Three-Way Title Fight Reaches Middle Rounds at Mid-Ohio

Fox Sports

2 days ago

INDYCAR
The INDY NXT by Firestone season hits a pivotal point this weekend at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
After a dominant start to the year by Dennis Hauger and Andretti Global, the championship momentum has shifted, and the title fight is suddenly wide open.
SEE: Event Details
With four wins in the first five races, Norwegian rookie Hauger leads rookie teammate Lochie Hughes by 28 points and sophomore driver Caio Collet by 70.
Collet arrives in Ohio fresh off his first win of the season June 22 at Road America, ending Andretti's perfect 2025 start and injecting life into HMD Motorsports' campaign. Collet also knows his way around the 13-turn, 2.258-mile circuit. He won from pole here last year, snapping Andretti's decade-long dominance at Mid-Ohio as the team has triumphed in 10 of the last 11 races.
Hughes, meanwhile, has found his stride, with a pair of wins this season and back-to-back podium finishes boosting his stock heading into the weekend.
Last year's Mid-Ohio race saw the top three in the standings fill the podium. After a similar sweep two weeks ago at Road America, don't be surprised to see Collet, Hauger and Hughes lead the charge again in Sunday's 35-lap INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix at Mid-Ohio airing at 10:30 a.m. ET on FS1, the FOX Sports app and the INDYCAR Radio Network.
Pierson Ascending
At just 19, Josh Pierson already has 30 INDY NXT by Firestone starts. But the rising American talent is still hunting for his first podium finish. That long-awaited milestone may come on Sunday at Mid-Ohio.
In his second full-time season, Pierson enters this weekend fifth in the championship standings, 123 points behind Hauger.
Despite that gap, consistency has been his calling card. He's finished ninth or better in all seven races this season, including two fourth-place finishes in his last three starts.
His latest podium near-miss came at Road America, where he ran third until Hughes slipped past on the final lap, denying Pierson his maiden trip into the top three.
Mid-Ohio might just be the track where things click. Pierson finished ninth here in both 2023 and 2024, but with growing experience and momentum, a top-three finish isn't out of reach.
Mid-Ohio Is Ideal Spot for Rowe's First Win
Myles Rowe heads to Mid-Ohio with momentum, history and a growing sense that his first INDY NXT by Firestone victory is around the corner.
Rowe secured his sixth top-five finish of the season at Road America and sits fourth in points, 101 back of Hauger. Quietly consistent all year, the ABEL Motorsports with Force Indy driver has shown the pace, racecraft and maturity of a front-runner. It's just a matter of putting it all together.
That could happen this weekend.
History suggests Mid-Ohio is a fertile ground for breakthrough wins. In each of the past three seasons, a driver claimed their maiden INDY NXT victory at Mid-Ohio.
Hunter McElrea did it for Andretti Global in 2022. Louis Foster broke through for the same team a year later. And then Collet accomplished the feat last season.
Rowe is a proven winner across the junior categories at Mid-Ohio, claiming victory in both USF Pro 2000 (2023) and USF2000 (2022), where he finished first, first and third in a dominant triple-header showing.
As a sophomore, Rowe returns to Mid-Ohio with more experience, confidence and perhaps the perfect conditions for a breakout. If Mid-Ohio continues its trend of crowning first-time winners, Rowe may be next in line.
Papasavvas Returns Home
Evagoras Papasavvas takes on his home race this weekend at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, driving the No. 24 entry for HMD Motorsports. This is the fifth and final confirmed race of the season for the Ohio resident, who transitions into his reserve driver role with the team for the remainder of 2025.
A spring test at Mid-Ohio for the team led to Papasavvas' maiden start May 4 at Barber Motorsports Park. He qualified third and finished second in his series debut.
He also finished 10th and 13th, respectively on the 2.439-mile, 14-turn Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course on May 9-10 and 12th at Road America.
Sleepers To Watch
While the spotlight has centered on title contenders like Hauger, Hughes and Collet, a pair of sophomore drivers, Jack William Miller and Bryce Aron, could steal headlines this weekend.
Miller, 21, has quietly put together his most consistent stretch in INDY NXT competition. Coming off a seventh-place finish at Road America, where he qualified fifth, the ABEL Motorsports driver sits eighth in points, boasting four top-10 finishes in the last six races. That's a big leap forward from 2024, when he only earned two top-10's all season.
This is Miller's first year under the ABEL Motorsports banner after Miller Vinatieri Motorsports merged with ABEL's operation over the offseason. The results speak for themselves. Miller's upward trajectory could continue at Mid-Ohio.
Aron, 21, also has found new life since joining Chip Ganassi Racing after the St. Petersburg season opener, where he raced for HMD Motorsports. After a slow start with CGR with three straight 15th-place finishes, Aron began to settle in by picking up two top-10 finishes in the last three races, highlighted by a season-best ninth at Road America.
Last year, Aron competed for Andretti Global and had eight top-10 finishes. He's starting to look like a driver who could crack the top five with the right progression.
Track Specs: 2.258-mile, 13-turn road course
Qualifying Record: Caio Collet, 1:10.2879 (115.650 mph), July 6, 2024
Push To Pass Parameters: 150 seconds of total time with a maximum time of 15 seconds per activation
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