Written by Archie O’Reilly
Indy NXT completed its annual Chris Griffis Memorial Test on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) road course last Friday, featuring a host of familiar faces and rookie drivers.
The test day - named in memory of the late Schmidt Peterson Motorsports team manager - was split into two sessions between 9am and 4pm. And it was Myles Rowe, who debuted in NXT for HMD Motorsports last year, who topped the time sheets for Abel Motorsports.
Current FIA Formula 2 driver and 2021 FIA Formula 3 champion Dennis Hauger was second in the combined order as he makes the switch to NXT with Andretti Global in 2025. Newly-crowned USF Pro 2000 champion Lochie Hughes was third in the order for Andretti.
Here is a look at the key stories and headline drivers team-by-team from the test…
Formula 2’s Hauger headlines for Andretti
In recent years, there has been a trend of F2 drivers - namely Christian Lundgaard, Callum Ilott, Marcus Armstrong and Theo Pourchaire - moving over to IndyCar.
But after three years in Formula One’s premier feeder series, Dennis Hauger is taking the lesser-trodden route by making the switch from F2 to Indy NXT.
The Norwegian driver won the 2021 F3 title as a second-year driver, when he ousted 2025 Alpine F1 driver Jack Doohan. He has since picked up four race wins and 11 podiums in F2, with 10th and eighth-place championship finishes; he sits ninth in the standings with one round remaining in 2024.
Hauger was quickly up to speed in his first outing in NXT machinery, piloting his No.28 Andretti Dallara IL-15 to top of the time charts in the morning session. His afternoon performance was enough for a second place on the overall time charts.
“Balance-wise and everything, how it’s driving, it’s a lot more reactive, which I enjoy to be honest,” Hauger said. “So I was having a lot of fun today so far. But just settling in, getting used to everything. It’s all quite new - a bit different style.
“Even for the race weekend, it’s a bit different than what I’m used to, even just the basic stuff like rolling starts - first time for that. So it’s all about just taking it step by step and getting the feet on the ground and start to work.”
Lochie Hughes was piloting the No.26 machine for Andretti - Louis Foster’s 2024 championship-winning car - as he steps up from Pro 2000 after winning the title as a rookie this year. The Australian driver was quickly up to speed, placing fifth in the morning and third on the overall time sheets.
The next-best Andretti car was the No.27 of Salvador de Alba Jr., who is moving from the Andretti-affiliated Cape Motorsports outfit to the main team for 2025, in 11th place. The Mexican driver, who has multiple years of experience in the NASCAR Mexico Series, delivered two oval podiums and was fifth in points as an NXT rookie in 2024.
James Roe was another returning driver in the field, placing 12th in the testing order as he remains in the Andretti camp for a third year - his fourth campaign overall at NXT level. The Irishman is yet to win a race but has three podiums and one pole to his name, with championship finishes of 12th, sixth and seventh.
Notably, Jamie Chadwick was absent from the test after two years with Andretti in NXT, with all four of the team’s 2025 seats now filled. Chadwick, who had her maiden IndyCar test at Barber Motorsports Park recently, has been on record about chasing an IndyCar opportunity for 2025, whether part-time or full-time.
Andretti-Cape prepares for second year
The 2025 season will mark the second for Cape Motorsports in its alliance with Andretti. And they had Ricardo Escotto finish ninth on the combined testing speed charts.
Escotto ran five races with Juncos Hollinger Racing in NXT in 2024, with a best finish of 13th at Laguna Seca and the Milwaukee Mile. That was run alongside a second Pro 2000 campaign, with a ninth-place championship finish and two podiums; he won on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course as a rookie the year prior.
Jace Denmark was also a part of the Cape squad, rounding out the test in 14th. The 20-year-old American finished third in the 2024 Pro 2000 standings and has 12 podiums - albeit without a win - across two years in the championship.
Deegan debuts for stacked HMD outfit
HMD Motorsports again made up the majority of the field, with nine cars from its stable on track at IMS on Friday. And driving the team’s No.38 entry was Hailie Deegan, whose move to NXT with HMD for 2025 has dominated headlines across the last week.
The 23-year-old American driver has spent her career on the NASCAR path, winning three races at regional level as she worked her way through the ranks. She made her debut in the Truck Series in 2020 before competing in the full season the following three years, peaking at 17th in the standings in 2021.
Deegan, who has amassed a sizable fanbase with 1.6-million Instagram followers, switched to the Xfinity Series for the 2024 season. But after 17 races - and best finishes of 12th and 15th - she departed the series in July.
Deegan was then on the ground at Iowa Speedway for the IndyCar doubleheader weekend that same month. And after a career in stock cars, she has made the decision to switch her attention to single-seater racing.
A Formula Regional Americas race is in the pipeline, with some testing in F3-equivalent machinery already undergone. But Deegan’s first outing in the NXT car was at IMS on Friday - a matter of days after she was announced to be driving her first single-seater championship season next year.
It was a positive day for the Californian on the whole. While she did finish 22nd and last on the time sheets, being only 3.7 seconds off the lead pace was an extremely encouraging start for her first day driving a car anything like the IL-15.
She made up three seconds from the morning session to the afternoon.
“It’s definitely a lot to take in all at once,” Deegan said. “These cars are very, very fun to drive - very different from what I’m used to. I drove an open-wheel car one other time so this is definitely a lot to take in.
