Caio Collet finished third in both the 2024 INDY NXT by Firestone season finale Sept. 15 at Nashville Superspeedway and in the final championship standings. The points finish earned him Rookie of the Year honors.

Collet remains with HMD Motorsports in 2025, likely making him the favorite for the championship, especially with 2024 champion Louis Foster likely graduating to an NTT INDYCAR SERIES seat and second-place Jacob Abel noting Nashville was his final INDY NXT by Firestone start.

“I think next year we can hit the ground running from the start, knowing what to do exactly for every single track without wasting the time of learning the track and stuff like that,” Collet said. “I think this is something that would play on my side.”

The humble Collet then paused to invest fully in himself as a potential champion because work still needs to be done to reach that level.

Ovals are a discipline of concern for the Brazilian. Collet had an average oval finish of 13th before his third-place finish at Nashville. Finishing eighth Aug. 31 at the Milwaukee Mile allowed Collet to clinch Rookie of the Year honors in the penultimate race of the season but left the celebration subdued.

Collet admitted he struggled to grasp oval racing and knew those results wouldn’t vault him to the top of the standings in 2025. Foster had 13 top-five finishes, including 11 in the top two, in 14 starts during his championship-winning season. Collet, who had no oval experience before this season, is aware someone else could replicate those stats next year.

That’s why finding consistency and speed on circle tracks is the focus this offseason.

“It's a whole different game, the ovals,” he said. “I learned that the hard way at the beginning of the season. I think the racing, everything that involves the oval, how you qualify, I think there's a lot of details. I think you have to treat it separately compared to a road course.

“I'm happy to finish off quite in a strong way. Obviously helps you to prepare for what comes next. That's really important.”

By comparison, in 10 road or street course starts, Collet had a 4.9 average finish, including a victory from the pole July 7 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and three runner-up results. A slight improvement in this discipline, coupled with a jump in oval performance, could lift Collet to a championship next season.

“I think the road and street courses, as the year went on, we pretty much performed really well,” he said. “The first two rounds we struggled a bit but then after Indianapolis (Motor Speedway road course), every single road or street course we were pretty much up there with Louis (Foster) and Jacob (Abel). I think that is a strong point and something we can keep and improve for next year that I was quite happy about.”

Collet will return to his native Brazil for part of this offseason, honing his skills at a karting track where he learned to race as a youngster.