Latest news with #HMDMotorsports
Fox News
12-07-2025
- Automotive
- Fox News
Myles Rowe Earns First INDY NXT Win, First By Black Driver In Series
NEWTON, Iowa — Myles Rowe, whose love for racing started from go-karting, became the first Black driver to win an INDY NXT Series race, as he captured the 75-lap event Saturday at Iowa Speedway. Rowe passed series points leader Dennis Hauger with 14 laps remaining and cruised to the win by more than a second on the 0.894-mile oval. In August 2021, Rowe became the first Black driver to win any INDYCAR-sanctioned race when he won at New Jersey Motorsports Park in the USF2000 Series. He rattled off several more wins and won the 2023 USF Pro 2000 Series title. "I'm super proud to be able to represent and be winning now and be up front," Rowe said. "It's super crucial to be able to see somebody that looks like you doing well, someone to look up to. Especially when you're younger, things are a lot bigger and seem a lot more unfeasible, especially motorsports-related." The last 18 months haven't been as smooth, as he has continued to work his way up the INDYCAR ladder and began racing in the INDY NXT Series in 2024. NXT is the top developmental series for INDYCAR. He was 11th in the series standings last year driving for HMD Motorsports and moved to Abel Motorsports this year. "It's huge, for sure," Rowe said. "It means a lot to me. I just want more. Honestly, it's great that this is a first, but I'm looking for multiple wins, and then to carry that on to INDYCAR" The 25-year-old Rowe was born in Georgia, lives in Brooklyn, N.Y. and graduated from Pace University in 2022 with a degree in film and screen studies. Rowe drives as part of the Race for Equality & Change program of Penske Entertainment, which has worked to encourage opportunities for drivers and crew members. His program is also in partnership with Force Indy, which has worked with Rowe for several years as part of its mission to create racing opportunities for under-considered communities. Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.
Fox Sports
12-07-2025
- Automotive
- Fox Sports
Myles Rowe Scores First INDY NXT Win
INDYCAR Myles Rowe took a historic INDY NXT by Firestone victory at Iowa Speedway and then took a bow. Rowe earned the INDY NXT by Firestone at Iowa Speedway win by executing a stirring late-race pass for the lead, then held on to become the first Black driver to win a race in this series. His margin at the finish was 1.3927 seconds. SEE: Race Results This is the second season in the series for the 25-year-old Georgia native who resides in New York and in 2023 captured the USF Pro 2000 Championship. 'It's so good,' Rowe said after driving the No. 99 Abel/Force Indy entry to victory lane. 'We've been working a minute for this, and we knew we had the pace. It was about waiting for the last half of the race and seeing what we could do with it.' Fourteen laps from the finish, Rowe went around series points leader Dennis Hauger on the outside in Turn 4 as they came upon lapped traffic. Rowe's experience paid off as Hauger, a series rookie, was competing in just his second oval race. 'We don't stop here -- I'm looking for a lot more than this,' said Rowe, who is fourth in the standings. 'But I'm glad we could get this (win), for sure.' The race featured 130 on-track passes and 55 passes for position, both figures ranking in the top three of INDY NXT by Firestone races staged at this short oval track. Hauger's strong run in Andretti Global's No. 28 Nammo machine helped extend his series lead to 73 points over teammate Lochie Hughes, a rookie driving the No. 26 McGinley Clinic/USF Pro Championship entry. Hughes finished 16th in the 19-car race after being penalized for a Lap 3 incident with Rowe. Hughes, the winner of last month's oval race at World Wide Technology Raceway, was trying to hold off Rowe for second place when Rowe moved to the inside on the backstretch. Their cars touched, with Hughes' left rear tire taking a brush from Rowe's front wing. Race control deemed that Hughes moved defensively, drawing a drive-through penalty that dropped him down a lap to the field. Andretti Global's Salvador de Alba, who had turned the fastest lap in Friday's practice, finished third in the No. 27 Grupo Indi entry. Several drivers had spins off Turn 4 without contact. HMD Motorsports' Josh Pierson tried to take the high line around teammate Caio Collet for third place on Lap 26, but he lost the back end of the car. On the ensuing restarts, Juan Manuel Correa of HMD Motorsports and Ricardo Escotto of Andretti-Cape Motorsport spun on Lap 30 while Davey Hamilton Jr. of HMD Motorsports did the same on Lap 34. The series will be back in action at the end of the month when a doubleheader is staged at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on Saturday, July 26 and Sunday, July 27. Those represent the 10th and 11th races of the 14-race season. recommended Item 1 of 2
Scoop
09-07-2025
- Automotive
- Scoop
Top US Team HMD Motorsports Confirmed For Castrol Toyota FR Oceania Trophy
Top US racing team HMD Motorsport will join forces with TJ Speed Motorsports to field a three-car line-up in the 2026 Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Trophy. The team will race under the name HMD Motorsports with TJ Speed and will join the New Zealand Championship's existing four teams for the new-look four-round championship when it begins in January 2026. HMD has campaigned in Indy Lights and INDY NXT since its inception in 2019, and also an alliance in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES from 2022 to 2023, and in the Formula Regional Americas championship in 2020. It's best known, however, for its INDY NXT campaigns, where it has run drivers including current INDYCAR racers Christian Rasmussen, Linus Lundqvist, Kyffin Simpson, Benjamin Pedersen and Nolan Siegel. It has won the team's championship twice and has also been runner-up twice, as well as two drivers' championships since 2021. Rising INDYCAR star David Malukas is the son of team owner Henry Malukas and is another to have raced in INDY NXT with the team. The New Zealand-based single-seater series has served as a critical development platform for many HMD-affiliated drivers, both past and present—including Josh Pierson, Liam Sceats, Tommy Smith, Callum Hedge, Bryce Aron, and Nikita Johnson—all of whom have progressed to race in INDY NXT. The championship has also contributed to the careers of drivers who have advanced to the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, including Louis Foster and Jacob Abel. As an FIA-certified category, the Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Trophy awards Super License points to its top drivers, creating a strong pathway for drivers' progression within the sport. 'We are looking to strengthen the Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Trophy grid in New Zealand by prioritizing a competitive driver line-up that represents HMD and TJ Speed,' explained HMD Motorsports Team President Mike Maurini. 'With two strong and growing programs, joining forces to compete abroad, we will be able to combine our efforts and help get some drivers that could potentially compete with us in 2025, with some additional track time.' Indycar drivers Santino Ferruci, Devlin DeFrancesco, Jacob Abel, Louis Foster, Marcus Armstrong, and Robert Schwartzman are all graduates of New Zealand's premier single-seater championship. 'We have built a strong reputation in the United States as a great feeder series for IndyCar feeder series such as IndyNXT and the USFPro Championships,' explained TOYOTA GAZOO Racing NZ Motorsport Manager Nicolas Caillol. 'Removing the clashes in the NZ racing calendar and the US testing calendar cleared the way for more teams in key markets to join our championship, and the speed with which HMD Motorsports and TJ Motorsports have committed is reflective of the interest in New Zealand. Their addition will only make that pathway stronger both ways.' 2026 Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Trophy
Indianapolis Star
30-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Indianapolis Star
Racing social media sensation Hailie Deegan: '10 Insta posts offsets price for my sponsor'
INDIANAPOLIS -- Hailie Deegan comes by her 3.3 million followers on TikTok, 1.7 million followers on Instagram and 605K YouTube channel subscribers honestly. She's a novelty. A 23-year-old woman racing cars on the open-wheel circuit in a sport overrun by men, a lot of those men who are generations down the line with longtime, readymade sponsors at their fingertips. She is also the daughter of Brian Deegan, one of the most successful athletes in X Games history with 16 medals -- 12 in motocross and four in rally car racing. He was the first athlete to land a 360 in a freestyle motocross competition. Racing consumers fell in love Brian Deegan (like father, like daughter) and his infectious