Louis Foster Makes Progress While Absorbing Rookie Lessons
INDYCAR
Louis Foster is experiencing the challenging life of an NTT INDYCAR SERIES rookie.
That was never more evident than coming to World Wide Technology Raceway on Wednesday, April 16, to take part in a rookie oval test alongside PREMA Racing rookie Robert Shwartzman.
Last time Foster was on the 1.25-mile track, he led all 75 laps from the pole to take one of his eight wins during a 2024 championship-winning season in INDY NXT by Firestone.
He returned for the test as a rookie driver in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, sitting 24th among 27 drivers in points.
That leaves the English driver in a rare position entering the next race, the Children's of Alabama Indy Grand Prix powered by AmFirst on Sunday, May 4 at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama.
Foster is used to winning. He won 10 of his 28 INDY NXT by Firestone starts across two seasons. He's not been close in three INDYCAR SERIES races this season.
'Unfortunately, the races haven't gone our way just yet,' Foster said. 'But the team and I are working really hard and very well together to keep improving. Some of the results have been totally out of our control, so my focus is on what we can control and working hard to make sure the team and I get the best out of the weekends.'
Foster was collected in an opening-lap crash in the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding, then finished 24th in The Thermal Club INDYCAR Grand Prix.
However, the 65-lap race at The Thermal Club road course located near Palm Springs, California, was a great dose of medicine that Foster needed to improve. After completing no race laps in St. Petersburg, he nearly went the distance at The Thermal Club, completing 64 of 65 laps, allowing for a great learning experience.
'I did my first full INDYCAR race at Thermal and learned a lot about tire management, fuel management and pit stops,' Foster said. 'Those things were a big learning curve for me, and now that I've got that out of the way, I do feel more relaxed and have a bit more understanding of how things are going to play out.'
Before this season, Foster had never driven a race car with an aeroscreen. Racing with a hybrid system also is a first. He's also not had to work on fuel-saving measures or had a car serviced during a pit stop since his junior category races were essentially sprint races from green flag to checkered.
Getting that experience led to a career-best 16th-place finish in last weekend's 50th anniversary of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
The learning doesn't stop with that result.
The next aim, in addition to continuing to learn the inner workings of how to complete a race, is to charge forward instead of backward.
Foster has flashed decent qualifying speed for a rookie in the No. 45 Mi-Jack Honda. He started 16th in St. Petersburg, 10th at The Thermal Club and 20th in Long Beach.
Fighting forward, however, is easier said than done. Only 28 rookie drivers since 1947 have reached victory lane, including two since 2007 – Carlos Huertas (Houston 1, 2014) and Alexander Rossi (Indianapolis 500, 2016).
That's a large adjustment for a driver used to winning.
Luckily, Foster has plenty of learning opportunities ahead. Beginning with last week's race in Long Beach, he will be in the car 14 of the next 16 weeks.
'We're about to get into the meat of the season, and it's going to be hitting the ground running from that point,' he said. 'I feel confident that we can get the most out of it and progress faster so that when we get into the meat of the season, it kind of is smooth sailing.' in this topic
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McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown. (Photo by Matthew Ashton - AMA/Getty Images) McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown believes fellow IndyCar Series team owners are providing a 'disservice' to IndyCar Series owner Roger Penske by not telling the series owner their true feelings regarding the sport. Brown believes IndyCar team owners are highly critical in the media, but when they meet with Penske, they tell him the series is fine. Brown met with Penske during a rare trip to the United States for last weekend's Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix IndyCar Series race. Brown offered his insight on upcoming changes he believes IndyCar needs to do. 'I had a good meeting this morning with 'The Captain,'' Brown told a very small and select group of reporters in the team NTT DATA Strategy Center in the McLaren paddock on May 31. 'We spoke about everything, and it was very productive. I shared my views on things in a very productive constructive manner I was very encouraged that I think they recognize the issues and the opportunities. 'But I am disappointed in some of the team owners that when 'The Captain' is not around they say another thing. And I think that does a disservice, actually, to Roger, because he probably gets conflicting information when he's not around the teams and hen he's around, it's like, 'Hey, everything's great.' 'I was like, 'That's not what you said 20 minutes ago.'' Brown believes real feedback is important for Penske to help guide IndyCar to become a better and more responsive organization. 