Written by Archie O’Reilly
It was nothing but a routine practice session for Nolan Siegel as he stepped into his Indy NXT car at Road America back in June. Or so he thought.
After a mechanical issue prevented him from taking the start in the race prior in Detroit, the 19-year-old from Palo Alto, California was gearing up for a recovery charge. It was his second season in IndyCar’s premier ladder series and a third-place debut championship finish saw him earmarked as one of the title favourites.
But things rapidly changed for the winner of the NXT season-opening race back in March.
IndyCar was always part of the agenda for Siegel in 2024, dovetailing his NXT campaign with a four-event Dale Coyne Racing deal. But the year has panned out quite differently in terms of the scale of his IndyCar involvement.
And that all started with a mid-practice radio call at Road America.
“That was a very interesting weekend,” Siegel recalls. “Went into the weekend, even the Friday, thinking that I was racing Indy NXT and no possibility of IndyCar. That was not planned at all before Friday afternoon. So I was actually in the Indy NXT car starting a practice session and got a radio call, came to pit lane and [they] told me to get out.”
Routinely, this would probably indicate some sort of car issue. But it was at this point that Siegel was informed of a chance to substitute for Agustin Canapino in the No.78 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevy. The Argentine driver had stepped aside last-minute after a week of social media controversy following a collision with Theo Pourchaire, then of Arrow McLaren.
And so a surprise opening emerged for Siegel.
“I was like: ‘That’s kind of odd,’” he adds. “So I got out and that was the first time that I had heard anything about the possibility of racing the Indy car. So from that point, I literally didn’t take my suit off, went in, put my seat in the Indy car, rolled the Indy car out, started the practice session and off we went. So there was not a lot of time to think about that.”
It was a case of living in the moment for Siegel throughout his weekend with Juncos. And it was only after the event, which saw him qualify 21st in wet conditions before suffering an issue that restricted him to 24th in the race, that the bigger picture came to the forefront.
There are perks to winning the Indy NXT championship, including a scholarship prize and guaranteed future IndyCar entries. But Siegel was already confident that an IndyCar opportunity would arise for 2025 - he had certainly impressed enough in his few outings with Coyne.
So after missing the Road America Indy NXT weekend, putting Siegel essentially out of the championship hunt, attention turned to possibly fast-tracking that IndyCar switch. And with one of the series’ leading outfits in Arrow McLaren.
“After that weekend it started to become more clear that there might be an opportunity to be full-time in IndyCar for the rest of the year,” says Siegel, sporting a dark jersey with bright papaya sleeves and light blue highlights. “There were a few talks happening that were before this deal was done and before the opportunity came about to race with Arrow McLaren.
“But there were a few things in the works and figured it would be better to focus full-time on IndyCar. And luckily it worked out and it doesn’t look like a stupid decision at this point. I think if things had gone differently, it could have.”
The initial idea was for Siegel to keep his rookie status and its perks, such as the ability to run an extra tyre set in practice and fight for Rookie of the Year, for 2025 by only running select races with Coyne. But passing on a full-time IndyCar shot with a proven race-winning team and illustrious racing organisation was not an option.
“The plan for me was to do Indy NXT full-time - that was my full-time deal,” Siegel says. “The opportunity came up to run with Dale for a few races so I thought it would be a great experience and it was a great experience.
“I’d hoped to be full-time in IndyCar in 2025. I was definitely not going to turn down an offer to run with Arrow McLaren this year to keep my rookie status for next year. That was the plan originally but things changed quite rapidly.”
Siegel initially caught the eye on debut with Coyne in the $1 Million Challenge exhibition event at the Thermal Club, where he was only one position and less than one second from beating Andretti Global’s Colton Herta to a transfer spot to the All-Star Race. He backed that up with a respectable 20th-place finish on his competitive debut in Long Beach.
Then came a first Indianapolis 500 attempt with Coyne, which even Siegel could not have envisaged as being as much of a tumult as it was.
“It was one of the most difficult months of my life, for sure,” he says. “We knew it was going to be difficult going in… obviously it went a little bit worse than anyone had thought. But at the end of the day, I think for me it was super valuable. I learned a huge amount from it and I don’t regret it at all.”
