Hunter McElrea has moved to third in the Indy NXT Series after finishing fourth in the second of two races in Detroit over the weekend.
The Andretti Autosport driver had started fifth and gained one spot to come home half a second shy of the podium.
Nolan Siegel was offered a chance of redemption, having suffered a failure in the lead on the final lap of Race 1, the rookie grasping the opportunity to hold off Christian Rasmussen for his maiden win.
“It’s absolutely amazing,” Siegel said. “Yesterday was obviously super disappointing. I think we deserved two (wins) this weekend. But to get it today after what happened yesterday, it’s not losing – it’s how you come back from a loss like that and how you come back from a bad day. We came back from a bad day and won.
Louis Foster also made up from a DNF in Race 1 following contact from McElrea, the Toyota Formula Regional Oceania alumnus rounding out the podium.
Foster had started on pole for both races and quickly locked into battle with Rasmussen off the front row in Sunday’s finale. From third on the grid, Siegel benefitted when the two drivers in front ran long at Turn 3, the 18-year-old capitalising on the gap to take the lead.
He managed his lead from here, overcoming three Safety Car restarts to move into second in the championship, just two points behind Rasmussen. McElrea moves up to third following the round but sits 38 points behind the lead pair.
Indy NXT returns in two weeks for the Grand Prix at Road America.
Header Image: Indy NXT
