Written by Archie O’Reilly
Without winning the 2024 Indy NXT title, the future picture for Louis Foster could currently be shaping up in a very different manner. It was a must-win deal for the sake of his career.
“I think if I didn’t win the championship this year, it’d be the end of my single-seater career,” he says. “I don’t have the funds to go up to IndyCar without the prize money.
“And even still it’s already hard. So it was super, super important, this year for me. It was a lot of pressure. But I think we, as a team and myself, just took it one step at a time. I knew we were the fastest. I knew that, on our day if nothing went wrong, we would be the fastest car out there [on the] majority of the circuits, which has been the case this year.”
Across the course of his sophomore year in Indy NXT, Foster’s level has indeed been emphatic. After finishes of third, fifth and seventh in a trickier opening three races, he powered away from the competition with seven wins in a run of 10 successive top-two finishes.
And with a race yet to run at Nashville Superspeedway, the 21-year-old from Odiham in Hampshire, England has fulfilled his quest for a crucial second title - following Indy Pro 2000 success in 2022 - since moving to the United States from Europe.
And there is no downplaying what it means.
“Obviously tonnes,” Foster says. “Indy Lights has been going on for longer than I’ve been alive so it’s a very prestigious series. And not only the financial support you get from winning it but also the gravitas that it has around it, being the Indy Lights champion or the NXT champion. The only thing that comes close to that in feeder series is winning Formula 2.”
For junior racing prospects in the United Kingdom, the trodden path is the Formula 1 route. And that was the ladder that Foster was climbing, progressing through Ginetta Juniors, British F4 and British F3.
But after completing a season of EuroFormula Open in 2021, Foster’s career hit a junction. And a decisive one.
“I wanted to stay in single-seaters,” he recalls. “I really enjoyed driving them. And there was no progression that I could have done in Europe. Paying the hefty bill to do FIA F3 was not viable for me so the only other option was America.
“I had my eye on IndyCar for a while so we moved over in 2022 to come and race in Indy Pro. The support of young drivers they have, especially financially, also the racing here, is amazing.”
Scholarships for winning titles throughout the US ladder offer lifelines for drivers without the financial backing of others, hence why the IndyCar route is so attractive to many. And the nature of the racing also allows drivers to really stand out.
“[The racing] is so much better than I’ve ever experienced in Europe,” Foster says. “In my two years of British F3 and EuroFormula, I probably did like four overtakes. It’s just all qualifying.
“Whereas in this year alone, we’ve done, I don’t know how many, probably like 50. So it’s so much more fun to race as a driver. The support system that the Road to Indy has and how they promote and look after drivers that do well, it means a lot to me.”
Foster was initially based in Los Angeles after moving to the US from his native United Kingdom before moving to IndyCar’s Midwest hub. But given the way of the world and proliferation of American media, there was never much of a culture shock.
The biggest adjustments and learning curves have come on the track.
“I would say the biggest culture shock, if you will, is more to do with how the series are run, the way that they are stewarded compared to the UK and with the FIA,” Foster says. “I think the way that America does it is much more fun for fans to watch. It’s a lot more enjoyable.
“There’s a lot more argy-bargy and it’s a lot more enjoyable racing. Whereas in a lot of the FIA rules, there’s all these track limits and this and that and it can really take away from the show of it. So I think as a fan, it’s a lot better.”
In terms of the tracks themselves - road courses generally with little runoff at least - there are similarities to those in the UK. The biggest difference comes with the staple of US racing: ovals.
There is naturally some fear to overcome and many unique intricacies to get a grasp of on ovals. But debuting on an oval at Indianapolis Raceway Park, Foster was victorious on his first attempt in Indy Pro 2000.
“The two biggest things that I struggled with initially on ovals were how close the walls were and how little margin of error you had, and also the car balance,” he says. “I’m a driver who usually drives quite an oversteery car on road circuits.
“Oversteering on road courses is like opposite lock. Oversteering on an oval is just opening the steering - it’s nothing because it goes so fast if you do lose it. So just understanding how to set up an oval car, how it’s supposed to be driven, the way to drive ovals, there’s a lot to it.
