Why Bobby Rahal Chose INDY NXT Champion Louis Foster For IndyCar Team

It didn’t take long for 2024 INDY
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NXT
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Champion Louis Foster to reach his goal of an IndyCar Series ride for 2025.

On Thursday, October 9, the 21-year-old driver from Odiham, England was announced as the newest driver at Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. He signed a multi-year contract with the team owned by 1986 Indianapolis 500 winning driver and three-time CART Champion Bobby Rahal, former television talk show host David Letterman, and Southside Chicago industrialist Michael Lanigan.

The biggest reason why Foster was chosen over some available veteran drivers is spectacular winning record at such a young age.

Bobby Rahal understands what it takes to be a winner from his days behind the wheel of car. When Rahal became a team owner, first in CART and later in IndyCar, two of his drivers won the biggest race in the world, the Indianapolis 500.

Buddy Rice drove Rahal’s car to the win in the 2004 Indianapolis 500 and Takuma Sato of Japan gave Rahal Letterman Lanigan the victory in the 2020 Indianapolis 500.

Foster won his second Open Wheel Racing Championship in three years by dominating the 2024 INDY NXT Championship presented by Firestone. He won a series-high eight of the 14 races this season for Andretti Global. Foster led the series in wins (8), poles (7), podiums (12), laps led (362/640) and completed every lap of competition to beat Abel Motorsports’ Jacob Abel to the title by 122 points.

His previous title came in the 2022 Indy Pro 2000 Series, where he won seven races en route to being named the champion in the season finale.

Foster tested an Indy car for the first time in September of 2023 with Andretti Global at Road America. RLL is currently working to solidify Foster’s test program in preparation for the 2025 NTT IndyCar Series season and that may include a test later this year.

“Obviously Louis had a great year,” Rahal said on October 9. “He has won championships pretty much at every level, and the last couple years at least, there’s no doubt that I think he’s got what it takes.

“For us, we really look at Louis as being a long-term play for us. You’ve got the seasoned veteran in Graham (Rahal, the team owner’s son who has been in CART and IndyCar since 2007), who I think still has four or five good years left in him if he wishes, and then of course Louis and we’re still working on our third car.

“I was very impressed about his racing this year. He really doesn’t seem to make mistakes. He can run quick pace lap after lap after lap without making those mistakes and seems to be smart behind the wheel. Particularly being smart behind the wheel, I think is so critical.”

In 2024, Rahal’s three-car lineup included Graham Rahal in the No. 15 Honda, Christian Lundgaard of Denmark in the No. 45 Hy-Vee Honda and Pietro Fittipaldi in the No. 30 Honda.

Lundgaard’s contract was up at the end of the season, and he has moved over to Arrow McLaren’s IndyCar operation, joining drivers Pato O’Ward of Mexico and Nolan Siegel of Palo Alto, California.

Rahal was expected to plug in former Formula One test driver and GP2 winner Juri Vips of Estonia into a ride but chose the driver that epitomizes IndyCar’s “Ladder System” that is formulated to prepare a driver through the ranks for a career in IndyCar.

“If you look at how INDY NXT drivers have kind of graduated into the IndyCar Series, there doesn’t seem to be too much difficulty in that,” Rahal explained. “Christian Rasmussen did a good job (with Ed Carpenter Racing in 2024). Of course, Linus Lundqvist did a good job (IndyCar Rookie of the Year with Chip Ganassi Racing in 2024), and there have been others.

“To me, it’s kind of a natural progression. And I think it does show really how good the NXT series is in terms of preparing young people to make that final step to IndyCar.

“For us, it didn’t really take a lot of thought. We just feel this was a great opportunity here for us at RLL and I think for Louis, as well.”

Foster inherited his passion for motorsport from his father Nick, who was a former British Touring Car Championship driver. Foster began karting at the age of nine at local karting circuits Camberley Kart Club and Forest Edge Kart Club and won championships at each, in 2013 and 2015 respectively.

Following an impressive career in the European Junior Formulas of racing, Foster moved to the United States in 2022 in the Indy Pro 2000 series with Exclusive Autosport. Despite racing on street circuits and ovals for the first time, Foster was and won the championship in dominant fashion on the strength of seven wins which earned him back-to-back nominations for the Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year award.

He moved up to the INDY NXT by Firestone series in 2023 with Andretti Autosport and earned two wins and four poles in his rookie season. In September of that year, he also drove an Indy car for the first time at Road America.

His series-high eight wins, seven poles and 12 podiums en route to the 2024 INDY NXT Championship netted a record-setting average finish of 2.07 during the season and his 10 total wins over his INDY NXT career moved him to a tie for second place to Greg Moore, who had 13.

In 2023, he was selected to join the BRDC SuperStars program and remained part of this in 2024.

“Obviously, I’m over the moon,” Foster said on October 9. “It’s been my dream to compete up here in IndyCar for many years. To call myself a professional racing driver finally is a really nice thing to say.

“Obviously huge thank you to the whole team. I’ve spent the whole day here meeting everyone. There’s a lot of new faces, a lot of new names. I’m just looking forward to getting the season started.

“I think now honestly my mindset — this was a great year in INDY NXT, but my mind is already on 2025 and doing the best job I can for the team and hopefully we can have a long and fruitful career together.”

According to Foster, he began talking to Rahal as early as June 2024. By the time the season ended at Nashville on September 15, Foster did not have a “tangible offer” for an IndyCar ride.

From that point forward, it quickly came together once Rahal recognized Foster has the necessary ability to run up front early in his IndyCar career.

“I don’t think there’s any doubt that we feel that Louis can run up front,” Rahal said. “I think that’s the goal, obviously, and I don’t think there’s any question of that.

“The way he has raced this year in particular, where I was able to watch quite a bit of it, I think all the elements are there in my estimation.

“We’re disappointed that we weren’t able to continue with Christian. But I think that — I don’t look at this as a second choice or whatever. I think Louis has proven his worth and has earned the situation, and we’re committed to working with him and helping him in every way so he can be successful.

“I think it’s a good combination. I just liked the way Louis carried himself and how he acts, and I think he’s just a class guy. I think for sure that’s why we look at him as a long-term opportunity for us, because I think he can figure in races and in championships in the years to come.”

Rahal benefits from the $1 million scholarship that goes to the INDY NXT Champion to help make the move to IndyCar.

Rahal admits that funding helps, but it was talent that won the ride for Foster.

“It wasn’t premature for us to sign Louis, and frankly I wanted to get him before somebody else might,” Rahal said. “The time was right for us.”