Louis Foster added a sixth pole and a 10th top-three finish of the Indy NXT by Firestone season at Portland, in a crucial weekend for the championship.
Two 16th-place finishes in the last two races - with Milwaukee coming up this weekend - will secure Foster the Indy NXT title and the budget to race in the Indy 500 and one other IndyCar race along with test opportunities.
Foster was at the top of the charts for both practice sessions and in qualifying where he scored his sixth pole of the season, breaking his own track record from last year with a stunning lap.
But at the start of the race Foster’s rival Jacob Abel dived ahead at the first corner and Foster spent the rest of the 34 laps within a second and managing his race not taking any unnecessary risks and being content to bring home a second position with the Indy NXT Championship in mind.
Ultimately, with the championship at stake for both drivers, Foster was concerned that he was using too much push-to-pass boost trying to get past Abel and that he could be vulnerable late in the race.
“Jacob got a really good start, felt like I defended enough, but obviously a little bit extra there on the inside that Jacob was willing to take the risk and go there,” said Foster, who is backed by Copart, a global leader in online auto auctions.
“It paid off for him. Like he said, that's what he's got to do at this stage of the championship.
“Once he was there, it was like, ‘yours’. I don't want any involvement in this. Like I said this weekend, once I got through Turn 1 cleanly, I was happy.
“We put a ton of pressure on him. Definitely had a very fast car at the start of the race, really throughout the race, but faded at the end with tyres falling off following so closely for so long.
“If we would have been out front, we would have had the car to pull away today. Sometimes you have to come second.”
Foster has a 79-point advantage at the front of the field with 108 points on offer in the last two races. A score of 30 points at the next race - equal to fifth place, but also possible with bonus points and finishing slightly lower - would seal the title for Foster this weekend at Milwaukee.
There’s no rest for Foster or the Indy NXT Series as they head to Milwaukee this weekend for the penultimate race of the season. None of the drivers in the field have raced in Indy NXT at this track as it returns after a long absence.
Foster was fastest in the test held at the track in June, where he said “this oval is like 2 degrees banking, it’s really fun because the car’s loose”.
“I have to say a big thanks to the Andretti Global team for their work at Portland - the car was really strong - and obviously we have high hopes for Milwaukee after the test there,” Foster added.
In the UK you’ll be able to watch Louis race on Sky Sports F1 channel with the race broadcast live on Sunday at 8.50pm UK time.
Milwaukee oval schedule - Eastern Time Zone
Friday August 30
Practice 1430-1515 (1930-2015 UK)
Saturday August 31
Qualifying 1300-1345 (1800-1845 UK)
Race 1550-1705 (2050-2205 UK)
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