“Especially racing ovals as well, there’s a lot that goes into it. It’s like a chess board trying to make an overtake work on an oval. You’ve really got to think through it and really got to plan laps in advance.”
Foster immediately got down to business in the US. Podiums came in both races of his first weekend in Indy Pro 2000 in St. Petersburg before achieving maiden win on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) road course in the seventh round.
By season’s end, Foster had picked up seven wins and a total of 12 podiums in 18 races and was champion by 61 points ahead of Reece Gold.
The same peak level was there again as he graduated to Indy NXT for 2023 to race with Andretti Global. Foster took four poles across the season - including on debut in St. Pete - and won twice with a total of six podiums.
But across 14 races, Foster struggled for consistency and had to settle for a still-commendable fourth-place championship finish. Given the peak performance level though, trying to move up to IndyCar for 2024 was considered.
“I think pace-wise, yes,” Foster says, asked if he felt ready to step up. “I think if you look at how fast I was last year, we were the best qualifier by some margin. So I think I had very, very good pace.
“But after chatting with Rob Edwards [Andretti’s Chief Operating Officer], they wanted me to stay for a second year so that was on their mind. But I chatted to him this time last year about it.
“It’s less to do with how fast you are and more how developed you are as a driver. So if I had to have the opportunity to go to IndyCar [for 2024], I probably would have taken it because it’s very hard to say no to that. But do I think I’m a better driver now? One hundred percent.
“I think pure pace-wise, I would have been pretty similar - I think I would have done well this year in IndyCar. But I think I would have struggled with some of the more intricate things, where a second year of Indy NXT and a lot more confidence and winning the championship would have helped me.”
After returning for a second season, Foster’s feeling was that it was championship or bust. And even after the first few rounds, in which he felt his potential was not reached, there was still a certain air of belief that things would get back on track.
“We weren’t looking too bad on points but we only had one podium in three races,” Foster reflects. “It definitely was not the best of things but I knew that it would turn around because it had to. And I knew that we would make it work and we did.
“There was no desperation, which is hard to do when there’s so much pressure.”
Qualifying fourth and finishing third in St. Pete was not viewed as optimal given what was possibly on the cards. Recovery efforts then ensued to finish fifth and seventh at Barber and on the Indy road course.
“I got slightly unlucky and messed up at St. Pete in qualifying,” Foster says. “I had two laps that would have been pole. If you’re pole at St. Pete, you’re usually going to win. One of them got red-flagged with one corner to go then one of them I messed up.
“Barber, we didn’t practice or qualify so we just turned up to the race because of electrical issues. So couldn’t really do much about that. IMS, when we came seventh, I lost my front wing after trying to put a move in on Caio [Collet]. And then he turned in and took it off. That was a racing incident. So I think maybe it was a bit of an opportunistic move on my behalf.
“There’s definitely definitely mistakes in there, for sure. From my side of things, the thing was once we were able to qualify more up front - because again, IMS we only qualified fourth so it wasn’t a great qualifying for me - and just get away from all of the stuff that goes on, we were good to go.”
Foster started fourth again for the second IMS race but it proved the day that a dominant season got going in anger. He managed the race better than long-time leader Caio Collet and, after dispatching of Jacob Abel, he was able to get a first win of the campaign over the line.
He went on to win again in Detroit and, in the 10-race run starting from the second IMS event, has finished no lower than second and won seven times - five having led every lap. From Detroit onwards, he has also picked up six poles and not started off the front row in nine races.
There are merits aplenty to having continued in Indy NXT for a second season.
“I think probably two main things [have improved],” Foster says. “Obviously consistency - just being a lot more level-headed as a driver this year. I think last year there were a lot of moments where I got frustrated in the car and made poor decisions on the track. That was one of the biggest things last year that set me back quite some way.
“Then honestly the way they judge incidents… Last year was the first time I had the IndyCar stewards, where before it was Anderson [Promotion’s] stewards. It’s very different to how Europe does it.
“Last year, there were a lot of things I didn’t agree with and a lot of things I didn’t understand. I was always in seeing the stewards and talking to them about stuff, just to understand these calls and why they’re being made.”
Foster admits that it has helped to start up front and often race up front but, regardless, there have been many less run-ins with the stewards this year.