Siegel suffered a heavy airborne crash on Fast Friday, necessitating a replacement chassis. And it was also going to take a significant mental effort, as well as the task of dialling the car back in, to head straight back into the car in qualifying the following day.
Siegel ultimately could not find enough speed from his No.18 Honda and was unable to make the field automatically. He managed to make significant gains in Last Chance Qualifying but fell shy of making the field, showing courage to valiantly not lift on his decisive effort, ending his final run in the Turn 1 barrier.
His quickest four-lap average was within 0.5 miles per hour of making the field - a herculean recovery effort.
“I think at the end of the day, if it makes me better and I get the opportunity to go for it again, I’m going to be better in 2025 than I was in 2024,” Siegel adds. “I’ve had a lot of times this year that I’ve been thrown into the deep end and that was certainly one of them. You can just look at it, learn from it and move on from it.”
Siegel only has to look as far as his now-teammate Pato O’Ward, who has consistently challenged for Indy 500 victory in recent years, to see an example of one of many leading drivers to be bumped at the Speedway. And he knows a positive spin can be put on the then-dejecting experience.
“It’s a tough one because when you’re in it it’s super important,” he says. “It was extremely important to me to make the race and it’s extremely disappointing when something like that happens. But I think focusing on the future and taking some of the positives from it is the right approach.
“And ultimately it’s not going to be the last time that I have a difficult week in motorsport. No matter who you are, who you drive for, what series you’re racing in, there are going to be difficult moments.
“I think the most valuable thing that I learned from that whole experience was the mentality needed to push through something like that… I can look back on that and remember what we did and how we worked through it and use that approach in the future.”
The experience during the Month of May also led to a relationship that has proved significant in this newest chapter of the infancy of Siegel’s racing career. It all stemmed mentorship offered by Arrow McLaren sporting director and 2013 Indy 500 winner Tony Kanaan on Bump Day.
“Tony was extremely helpful for me during the 500 and has been extremely helpful since then,” Siegel says. “Luckily we’re working together now. I didn’t really know Tony at all - I’d met him briefly. There’s so much experience in the paddock that I think everyone kind of knew what I was going through during qualifying week at the 500.
“I’d reached out to a few people and people were willing to have conversations and help out. And I talked to Tony and just asked like: ‘Hey, is there any advice you can give me? Anything you think that I should be doing?’ And he was nice enough to step in and involve himself more than I ever thought he would… I’m glad that it led to the relationship we have now.”
The bond struck with Kanaan may even have aided Siegel being in the conversation to replace Kyle Larson in the No.17 Chevy if he had opted to prioritise the NASCAR Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 as part of his ‘Double’ attempt.
“It was talked about,” Siegel says. “I don’t think that it was ever a high possibility but I was happy to do it. There were conversations but, ultimately, I don’t think it was ever planned.”
Siegel also competed in another ‘Triple Crown’ race by making his Le Mans 24 Hours debut the following month in the LMP2 category with United Autosports. And, racing alongside childhood karting competitor Bijoy Garg and veteran Oliver Jarvis, Siegel was able to play a major role in achieving a class victory.
“Bijoy was full-time in that car in ELMS and IMSA,” Siegel says. “We grew up karting together, we’ve raced together for ages and it all kind of just made sense. It was definitely a risk to put two rookies in the same car. It took a bit of convincing on my end to kind of tell them: ‘No, I won’t do anything stupid. Please let me drive the car.’
“We know what happened so I’m glad it worked out. And I would love to continue doing more endurance racing in the future.”
Siegel has been a frequenter in the IMSA SportsCar Championship in the early stages of his racing career, supplementing his single-seater progress. That included an LMP2 endurance campaign in 2023 after racing in the LMP3 category the year prior alongside Indy Pro 2000 commitments.
It was this experience, which included LMP3 victory in the 2023 24 Hours of Daytona and LMP2 wins at Watkins Glen and Road America, that led to Siegel catching the eye of some people at United Autosports and aided his Le Mans bid.
“We knew we had a relatively strong lineup but I don’t think any of us thought, with two rookies, we were just gonna go out and win it the first time,” Siegel adds on his Le Mans success. “And it wasn’t until late in the race that we realised we were the car to beat. For me, my last stint, so the second-to-last block of the race, was when I realised we were in it.
