

Foster went wire-to-wire for his series-leading seventh victory of the season Saturday afternoon, leading all 90-laps/91.35-miles around the historic 1.015-mile oval in West Allis, Wis. A 21-year-old native of Odiham, England, Foster secured the 2024 championship for Andretti Global in the series’ penultimate round.

Louis Foster – INDY NXT by Firestone at the Milwaukee Mile – Photo by Chris Owens

Foster’s seven wins (and counting) are the most by any INDY NXT driver since current NTT IndyCar Series regular Kyle Kirkwood won a series record-tying 10 races en route to the title in 2021 _ the most recent championship for the organization owned by former open-wheel star Michael Andretti.

“It’s amazing,” said Foster, who is in his second INDY NXT season. “I’m just speechless. I’ve got to thank the team. They’ve been behind me the last two years. Massive thanks to everyone on the No. 26 crew, my sponsors. It’s been a crazy two years, and I’m super-happy to cap it with a win.”

Foster, driver of the No. 26 Copart/Novara Technologies car, defeated Jacob Abel in the No. 51 Abel Construction machine of Abel Motorsports by 4.3602-seconds. Salvador de Alba Jr. of Mexico finished third in the No. 2 Grupo Indi entry of Andretti Cape INDY NXT, the second podium result of his rookie season.

Bryce Aron, a former winner of the Team USA Formula Ford Scholarship, placed fourth in the No. 27 Jaguar Land Rover Chesterfield car of Andretti Global. Jamie Chadwick of Great Britain was fifth in the No. 28 VEXT machine as Andretti Global and its partner teams placed four drivers in the top-five at the checkered flag.

2024 Indy NXT Champion Louis Foster – INDY NXT by Firestone at the Milwaukee Mile – Photo by James Black

Foster needed to finish sixth or better to secure the title and earn a financial benefits package designed to aid his advancement into the NTT IndyCar Series. Given those incentives, the Brit never looked back from the green flag. Abel, who entered the race 79 points behind in second, fell from second to sixth at the start after contact with several cars in Turn 1, effectively ending his slim title hopes.

Abel exited Milwaukee 93 points behind Foster with only the Music City Grand Prix on Sunday, Sept. 15, at Nashville Superspeedway remaining on the schedule.

The start saw Abel check-up next to a late-starting Foster, allowing two cars to surge from behind on the outside and another on the inside. The inside car took Abel high, sending him into the two cars on the outside. Fighting for control, Abel was fully sideways before righting his car and re-entering the race _ albeit in sixth position. The opening scrum also saw Abel’s teammate, Wisconsin native Yuven Sundaramoorthy, hold his ground in ninth in the No. 22 OPTIMA Batteries Dallara.

Abel made a move for fifth early while Sundaramoorthy grabbed eighth as the field spread out, with neither driver able to gain ground until a caution flag on Lap 29. On the ensuing restart, Abel slid to the inside and made the pass for fourth stick, then completed the same move on Lap 38 to take third. On Lap 45, Sundaramoorthy completed a pass for seventh.

Abel rallied to finally pass de Alba for P2 with an outside move in Turn 4 with three laps remaining. Abel earned his 10th podium of the season, with Sundaramoorthy settling for a somewhat battered seventh. 

“Louis Foster went a lot later than I was expecting (at the start) and he was kind of slowing down before that a little bit,” said Abel, a 23-year-old resident of Louisville, Ken. “I had to check-up so I didn’t get ahead of him, and obviously lost a lot of ground there. I honestly don’t even know what happened after that _ there were a few hits and I saved it, but mostly I was really frustrated because we lost six positions.

“It’s especially frustrating because we had a really strong race car. We moved forward really well, especially in the beginning, and I was just balancing saving the Firestone tires versus trying to get more track position. I think we did a good job with that; we just ran out a little bit at the end. But I think we made some of the most ground up out of anyone, so we’re definitely proud of that.”

There was no such drama for Foster. He retained a lead of about one-second over teammate Chadwick for the first 35 laps _ pulling away from her on the lone restart on Lap 33. Foster then expanded that margin to 1.5-seconds over de Alba with 30 laps remaining.

The only trap moment Foster was forced to avoid was lapped traffic over the closing 15 trips around the historic oval, where the series was racing for the first time since 2015. Foster methodically navigated the slower cars over the final 10 laps.

Native Brazilian Caio Collet placed eighth in the No. 18 HMD Motorsports entry to clinch third in the standings as well as honors as the series’ top-finishing rookie this season.

Results Saturday of the INDY NXT by Firestone 100 at The Milwaukee Mile on the 1.015-mile The Milwaukee Mile, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, laps completed and reason out (if any):

1. (1) Louis Foster, 90, Running
   2. (2) Jacob Abel, 90, Running
   3. (6) Salvador de Alba Jr., 90, Running
   4. (7) Bryce Aron, 90, Running
   5. (3) Jamie Chadwick, 90, Running
   6. (8) James Roe, 90, Running
   7. (9) Yuven Sundaramoorthy, 90, Running
   8. (5) Caio Collet, 90, Running
   9. (14) Jonathan Browne, 90, Running
   10. (4) Christian Brooks, 90, Running
   11. (10) Callum Hedge, 89, Running
   12. (12) Josh Pierson, 89, Running
   13. (18) Ricardo Escotto, 89, Running
   14. (11) Christian Bogle, 89, Running
   15. (15) Myles Rowe, 88, Running
   16. (13) Jack William Miller, 14, Mechanical
   17. (16) Reece Gold, 0, Did not start
   18. (17) Taylor Ferns, 0 Did not start

Race Statistics
Winner’s average speed: 133.375 mph
Time of Race: 00:41:05.6760
Margin of victory: 4.3602-seconds
Cautions: 1 for 3 laps
Lead changes: 0
Lap Leaders: Foster, Louis 1 – 90