“I think the open-wheel side, there’s so many different nuances to this world in itself. And so I think just having everyone teach me all of that, all the different… I feel like there’s so much more data and resources to go off of stuff you can utilise.
“And I think learning how to utilise things to their fullest potential is what I’m going to have to learn.”
Liam Sceats was the best-placed HMD driver in the test in fifth. The New Zealander is not yet signed for the 2025 NXT season but impressed with a fifth-place championship finish in Pro 2000 as a rookie in 2024, winning once and taking five podiums in his first season in the United States.
Caio Collet, who moved to NXT in 2024 after three years inside the top 10 of the F3 championship, was sixth. The former Alpine F1 academy driver was NXT Rookie of the Year in 2024, finishing third in the standings and taking six podiums, including a win at Mid-Ohio.
In seventh was Bryce Aron - another fresh addition to the HMD squad after moving from Andretti. Having moved from the European ladder, Aron achieved two podiums in his rookie NXT year and finished ninth in the standings after five successive top-eight results to end the season.
Josh Pierson followed his two teammates in eighth. The 18-year-old is returning for a third season in NXT after finishing 14th in the standings with six top-10 finishes in 2024; Pierson finished fourth in USF2000 in 2021 and has also dabbled in the IMSA SportsCar Championship and World Endurance Championship.
British driver Josh Mason was next-best for HMD in 15th. He ran two races for Abel in 2024 - finishing 17th in St. Petersburg and 16th at Barber - and has eight races of F2 experience from 2023. The four-time EuroFormula Open race winner is not yet confirmed for NXT in 2025.
Christian Brooks - Nolan Siegel’s mid-season replacement at HMD in 2024 - was 16th. He finished inside the top 10 in all eight of his NXT races, including three fifth-place finishes; he had four podiums in Pro 2000 before he forewent the campaign at Mid-Ohio.
Nolan Allaer was a returning part of the HMD lineup and placed 16th. He made the big leap from primarily Formula Ford competition to run NXT in 2024, finishing inside the top 10 twice in a 10-race campaign curtailed by budget issues.
Confirmed with HMD for the 2025 season, Tommy Smith was 21st on the time sheets. The Australian driver is making the switch from F3, where he has finished 27th and 20th in the standings, with a best result of fourth in this year’s feature race at Silverstone.
Abel squad continues to grow in strength
With four different entries being run across the 2024 season, and all four cars present at the test last Friday, the Abel Motorsports team continues to go from strength to strength. And that is even with Jacob Abel now having departed.
Making the switch from HMD to Abel for 2025, Myles Rowe impressed on debut with a test-topping time over one-tenth of a second clear of Hauger in second.
Rowe stepped up to NXT in 2024 after winning the Pro 2000 title as a rookie in 2023 but endured a mixed 2024 season. The 24-year-old American, driving in collaboration with the diversity-driven Force Indy project, finished 11th in the standings with top-10 results in half of the 14 races.
“The car is really good,” Rowe said. “I’m loving Abel Motorsports. So in terms of just switching teams and understanding how the car is working and where we need to go from here, I’m having a good [day].
“Taking it step by step. I’m doing what I’m supposed to do. We’re on the right path. We’re getting somewhere.”
Next in the order for Abel - fourth on the time sheets - was Callum Hedge, who is yet to be confirmed for the 2025 season after driving for HMD as a rookie in 2024.
Hedge finished fourth in the 2024 standings with a podium in Detroit and five top-five results. The New Zealander won 13 races and was on the podium in 16 of the 18 races as he won the 2023 Formula Regional Americas Championship.
Yuven Sundaramoorthy - returning to Abel for a second season after finishing eighth in the standings as a rookie in 2024 - was 10th on the time sheets. The Wisconsin native took eight top 10s (and four top fives) in the final nine races, including podiums at Gateway and Nashville.
Jordan Missig piloted the No.51 car - vacated by Abel - to 20th on the time sheets. He ran five races with the team in 2024, with a best result of ninth at Gateway, and finished 11th in points in Pro 2000 the two seasons prior.
JHR fields double-rookie test lineup
The Juncos Hollinger Racing (JHR) outfit went somewhat left-field with its test drivers. American driver Alexander Koreiba - a sports car frequenter in LMP3 machinery - was 19th on the time sheets in his first single-seater outing since 2021, when he tested in Pro 2000 and raced twice in United States Formula 4.
Frankie Mossman was the quickest of the team’s pair in 13th. The 18-year-old from California was in the top 10 on 13 occasions in 18 races and stood on the podium twice en-route to finishing eighth in the 2024 Pro 2000 standings.
JHR is yet to reveal either of its NXT drivers for the 2025 season.
Miller looking to build on rookie season
Driving for his family Miller Vinatieri Motorsports team, Jack William Miller was 17th on the time sheets. As a rookie in 2024, Miller was 15th in the NXT standings with two top-10 results; it was a learning curve of a year for the 21-year-old after finishing 11th and ninth twice across three years in Pro 2000.
Ganassi yet to make on-track appearance
Set to re-enter NXT-level competition in 2025 after downsizing its IndyCar outfit from five to three cars, Chip Ganassi Racing now has a pair of NXT chassis.
But as the team continues to prepare for its first season dabbling in IndyCar’s premier feeder series since 2008, it was missing from the Chris Griffis Memorial test. Ganassi’s two NXT drivers for 2025 are yet to be announced.
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