By Steve Wittich

Louis Foster in the Novara Technologies sponsored No. 26 from the Andretti Global stable during testing at Sebring International Raceway (Photo Courtesy Of Penske Entertainment – Chris Jones)

By Steve Wittich

The 39th season of INDY NXT by Firestone action got underway for the first practice of the 2024 season after a slight delay due to a power outage. The state of Florida is the site of the opening race for the 25th season, and the 1.8-mile, 14-turn St. Petersburg street circuit is hosting the season opener for the 14th time.

The 21 entries at the first race of the season tops last year’s 19 entries and is the most since 27 drives began the season in St. Petersburg in 2009. Included in the 21 entries are veteran Jamie Chadwick (Andretti Global) and rookie Lindsay Brewer (Juncos Hollinger Racing), the first time two women have contested the opening race of the year since 2010, when Pippa Mann and Carmen Jorda took part in the season opener in St Petersburg, Fla.

The ambient temperature when the 45-minute practice got underway at 1:50 p.m. was 83F, and the track temperature was a steamy 121.6. The sun shone brightly, glistening off the yachts in the marina outside Turn 10.

One of the slight track changes made to the street course was removing one row of tires at the exit of Turn 4 to give the drivers a little more room. It took a little while for a pair of rookies to take advantage of that. Bryce Aron (Andretti Global) had the rear end step out on the No. 27, while Niels Koolen had a lazy spin, missing the barriers and continuing.

The first red flag came out when championship hopeful Nolan Siegel (HMD Motorsports) went too deep into Turn 1, smoking the brakes and hitting the tire barriers at the end of the 3,677-foot long runway 7/25 of the Albert Whitted Airport. Michael Young from the NTT INDYCAR SERIES Radio Network reported that a rear brake line broke on the No. 39.

Also stopping on track was fellow HMD Motorsports driver Koolen in the No. 33. The AMR INDYCAR Safety Team pulled the Dutchman into a run-off, and Koolen got a ride back to pit road.

Siegel had just set the quickest lap of the first practice at 68.0502 seconds and was followed in the top five by rookie Caio Collet (HMD Motorsports), Jacob Abel (Abel Motorsports), Jamie Chadwick (Andretti Global) and Christian Bogle (HMD Motorsports).

With 25 minutes remaining, the red flag came out again. This time, it was for Andretti Global veteran Chadwick, who got too deep into the bumpy Turn 4 braking zone, missing the corner and nosing into the tire barriers.

The green flag returned with 22 minutes remaining, and the track quickly got busy. 2023 pole sitter in St. Petersburg Louis Foster (Andretti Global) jumped to the top of the timing screen as purple, signifying decreasing lap times, dominated.

With 12 minutes remaining, Foster was the only driver under 66 seconds, with a lap already six-tenths of a second better than Abel’s quickest lap last year. The Brit’s fastest lap was almost one second quicker than rookie Michael d’Orlando (Andretti Cape). The following ten drivers were within a second of d’Orlando, who is looking for a budget to race beyond the season opener.

The HMD Motorsports crew, led by veteran team manager A.J. Smith, got Siegel’s No. 39 back on track for the final ten minutes. After dropping down to 17th on the timing screen, he was able to jump up to sixth quickest.

Finding space was critical and challenging, with only 1.8 miles of track and 21 AER turbocharged 2.0L powered cars.

As the session progressed, d’Orlando continued to go quicker, reaching within a half second of Foster with a few minutes remaining. Behind the top pair, Collett, Chadwick, Abel and Siegel continued to go quicker, with the top 11 drivers with a second of Foster at the end of practice.

Andretti Global veteran James Roe did not show on the timing sheet as turning any laps. The Irishman was busy during a trouble-free session but had an issue with his transponder.

Foster’s lap of 65.7384 seconds was quicker than the lap of 66.3288 seconds that Abel set during Friday practice in 2023.

After the session, Foster told Michael Young from

“It’s the first session of the season. Everybody is just getting their grips together and just kind of seeing where they are. We were fast here last year when we were on pole. We’re just trying to continue on from where started off from.

