“I love winning but I hate losing more”- Indy Nxt champion Foster

Indy Nxt champion Louis Foster is enjoying the feeling of victory as he works to secure a future in IndyCar.

The Andretti Global driver has won seven of 13 races this year, with one remaining. Victory in last Saturday’s Milwaukee 100 earned him the title and a prize of $850,000 (£645,532) to spend on an oval test, the Indianapolis 500 and its rookie orientation program, and one other round on IndyCar’s 2025 schedule.

“I’d love to keep winning. If we do move up to the big series next year, it’s a lot harder to come by, for sure. This might be my last year of being able to win quite often,” Foster reflected after one of his recent victories.

IndyCar hasn’t had a race-winning rookie since Colton Herta in 2019, and no rookie winners on an oval since 2016. Foster is unbeaten on ovals this season, but he does not attribute his success to individual brilliance.

“Team chemistry really, really has a massive effect on ovals. Andretti is a great group of guys, and we work really hard together, and we figure it out.”

Foster, Fresh out of the car after becoming champion, reiterated, “I love winning but I hate losing more.”

“We had a few bumps at the start of the year, but we kept our head down and just kept pushing, and I’m just over the moon.”

Foster is the fourth Andretti driver to take the Indy Lights title; the team also competes in IndyCar.

“It’s been absolutely amazing being a part of Andretti. They have worked with us so closely, especially with the IndyCar team,” he told the media. “I have the luxury of being able to stand on Colton’s stand every weekend.”

He added: “I worked a lot this year outside of the car on mentally being in the right place for races. I’ve always [worked with] my dad [former touring car racer Nick Foster] with that. He helps a lot, because obviously he knows me best. I think just understanding where we are, staying cool in races. A lot of the races last year, some of the mistakes I made were from being a hotheaded rookie, whereas this year we’ve calmed it down a lot more and seen the bigger picture.”

Foster has “had talks with teams” in IndyCar, but nothing has been signed ahead of next weekend’s season-ending race at the Nashville Superspeedway.

“I’m hoping that around Nashville, slightly after it, we can find something. I’ve done as much as I can this year to prove to the teams that I’m worthy of a seat.”

Foster believes he has a “good chance of getting” a regular IndyCar seat, but admits “it’s just such a hard circus to get into.” He was asked if he thought the way he sealed the Indy Nxt title was a message to IndyCar teams.

“I think we’ve made enough of a statement this year already. This is our seventh win, we’ve done enough of a statement.”

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