'We covered everything from tech, to cars, the fans, the races, conflict of interest, the perception of conflict of interest, and I felt he was listening to me,' Brown continued. 'I called it as I see it, which I think is the right way to do it. 'I warned them. I did say I'm seeing media later and I always share my opinion, and they went, 'Yeah, we know,'' he said with a laugh. Brown has some strong, but very constructive views. Because of an extremely busy schedule, McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown doesn't get much opportunity to attend an NTT IndyCar Series race in person. Most of his time is devoted to the resurgence of the McLaren Formula One operation, which has been the most successful in the 2025 Formula One World Championship. Lando Norris (left) and Oscar Piastri (right) at the Formula One Spanish Grand Prix. (Photo by Jay ... More Hirano/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) Oscar Piastri of Australia leads the F1 World Championship by 10 points over McLaren teammate Lando Norris of Great Britain. But last weekend, Brown was in Detroit for the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix instead of the Spanish Grand Prix. It was Brown's first IndyCar Series race in person in 2025. The man who has returned McLaren's Formula One team met with Penske, who also owns the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indianapolis 500 on May 31. Penske is at the center of a major decision when it comes to transparency in officiating the series. Brown and other team owners are urging Penske to move to a completely independent officiating body to avoid any appearance of conflict of interest. Also in the meeting were Greg Penske, Penske's son and Penske Corporation Vice Chair of Penske Entertainment; Jonathan Gibson, the Executive Vice President of Marketing and Business Development at the Penske Corporation, Doug Boles, the President of IndyCar and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Penske Corporation President Bud Denker. Penske Corporation President Bud Denker with Josef Newgarden, Team Penske Chevrolet at Indianapolis ... More Motor Speedway on May 18, 2025 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Michael L. Levitt/Lumen via Getty Images) 'We've been discussing those for some time,' Denker told me on a taping of the Pit Pass Indy podcast. 'We've talked about them last week also. with a number of people and we're still working with the teams. We're working with the people that are stakeholders in our sport to get the right structure of that. But I think the goal continues to be to have that independent organization going into 2026 season. 'We've got our models not like that in terms of their having the FIA do it. We think we'll have an independent body here of the right type of people to make it truly be independent of anything to do with Penske Corporation, Team Penske, or Penske Entertainment. That's important, obviously, but more work to be done there.' When Denker was asked if IndyCar team owners should help pay for the 'completely independent officiating body' along with Penske, Denker said, 'Well, I'm not sure that's what we're going to have. But again, we're not prepared to announce anything yet. And we're still working with the stakeholders to do that. According to Brown, Penske was very interested in some of his ideas of improving the sanctioning body, including modernized and transparent technical inspections. The 109th Indianapolis 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway included violations from three teams – Team Penske in qualifications, Andretti Global and Prema after the race. The seemingly minor rules infraction at Team Penske was modifications to the rear attenuator by applying a different color of Loctite to the seam. Two of the three entries in question were sent to the 32nd and 33rdpositions on the starting grid including Will Power's No. 12 and Josef Newgarden's No. 2. But it came one year after a major penalty for manipulating the Push-to-Pass system. As a team owner, Penske acted swiftly and decisively by dismissing longtime Team Penske President Tim Cindric, Managing Director of the IndyCar team Ron Ruzewski and General Manager Kyle Moyer before the Indy 500. Tim Cindric (left) and Josef Newgarden (right) at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 17, 2025 in ... More Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Brandon Badraoui/Lumen via Getty Images) 'It was the worst week of my life,' Denker said, regarding to the dismissals. 'These are people not only we like, but these are also people we love and have done so much for our company with wins and championships and for our brand. 'But the decision was made, and we moved forward. And now we're still moving forward. And I think the fact is that here we were in Detroit, and we're going to be in the next races at Gateway and Road America. We're moving forward. 'Tough decisions were made. They were made, and now we're thinking ahead.' Brown defended Penske's independence from his racing team at Team Penske and believes the owner of the series in no way, shape or form influence race control and technical inspection. He also believes if IndyCar can move toward a more independent officiating group, it would help remove the level of conspiracy theories that have become so prominent in the paddock and among the fans. 'I have no doubt as to Roger's personal integrity on the conflict of interest,' Brown said. 