Note: This continues a series of 2025 INDY NXT by Firestone team previews on INDYNXT.com. The season starts Sunday, March 2 on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida.
Starting Lineup: Lochie Hughes (No. 26 Andretti Global), Salvador de Alba (No. 27 Andretti Global), Dennis Hauger (No. 28 Andretti Global), James Roe (No. 29 Andretti Global).
2024 in Review: Andretti Global stormed back to INDY NXT by Firestone prominence with Louis Foster earning the team’s first INDY NXT by Firestone championship since Kyle Kirkwood in 2021. Foster dominated to the tune of eight wins in 14 races. He also led the series in poles (seven), podium finishes (12), laps led (362 of 640) and completed every lap of competition to beat ABEL Motorsports’ Jacob Abel to the title by 122 points. Jamie Chadwick was also victorious for Andretti Global at Road America, where she won the June 9 race from the pole. Chadwick finished seventh in points with three top-five finishes and seven top 10s. James Roe had a breakout season with his first pole at Iowa Speedway, his best career finish (second at Iowa) and a sixth-place finish in points, with five top-five finishes and seven top 10s. Rookie Bryce Aron was ninth in points, scoring three top-five finishes with a best result of third at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca and Portland International Raceway.
New for ’25: Roe returns to the four-car outfit, but the other three seats change with Salvador de Alba moving from the satellite team at Andretti Cape INDY NXT to Andretti Global and rookies Lochie Hughes and Dennis Hauger moving into the mix.
Keep an Eye on This: Despite the changeover, Andretti Global has the capability to top its nine victories from last season. Roe appears on the cusp of his maiden victory, and de Alba charged from 12th in points at midseason to fifth at season’s end in the exhaust of five top-five finishes, with a best result of third at Iowa Speedway and Milwaukee Mile. He had a 6.8 average finish in the final seven races of his rookie season compared to an 11.1 average in the first seven. Still, the rookies could provide the biggest impact. Hauger, from Norway, 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. Hughes has won two championships in the three years he has raced in America, the 2022 F4 United States Championship and last year’s USF Pro 2000 title. Hughes and Hauger have been in the top five of nearly every offseason test session, including Hauger clocking in a half-second quicker than everyone last month at Sebring International Raceway.
Little-Known Fact: An Andretti Global driver has finished first (2018, 2019, 2021, 2024) or second (2022, 2023) in points in each of the last six INDY NXT by Firestone seasons.