“That’s where I expect to be and where I want to be. We’ll keep pushing and stay up there.”

Grand Prix Of St. Petersburg Practice #1 Results.

RANK	CAR NO.	DRIVER	TEAM	FAST LAP	DIFFERENCE	TOTAL LAPS
1	26	Louis Foster	Andretti Global	1:05.7384	——	19
2	3	Michael d’Orlando	Andretti Cape	1:06.1681	0.4297	27
3	18	Caio Collet	HMD Motorsports	1:06.2604	0.5220	28
4	28	Jamie Chadwick	Andretti Global	1:06.4073	0.6689	22
5	51	Jacob Abel	Abel Motorsports	1:06.4207	0.6823	25
6	39	Nolan Siegel	HMD Motorsports	1:06.5367	0.7983	17
7	10	Reece Gold	HMD Motorsports	1:06.6137	0.8753	23
8	2	Salvador de Alba	Andretti Cape	1:06.6192	0.8808	28
9	14	Josh Pierson	HMD Motorsports	1:06.6510	0.9126	28
10	99	Myles Rowe	HMD Motorsports with Force Indy	1:06.6646	0.9262	25
11	7	Christian Bogle	HMD Motorsports	1:06.8381	1.0997	27
12	17	Callum Hedge	HMD Motorsports	1:06.9585	1.2201	25
13	23	Jonathan Browne	HMD Motorsports	1:06.9979	1.2595	25
14	22	Yuven Sundaramoorthy	Abel Motorsports	1:07.1347	1.3963	23
15	40	Jack William Miller	Miller Vinatieri Motorsports	1:07.1998	1.4614	25
16	21	Josh Mason	Abel Motorsports	1:07.5249	1.7865	27
17	11	Nolan Allaer	HMD Motorsports	1:07.5272	1.7888	26
18	27	Bryce Aron	Andretti Global	1:07.7060	1.9676	17
19	76	Lindsay Brewer	Juncos Hollinger Racing	1:12.6430	6.9046	13
20	33	Niels Koolen	HMD Motorsports	1:14.4198	8.6814	4
21	29	James Roe	Andretti Global	No Time	‑‑‑	‑‑‑

Does the quickest driver in the first practice of the season win the title?

Last year’s champion and current Ed Carpenter Racing driver only completed a pair of laps during the first practice. Under braking before the right-hand Turn 4, he lost the rear of his HMD Motorsports machine, nosing into the tires and sustaining enough damage that he couldn’t continue.

Sixteenth is the lowest an eventual INDY NXT by Firestone champion finished the opening practice session of the season since 2009 (since we’ve (I) have been keeping track). In those 14 seasons, only three drivers – Tristan Vautier (2012), Gabby Chaves (2014) and Linus Lundqvist (2022) led the first practice session before winning the championship. The champion’s average ranking in the first practice is 5.2.

Conversely, the average finishing position of the driver who led the first practice session is 5.6. Last season, Jacob Abel led the first practice on his way to a fifth-place title finish.

Qualifying for the first of two Foundation Building Materials Grand Prix of St. Petersburg USF Pro 2000 Presented By Continental Tires ended with Turn 3 Motorsport rookie Lochie Hughes on the pole. It’s the third straight year that a driver from Peter and Mandy Dempsey’s Mundelein, Ill. team. Josh Green and Christian Brooks started from pole in 2022 and 2023. Hughes also won the pole for last year’s first USF2000 Championship Presented By Continental Tires race on the 1.8-mile, 14-turn St. Petersburg street circuit.

After missing the opening rounds of the 2023 championship, Pabst Racing’s Max Garcia took home the first pole of the season behind the wheel of the No. 24 for Pabst Racing. The Floridian joins fellow Pabst Racing drivers Jace Denmark, Jake Eidson, Jordan Lloyd and Simon Sikes as pole starters for the Oconomowoc, Wisc. based team on the shores of Tampa Bay. The first of two 20-lap, The Andersen Companies Grand Prix’s of St. Petersburg, is set to get the green flag at 4:20 pm, immediately after NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice.