ROOKIE LOUIS FOSTER EXPERIENCES THE GAMUT OF INDY 500 TRADITIONS, DRIVES DESNUDA HONDA IN 33-CAR FIELD, MILKS A COW AND RACES FOR LEGENDS
Young British Star ready to go Sunday in the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” from 20th Starting Spot
By: Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (Photos Courtesy RLLR)
SPEEDWAY, IN (May 21, 2025) – Young British racer Louis Foster has won in every racing category he has competed including capturing the 2024 Indy NXT Series and 2022 Indy Pro 2000 tour, but this Sunday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Foster competes in his biggest event ever, the 109th Indianapolis 500.
And what comes with this prestigious occurrence for Foster is a number of unique experiences.
Foster has already driven for two legends – Bobby Rahal and David Letterman; qualified his No. 45 Rahal-Letterman-Lanigan Desnuda Tequila Honda IndyCar at over 231 miles per hour and actually milked a cow before the drop of the green flag in the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”
The personable Brit will start 20th in the 33-car field in the 109th edition of the Indy 500 before more than 350,000 fans, which is the largest single day sporting event attendance in the world.
As a rookie at the Indy 500, the American Dairy Association Indiana annually celebrates the “rookie” drivers in each 200-lap classic with a luncheon and an opportunity to milk a cow. And Foster stepped right up and performed the highlight in spectacular fashion.
But nothing will prepare Foster for the start of the “World Greatest Race” when 33 drivers roar into turn one on the historic two-and-a-half oval, as Louis wheels his RLL Desnuda Tequlia Honda through its paces in his inaugural start.
“It was a thrill to sign with a great team like RLL and then race in the highly competitive NTT IndyCar Series,” said Foster. “But now to qualify the Desnuda Tequila Honda in my first Indy 500 is a dream come true, and Sunday’s race will be a whole new experience. I can’t wait.”
Unlike any other NTT IndyCar Series event which is a three-day program, the Indy 500 features five practice rounds and two highly stressful qualifying days before Foster jumps his Desnuda Tequila Honda machine in hopes of finding the legendary IMS winner’s circle.
Monday’s practice round gave Foster more time to get acclimated to his mount before Sunday’s 500-mile race.
“There is still a lot for me to learn but practice was good,” said Foster. “I need to get more comfortable with the car, understand how to work the traffic, how to work the tools (inside the car), etc. We started off quite conservative, and then once I got happy with that, we kept trimming the car and I got more comfortable. There is definitely still more work to do but from my first run to my last run, the car was much different. I’m feeling happy and confident overall with the car.”
The final day of practice will be this Friday with the annual Carb Day featuring two hours of on-track practice, the popular Pit Stop Challenge and the annual late afternoon concert with Brett Michaels.
“We still have some more work to do,” said Foster. “But RLL team has plenty of experience here at Indy and they have won the 500 twice before. So, I’ll take their knowledge going into the biggest race of the year.”
And Foster would like to drink both Desnuda Tequila and milk in victory lane on Sunday afternoon. It would definitely complete the list of unique experiences this month for the 21-year-old driver.
