It was a race of strategy in the St Louis GP, the first one in three years without a safety car. Kiwi Callum Hedge maintained a strong pace, while Australian rookie Lochie Hughes took the chance to prove himself on his oval debut.
Hedge came out fast in qualifying, taking the provisional pole with an average lap speed of 163.644mph. The last 6 then drivers all managed to out-pace each other, pushing Hedge down into 7th place.
Hughes finished in 5th place with an average speed of 164.35mph, starting the race in the 3rd row.
Championship lead Dennis Hauger took pole position with the only average speed above 166mph.
Lap 1 of the race saw Hedge lose a place to Juan Manuel Correa, dropping down to 8th. He was able to stay close and passed Correa back 2 laps later to regain 7th place.
On the same lap, Caio Colet passed Hauger for the lead after a few attempts in the opening laps. This made Colet only the third driver to lead the race this season.
Hughes dropped one position to sixth place after an opening lap struggle in which drivers constantly swapped places. He was only one place ahead of Hedge but managed to maintain a three-second gap and stay close to the leaders.
On lap 20, Jack Miller and Tommy Smith got lapped, holding up the leading cars and creating close traffic. Correa and Jordan Missig got right behind Hedge, but he held them off and kept 7th place.
The rest of the race was uneventful for Hedge. He held position but wasn’t able to catch up to the lead racers.
Hughes held 6th place for the first half of the race before passing Josh Pierson on lap 47. Ten laps later, he took 4th place and quickly gained on Miles Rowe in third.
Ricardo Escotto held up the lead drivers on lap 60, allowing Hughes to close the gap and take third, putting himself on the podium.
One lap later, he passed Hauger for 2nd before immediately passing Colet and taking the lead.
Hughes then quickly lapped Escotto and Sebastian Murray, using them to gain a strong lead over the cars behind him.
He kept the lead until the end of the race, winning his first oval and second race of the season.
Hauger remains the championship leader, with Hughes only 19 points behind in second. Callum Hedge is in seventh place in the championship standings.
IndyNXT continues next weekend at Road America, racing on Monday at 3 am NZST.
Header Image: Abel Motorsports
