ELKHART LAKE, Wisc. — The Louis Foster train keeps rolling.
Foster, who has won the last two INDY NXT by Firestone races, led the first practice for the Grand Prix at Road America on Friday with a top lap of 1 minute, 51.9070 seconds in the No. 26 Copart/Novara Technologies car fielded by Andretti Global.
“The car was good,” Foster said. “We struggled here a bit last year, especially with front (tire) deg (wear). So, it’s nice to start on the right foot. Made some good changes during that session.
“We’ve still got to do it tomorrow, haven’t we? It’s only practice, so let’s not get too excited.”
Qualifying is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. ET Saturday, preceded by a practice session at 10 a.m. ET, with both sessions on INDYCAR LIVE and the INDYCAR Radio Network. Live coverage of the 20-lap race on the 14-turn, 4.014-mile permanent road circuit starts at 1:05 p.m. ET Sunday on Peacock and the INDYCAR Radio Network.
Foster, the Englishman, will try to become the first driver in the INDYCAR development series to win three consecutive races since Linus Lundqvist in his championship season in 2022. Second-year INDY NXT driver Foster is second in the standings, 25 points behind leader Jacob Abel.
Rookie Caio Collet also continued his strong recent form by ending up second in the 45-minute session at 1:52.1101 in the No. 18 HMD Motorsports entry. Collet has finished on the podium in each of the last two races.
Championship leader Abel was third at 1:52.4096 in the No. 51 Abel Construction machine fielded by Abel Motorsports, followed by James Roe at 1:52.5488 in the No. 29 Topcon car of Andretti Global.
Rookie Bryce Aron rounded out the top five at 1:52.8317 in the No. 27 Jaguar Land Rover Chesterfield car fielded by Andretti Global.
One incident triggered a red flag. Wisconsin native Yuven Sundaramoorthy hit the tire barrier in turn 12 about 10 minutes into the session. He was unhurt.