'It's just the kind of perception that creates and I'm sure it's frustrating for him because I'm very confident he's not exerting his influence in a way that but just a human nature side. 'People see ghosts and conspiracy theories and they go, 'Oh did the race director make that call subconsciously?' 'I think we need to work through that issue so that everyone can have confidence.' On the positive side, Brown believes FOX Sports CEO Eric Shanks and the way FOX Sports is promoting IndyCar is 'mega.' 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'But I think at the end of the day, we've done a lot of band-aids on this car and that is why it weighs so much, it's not fast enough, etc. etc. We could do a better job of integrating the hybrid. An IndyCar Hybrid. (Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) 'When you just start bolting everything on you end up with a big heavy car and then unfortunately some teams are innovating via engineering a very old car because that's the only way you can find more pace out of it,' Brown continued. 'I'm not saying if you have a new car, teams won't still do what teams have been doing for 100 years in motor racing, but I do think when you've got a spec car that's been around so long, and you ask, 'Where can we innovate?' 'You start innovating in areas you shouldn't innovate in.' Brown said from the discussion, it sounded like the front half of the schedule is going to be better than this year. A major part of the conversation involved technical inspection and how to improve it. Brown told Penske the series needs more investment in tech and technical inspection, including lasers, video inspection and more advanced ways of measuring the cars. 'You are always going to pre-race tech and post-race tech, and we have that in Formula One, but I think technical inspection is very important,' Brown said. 'I think the whole governance around tech, the conversations around having something independent, it needs to truly be independent, and I think that will help a lot on the conflict of interest. 'We spoke about that quite a bit. And I explained my own experience with perception is reality comment.' Brown also would like to see more investment in IndyCar that could grow the overall value of the series. He believes even fewer charters could help create an increased level of interest to 'buy in' to IndyCar and believes 20-24 car fields could actually improve the racing. Currently, IndyCar has experienced growth on the grid as 27 full-time entries competing in the series this season. IndyCar and IMS President Doug Boles during the public drivers' meeting prior to the NTT IndyCar ... More Series 109th Running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. (Photo by Michael L. Levitt/Lumen via Getty Images) Brown also has tremendous respect for IndyCar President and Indianapolis Motor Speedway President Doug Boles, and how he has served two major roles simultaneously. 'I like Doug,' Brown said. 'I think Doug, and I said to him in the team on our meeting, 'He's just been given a (bleep) sandwich for dinner.' 'I like Doug. He is fronted up to it in a big way like he's leaning in which is what you want. Instead of 'everything is great' Doug knows there have been some issues. 'I'm a Doug fan he's leaning in he's direct. He owns the issue and wants to solve them.' Brown would like to see IndyCar put on display the items that fail technical inspection. NASCAR does that with its 'Show and Tell' table outside of the NASCAR transporter in the garage area so that other teams can learn, what won't be accepted. 'If there's an infringement, I think we should all know what it is,' Brown said. 'I think we should just have total transparency in what we do. 'I know what happened on the Andretti car based on what my team has told me. 'But I think it'd be good to go see what it is. 'Doug was in agreement with that. I think Doug works hard, so I'm a fan of Doug. He's a few weeks into the job and having to deal with some issues, but I feel like he's a guy who is going to recognize the issues, tackle the issues and be transparent about it. 'I just think in general, the more transparent, the better. You can never go wrong with transparent.' Brown believes the rear attenuator penalties that were assessed to Team Penske in qualifying were similar to a speeding ticket for going 75 miles an hour in a 70-mph zone. As for Andretti Global's post-race penalties for modifying the Energy Management System (EMS) cover and A-arm covers, that was a speeding ticket for 100 miles an hour when the speed limit is 70 mph. 'Team Penske was going 75, and if what we have taken away from what we've read, Andretti was going 100,' Brown said. 'There's no mistake there. It's not what it was put on because that was the only way to make it fit, or we measured it wrong, or they missed the hole. 'They screwed up. 'You can argue that they screwed up. 'They modified it, completely redesigned a part you can't touch, tested it, and discovered it's better to have on the car,' Brown said of Andretti Global. 'Do I think the owner of Andretti knew what was going on? 'Highly unlikely, but you see the action Roger took with his race team.' McLaren's Zak Brown believes Penske took the issues seriously and intends to restore credibility and integrity to IndyCar and the Indianapolis 500. IndyCar Owner Roger Penske (Photo by)