“This year, there have been situations this year where I know what the rules are, I understand what the stewards are looking for,” he says. “And I haven’t seen them once this year. So that was quite a nice thing. It’s a nice quality of life thing.”
Looking to the future, there is only one thing on Foster’s mind: IndyCar.
“I’m quite confident we will have a seat next year,” he says. “I’ve had good conversations with a couple of teams and the ball’s rolling on that.
“There’s talks of testing and talks of doing a test. But I’m pretty confident. I would say, if I was to give you a percentage chance right now, I would say we’re probably close to like 80 percent likely is my hope.
“But again it all comes down to money. I wish we could find an extra $2 million just to pull out there. But unfortunately that’s not how the world works sometimes. So we’ll see. But it’s going well and I’m hoping that it’ll come through.”
By winning the Indy NXT championship, Foster will receive $850,000 to be applied to an oval test at Texas Motor Speedway, the Indianapolis 500 open test and Rookie Orientation Programme, entry to the Indy 500 and an entry for an additional IndyCar race.
He has already once driven an IndyCar already at Road America post-season with Andretti in 2023.
“It was a great day,” he says. “Obviously it was super thoughtful of Andretti to let me have a go in their car. It was also a great track to do it at so it was really good fun.
“Got to work with the team, got to understand how the Indy car drives, understand the dampers. It was really good fun and I think the test went quite well. We did our fastest time in the morning - I couldn’t go faster in the afternoon because the track grip wasn’t there. So in my mind, that says that we were decent.
“I was happy with how it went. For this year, we’re talking to teams obviously. Nothing confirmed yet. It’s very difficult to get into IndyCar. It’s not a lot of seats but we’re working hard.”
Unfortunately for Foster, Andretti does not have any openings in its three-car lineup for 2025; Colton Herta, Kyle Kirkwood and Marcus Ericsson are locked in and re-expansion is unlikely in the face of a possible charter system.
“Obviously I’ve got to know the IndyCar team really well now,” Foster says. “I know all the drivers quite well, especially Marcus - and then the team in general, obviously Rob [Edwards], JF [Thormann, President] and Michael [Andretti, chairman].
“I would love to stay with Andretti. It’s a great team. It’s a great organisation. But there’s no contracts for the future at the moment. It’s honestly completely up to them if they would like to have me in the future.
“Obviously they’ve got stuff going on in the background in Europe, so that might open up a spot in the future for me. But we’ll see. I think at the moment, my main goal is firstly get into IndyCar and have a good rookie season and then go from there at the end of the day.
“I’d love to stay with Andretti but we’ll see what happens.”
In 2022, Andretti Indy NXT champion Kirkwood raced with Foyt in a loan-type deal before switching to the IndyCar team for 2023. For the time being at least, there is nothing similar agreed for Foster.
But the search goes on in IndyCar. And Foster has tried not to entertain the prospect of having to look elsewhere if moving to IndyCar does not work out.
“I haven’t put too much thought into it, to be honest, because I’ve been so focused on IndyCar,” he says. “But obviously the most likely thing I would end up doing if I can’t do IndyCar would be an LMP2 programme, maybe in IMSA.
“Obviously it’s not where I want to be, but I think if it came down to it, I think I should be able to get a seat in an LMP2 car. But the main goal is obviously IndyCar.
The scholarship prize achieved through winning in Indy NXT could prove pivotal in Foster’s quest for an IndyCar future. He knows the frustration of missing out on certain opportunities due to the factor of finances all too well.
“I’ll have to bite my tongue a little bit here,” he says with a smile. “At the end of the day, it’s how it works. Every team is a business at the end of the day, Everyone’s got to turn profit or at least break even. So, financially, it has to work out for them and I completely understand that.
“It does suck for sure. But at the same time, you know what you got into. You understand that this is what this industry is like. Sometimes it’s brutal.
“I think the best thing you can do is just show what you’ve got on track and be the best person you can be. Work as best you can with sponsors and with people and the team and show them a reason why you’re a better candidate than someone else who could bring X amount more money.”
Foster has done all he can with a rampant season to take the Indy NXT title. And if all goes to plan, he could well - and absolutely should - have IndyCar on the horizon.
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