Australian driver Lochie Hughes earned a spot on the 2025 INDY NXT by Firestone grid with Andretti Global by clinching the USF Pro 2000 championship in August, earning a career enhancement package for promotion to the INDYCAR development series.
“It took a little while to sink in,” he said. “It’s been a long road to get to this point. To be able to go to INDY NXT, a series that has some INDYCAR teams involved and goes to all the INDYCAR races, it’s amazing.
“I’m a racer. I just want to win, but to get that scholarship to move up, that’s the big prize. I’m just super excited to get going for next year.”
Hughes’ journey from Australia to American open wheel racing is interesting and unconventional.
He began his racing career in karting in 2012 before making his car racing debut in the CAMS Australian Formula 4 Championship Certified by FIA in 2018. Hughes’ ambition to race in Europe was halted due to COVID restrictions in 2020.
Without racing, Hughes had to get a full-time factory job for two years to make ends meet.
That day job only increased Hughes’ desire to return to racing. Then a relationship with Australian motorsports PR specialist Brett “Crusher” Murray helped Hughes’ journey take a new course.
Murray, who has extensive experience working in American open-wheel racing, nudged Hughes to come to the United States instead of Europe. Without the proper budget to compete in Europe, Murray gave Hughes a reality check of changing directions.
Hughes listened and signed a contract to race in the 2022 Formula 4 United States Championship for Jay Howard Driver Development. Moving to America was a one-way trek. He didn’t have a Plan B. Working in the factory during the pandemic gave Hughes a glimpse of what life would be like without racing.
“Honestly, that helped me a bit more with racing,” he said. “I’m balls to the wall. Racing is everything. If it doesn’t work out, I’ve been on that side where I couldn’t go racing, and I never want to have that feeling again.
“If you give me the opportunity, I’ll do the job. I’m pretty confident in myself that if you give me the car, I can do the job. It’s about having the opportunity.”
Hughes delivered by winning his first F4 United States Championship start at NOLA Motorsports Park. It was the first of six wins, sparking a championship-winning season despite every track being new to him.
He graduated to USF2000 in 2023, winning the season opener at St. Petersburg, the first of four wins in a third-place championship finish.
Hughes advanced another step last season to USF Pro 2000, securing a second championship in three years.
Hughes’ racing progression drew the eye of accomplished NTT INDYCAR SERIES driver and fellow Australian Will Power.
“I really want to help him get to INDYCAR,” Power said. “I think he's very good. He's very focused and determined. I want to see another Australian get a good seat and succeed here in America. He's good. He deserves it.”
Power recalled a conversation he and Hughes shared this summer at Iowa Speedway when Hughes asked him how to approach a championship pursuit.
Hughes, 22, has never shied away from approaching people - no matter their stature.
“I remember being 10 years old, my parents took me to the Australian Grand Prix for my birthday,” Hughes said. “I actually met Jackie Stewart, and I walked straight up to Jackie and was talking to him, and he couldn't believe that a 10-year-old knew who he was. And this was sort of before social media or anything like that, so this was just off my racing knowledge, which I've always been a bit of a nerd with.
“So, he would come see me every day, and we would talk about Jim Clark and Graham Hill in the old days, which was pretty surreal.
“I've always been good at approaching people. I've always been an approachable person. That sort of stuff is pretty easy to me.”
Hughes’ outgoing personality forged relationships to help make the path to INDY NXT more rewarding.
“It’s cool because every single relationship I’ve made over here, I’ve made myself,” he said. “I had to walk up and down pit lane and try to introduce myself. Sometimes it’s not fun to do and you feel like you might be annoying someone, but it’s important. All the relationships I’ve created on my own, which is a nice feeling.”