Foster excited for oval night race at Gateway

ONE Sports Management Group
Jun 10
3 min read

Rahal Letterman Lanigan NTT IndyCar Series driver Louis Foster will return to oval racing this weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway.

The 21-year-old Brit from Odiham in Hampshire has delivered strong form this year and in recent weeks, finishing as the top rookie in the Indianapolis 500 and maintaining a qualifying average of 13 in a grid of 27 full-time cars despite his lack of IndyCar experience.

Unfortunately, at Detroit last time out, Foster was involved in a huge crash after a failure in his car, which stopped what could have been a top 10 finish by the end of the race.

“I want to say a massive thank you to everyone who sent me message or has had me in their thoughts since the crash at Detroit,” says Foster, who is backed by Copart, a global leader in online auto auctions.

"The safety of the car is a credit to the series, its suppliers and the AMR Safety Team.

“It’s hard to see another potential top 10 escape us and not put those points on the board, but deep down we know we’ve done a better job than the standings show as a group on the #45 Mi-Jack RLL Honda.

“RLL, my team-mates and I have worked hard in this gap without a race, to prepare and get ready for Gateway. The team has won there in the past.

“I’ve been concentrating on making sure I’m in the best possible shape to get back in the car and attack the weekend with everything I have. I'm looking forward to it."

Foster won at this 1.25-mile track - known as Gateway - last year as he won and swept all of the ovals on the way to his 2024 Indy NXT by Firestone championship title.

He also completed an IndyCar test at the venue in April.

“Obviously, IndyCar is known for being the only championship to race on road, street and oval circuits, but it’s even more complicated than that,” says Foster.

“For example, the Indianapolis 500 is not similar to Gateway even though they are both ovals. Even Iowa and Gateway are really different challenges and they are both in the same class as short ovals.

“It was good to get the test in during April, it was only one day and not many cars on track so it will feel different on race weekend as more rubber builds up on the surface and the grip levels go up.

"Also, the test was in the day and the race was in the night which makes a big difference. But we certainly can take some learning from it.

“This will be my first short oval in IndyCar and only my second this year after the 500. My team and I were really proud of winning all the ovals last season in Indy NXT by Firestone, and hopefully we can bring some of that form with us to IndyCar.”

You can watch Louis live in action in the UK via Sky Sports F1 and Sky Sports Mix. The race takes place on Monday morning at 1am in the UK.