Louis Foster won his fourth race in five attempts as he took the Indy NXT championship lead in Laguna Seca going fastest in every session, leading every lap, taking two poles and two wins in an astounding performance.
Andretti Global driver Foster, 20, entered the weekend off the back of a second at Road America and two wins before that, knowing this weekend was crucial as it takes the Indy NXT by Firestone season past the halfway point and offers a rare double-header on the calendar at the same circuit.
Having gone fastest in both practice sessions, Foster backed that up with double pole positions in a scintillating qualifying performance.
In the races, Foster was vaguely under pressure during starts and a restart in each race respectively, but won the first race by 8.2445s, and the second by 4.3692s.
“Everyone at Andretti Global has worked together to give us an amazing car,” said Foster, who is backed by Copart, a global leader in online auto auctions.
“I think historically the team has been strong here, but that car was great all weekend.
“Track position is so important here and the pole positions gave us that clean air. I just did my thing, worked on being consistent, making sure we had pace in the tyres and the car if there were any restarts, and just managed things from the front in the most efficient way I could.
“There’s been sunny skies all weekend, and you can’t ask for anything more. Super happy with the weekend.”
Foster led all 70 laps, 35 in each race, taking fastest laps in both events. He exits the weekend with a 35-point championship lead, a 53-point swing in his favour.
“It’s great to lead the championship, but we’re barely past halfway,” added Foster.
“I want to focus on putting one foot in front of the other, scoring the best result each weekend and then the points will come.
“It won’t do any good to get carried away thinking about the championship. But of course, this weekend has been great progress on that front.”
The next event takes place at Mid-Ohio on July 7, where Foster took his first Indy NXT victory last year, so it’s a place that holds special memories. Portland, the home of Foster’s other 2023 win, is still to come on the calendar, too.
But before that, Foster will test at another venue coming later in the year, Iowa, on Friday, June 28.
“There's a lot of ovals to come,” adds Foster. “We've been strong on ovals. We've led the only oval test so far in Milwaukee.
“So we'll see how Iowa goes next week for our Series test.
“I’m super comfortable going into the ovals. We made a big step this year in our pace on ovals. Hopefully we can continue that.”
