By: INDY NXT BY FIRESTONE (Photo Courtesy INDYCAR)
MADISON, Illinois (Friday, Aug. 16, 2024) – Louis Foster’s march toward an INDY NXT by Firestone championship continued in qualifying at World Wide Technology Raceway.
The English driver in Andretti Global stable continued his dominating summer by earning the pole for Saturday’s OUTFRONT Showdown (3:55 p.m. ET, Peacock, INDYCAR Radio Network), and he did in record fashion. Both timed laps were quicker than any of those turned by opponents in the session, and the combination gave Foster a track-record average of 164.109 mph at the 1.25-mile oval. Foster’s second lap was his best: 164.242 mph.
The series’ one- and two-lap qualifying records had stood since 2017 when Juan Piedrahita averaged 161.354 mph and 160.823 mph, respectively. Thirteen of the 18 drivers in this event eclipsed his two-lap average.
Since finishing the first three races of the season in the third, fifth and seventh positions, Foster has been on an incredible roll. He won the second race of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course doubleheader on May 11 and has pushed his season total to five wins and five poles.
The driver of the No. 26 Copart/Novara Technologies entry holds a 77-point lead over his nearest challenger – Jacob Abel of Abel Motorsports – and this pole will add another point to his total. But he said he’s not stopping to count points now. Four races remain.
“I just want to keep winning races, man,” Foster said. “We’ll see what happens. Obviously, make good decisions in the race and finish with the (maximum number of) points, but my main goal is to win.”
This will be the 11th race of the season and the second on an oval track, and Foster won the July 13 race at Iowa Speedway. He led the final six laps of that race, overtaking pole winner and teammate James Roe in the late going. Foster finished second to eventual series champion Christian Rasmussen in this event last year.
Foster will be joined on the front row Saturday by another teammate, fellow English driver Jamie Chadwick. She posted a two-lap qualifying average of 163.505 mph in the No. 28 VEXT entry.
HMD Motorsports drivers Caio Collet and Christian Brooks – both in their first year in the series — will start in the third and fourth positions, respectively.
