Think about all the excellent head-to-head duels for the INDY NXT by Firestone championship in recent years.

Pato O’Ward against Colton Herta in 2018 … Oliver Askew against Rinus VeeKay in 2019 … Kyle Kirkwood against David Malukas in 2021 … Christian Rasmussen against Hunter McElrea in 2023.

It looks like another intense rivalry for the top spot in INDYCAR’s development series may be brewing, if results of private team testing Feb. 5-6 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca are any indication.

Twenty INDY NXT by Firestone drivers prepared for the start of the 2025 season March 2 on the Streets of St. Petersburg by testing on the 11-turn, 2.238-mile road course in Monterey, California. That picturesque track will host a doubleheader for the series July 26-27.

While times and speeds are not officially released from private tests, various media reports and social media feeds have given an opportunity to try to make some itemized deductions:

Hedge, Hauger on Collision Course for Top?

ABEL Motorsports newcomer Callum Hedge, entering his second season in the series, was quickest overall in the two-day test in the No. 17 car. Rookie Hauger was less than a tenth of a second behind in his No. 28 Andretti Global machine.

Hedge and Hauger’s places atop the speed chart aren’t that surprising. They were 1-2, with Hauger pacing the way, among full-time competitors in private testing Jan. 15-16 at Sebring (Florida) International Raceway.

But the results of all four practices this week at Laguna Seca – there were morning and afternoon sessions both days – proved that Hauger and Hedge might be joined at the hip atop sessions and racetrack podiums throughout the 2025 season.

HMD Motorsports veteran Caio Collet, last season’s Rookie of the Year, led the first practice Wednesday, with Hauger fourth and Hedge seventh. Then it was time for the Hauger-Hedge Show to begin, as they flipped the first and second spots on the speed chart for the final three sessions.

Hedge led the second session Wednesday with the quickest overall lap of the test, with Hauger six-hundredths of a second behind. Hauger took control Thursday, leading both sessions over runner-up Hedge, who trailed by six-tenths in the wet third session but trimmed that gap to just one-hundredth of a second in the fourth and final practice.

This rivalry is just getting started, folks. Buckle up – it will be a fun ride.

Best of the Rest

Collet reaffirmed his title credentials with HMD Motorsports by ending up third overall in the team’s No. 23 car, less than one-half second behind overall leader Hedge.

Fellow second-year INDY NXT by Firestone driver Myles Rowe showed solid speed by ending up fourth overall in the No. 99 ABEL Motorsports with Force Indy entry, less than a tenth of a second behind Collet.

Josh Pierson raised a few eyebrows by ending up fifth overall in the No. 14 HMD Motorsports car. Pierson struggled in 2024 during his second year overall but first full-time season in the series, finishing 14th in the standings. He signed in 2023 as an NTT INDYCAR SERIES development driver for Ed Carpenter Racing, and Pierson may be ready to show the paddock the skill Carpenter noticed early.

Rookie Report

Hauger was the quickest rookie in this test, as he was last month at Sebring. That doesn’t figure to change much during the season, as Hauger is one of the most prepared first-year drivers in INDY NXT by Firestone in recent memory due to his recent experience.

The Norwegian won the FIA Formula 3 Championship in 2021 and secured five wins and 13 podium finishes in FIA Formula 2 – the last official ladder step before Formula One – in the last three seasons. He also served as a Red Bull Junior Driver for six years and was named a Red Bull Reserve Driver for the 2022 and 2023 FIA Formula One World Championship season.

But two other rookies, Lochie Hughes and Max Taylor, produced solid tests and ended up in the top 10 overall.

Hughes was eighth in the No. 26 Andretti Global machine, about a second behind Hedge. Taylor placed ninth in the No. 18 HMD Motorsports car, less than a tenth of a second behind Hughes.

Australian Hughes is competing in a full season, while American Taylor, 17, is racing a partial schedule.