New Zealander Callum Hedge finished fourth in the opening Indy NXT race on the Indianapolis Road Course this morning.
In a busy race that featured 165 on-track passes, Jacob Abel held on for victory in a three-lap shootout to the chequered flag after two late cautions erased his early gains.
Nolan Siegel finished as runner-up, while Andretti Global’s Jamie Chadwick secured her first Indy NXT podium in third, becoming the first female competitor to feature in the top three since Pippa Mann’s 2010 win at Kentucky Speedway.
Abel had earlier qualified fastest to secure the pole for both races, setting a 1:14.9358 to top HMD Motorsports’s Caio Collett by two-tenths.
Hedge qualified eighth for the opener and will start from the same position in Race 2.
Abel was in cruise control through the early stages, building an advantage of over five seconds on the field until the first Safety Car was required on Lap 21 when Yuven Sundaramoorthy came to a halt.
Having worked forward from fifth, Siegel trailed his rival off the restart, but the American at the front again began to pull clear.
On Lap 30, Jordan Missig went off course after contact with the wall, resulting in the second full-course yellow.
Abel held on off the restart and went on to win by 0.5470 seconds, with Chadwick two seconds down the road in third.
Hedge crossed the line 1.6 seconds off the podium and was the top rookie in fourth, with Myles Rowe eight-tenths behind completing the top five.
Indy NXT returns at 5.00 am NZST on Sunday for Race 2.
Header Image: Karl Zemlin/ Penske Entertainment