“We were running like fourth or fifth the whole race and sitting there and I got in for the really early morning stint. And as the sun came up, it got hotter, the car started to come alive and we got really fast. And I went from fifth to first and then we pulled out like 20 or 30 seconds. And that was when it became clear that there was a good chance of winning the race.”
Incidentally, United Autosports were co-founded and are co-owned by McLaren Racing’s CEO Zak Brown. It was not until Le Mans that Siegel started to build more of a rapport with Brown - something that did not do any harm in allowing his Arrow McLaren move to materialise.
“It’s a small world in all of motorsports so we knew who each other were obviously,” Siegel says. “But Le Mans was kind of the first time that we really got to spend time together and get to know each other. I’m glad that that was the weekend that we were able to do that and, ultimately, I think [that] helped massively in putting me here.”
A move to Brown’s IndyCar outfit was announced a matter of days after Le Mans, ahead of IndyCar’s visit to Laguna Seca. And with Pourchaire previously penned in to complete the season in the No.6 Chevy, it was not a decision taken without some contention.
After a move for Alex Palou broke down controversially, David Malukas was initially due to pilot that entry before a pre-season wrist injury led to him losing his drive in late April. Callum Ilott and Pourchaire deputised in the meantime, with the latter foregoing his existing Super Formula commitments to agree to a deal with Arrow McLaren.
After only five races, and three as part of his rest-of-season deal, reigning Formula 2 champion Pourchaire was moved aside for the perceived longer-term option of Siegel.
Considering the scrutiny surrounding the decision taken by Arrow McLaren to cut ties with Pourchaire after such a short period, one could understand if Siegel felt under pressure to deliver. But the three-time Indy NXT race-winner has the assurance and backing of the team as part of his multi-year deal and knows his development will be a process.
“No,” Siegel says to the idea of there being added expectation.
“To be honest, all the pressure I feel comes from myself for the most part. Outside, people can say whatever they want, I don’t really care. Obviously, yes, it’s a high profile seat, it’s a high profile team. And there are lots of people that think they know what they’re looking at. But at the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter what they say.
“It matters to me how I perform and if I feel like I have performed at the best of my ability. And it matters to me if the people at the team that I respect and work closely with think that I’m doing a good job. So as long as, as a group, we continue doing the best that we can do, the results are going to come and everyone else will see it too.”
Siegel progressed from 23rd to 12th at Laguna Seca in his first event with Arrow McLaren. He has since also finished 12th and 14th at Iowa Speedway - his first IndyCar oval races - inside his first five races with the team.
“I think it’s actually gone quite well,” he says. “It’s challenging - IndyCar is super competitive and it’s a lot to learn. Obviously doing it with a new group of people and in a new environment is a challenge. But I’ve really enjoyed it. I think we’re all making a lot of progress every weekend and that’s all we can really ask for at this stage.
“The results will start to come if we continue focusing on doing everything correctly. I think we’re on the right path right now, for sure.”
Siegel is still adapting to the “precision” required to be perfect in IndyCar, which he knows could be the difference between starting up front and near the back amid the field’s competitiveness. He does now have experience on every type of track that IndyCar visits and heads into the next event at World Wide Technology Raceway having tested there.
The remaining five races in 2024 still have learning as the priority for Siegel, all with a view to being closer to the sweet spot come 2025. He knows patience will be a virtue.
“With all the races at Coyne, I had very little experience, very little testing and the goal was just gaining experience,” he says. “Now it’s a little bit different where I’ve done a few races, I’ve done a test, we’re getting into our rhythm and I think that we are becoming more result focused.
“But at the end of the day, the background goal that we’re always thinking about is coming out as strong as we can St. Pete 2025. For the rest of the season, it would be really nice to have some good results.
“But I think that we can focus a little bit more on making sure that I learn as much as possible, that the team learns as much as possible and we get to know each other well. And I think that we can get pretty aggressive. Where this year we’d love some really good results, if we get a bad result by being super aggressive I don’t think we’re super fussed about it.
“Obviously the car is not in the championship or anything. So we’re going to try and take some big swings and see if we can produce some really good results.”
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