personality. At 51, he has 1.3 million followers on Instagram, 613,000 on TikTok and 73,100 on X. She is also the daughter of Marissa Deegan, a woman who latched onto technology when others weren't. She had a cell phone before anyone had a cell phone. She was at the forefront of the Blackberry craze. She started her daughter's social media platforms long before that was a thing in the world of racing. And Marrissa Deegan has her own 200,000 followers on Instagram and 34,600 on TikTok. Deegan has been staring into the lens, being recorded, for as long as she can remember. She has been sharing her life from the time she started in racing at 8 to now, as a driver in IndyCar's primary developmental series Indy NXT for HMD Motorsports. "I was so used to having cameras around 24/7 that it was almost just like I expected that of myself. Oh, I gotta show my life on social media. Show everyone what I'm doing. Show everyone who I am," Deegan told IndyStar. "And I think people gravitated toward that." They did. And that has come with a lot of good. But it also has come with the bad. Given that iconic name in the sphere of racing, Deegan has gotten plenty of comments that aren't so friendly. Spoon fed. Spoiled. Handed everything on a silver platter. "I think people think, 'Oh, you race cars. You live in a multimillion dollar mansion, drive around in some million dollar car.' No, it's not," said Deegan. "Really, I live a very normal life. Yes, my job is racing. My job is to keep up with social media, keep sponsors happy, run a merchandise company. Like that's my job." And it is a tough job. "People don't realize how hard it is to bring in sponsors," Deegan said, to continue the dream she has to race for at least the next 10 years. That is why Deegan, known as racing's social media sensation, has turned to what she is most comfortable with -- facing the camera and telling the world her story -- to foot the monstrous bills that come with racing a car. "My dad was highly successful on the two-wheel side of motorsports, which is about two zeros less than what you need to be in four-wheel motorsports," she said. "I'm all sponsor funded. It is not driven by family money whatsoever. Yes, I have the family name, but my parents haven't contributed financially to my racing for a long, long time." They gave her the start, the unconditional love and the continued endless support. But now it's Deegan's time to carry forward her own dream. "That's why I've used my social media to bring another value to the table. I could sell a primary sponsorship for a race, but also backend 10 Instagram posts that kind of offsets the price and makes it more favorable for my sponsor," she said. "So they both work hand in hand for me." When it comes to securing sponsors, Deegan is picky. The money might sound good, but it has to fit. "I've turned down a lot of sponsor deals over the fact that it doesn't align with me as a person. And so if there's something that truly I would never use this product, I will not do the deal," she said. "It obviously isn't worth it for a company if I don't love the product." Which brings her to one of her main sponsors, Monster Energy. Deegan drinks an energy drink a day. Perfect match. She also loves cooking, baking and, especially, grilling which makes her deal with Pit Boss another win-win. "I hate selling stuff that I don't use. People can see right through that," she said. "With social media nowadays, people can see when stuff is so fake." And that is what makes Deegan's social media so popular -- its authenticity. Most of her posts are either shot at a race track or hanging out with family or her fiance, Chase Cabre, who she met competing against in the NASCAR K&N Series. Cabre has become not only the love of Deegan's life, but her partner in business. "He was badass driver and I'm lucky to have him because he's probably the best in-house coach I could have," she said. "He is so talented at racing, but he just didn't grow up with money." Deegan watches all her film with Cabre and plays a lot of iRacing with him. Cabre is also the man who turns the camera toward Deegan these days, helping to capture her life and racing career on social media. And like the reactions to her social media, the majority positive, Deegan gets similar reaction as an Indy NXT driver. Mostly positive, some negative. Deegan, who grew up in Temecula, Calif., immersed herself in motorsports. "My dad has broken about everything in his body, won championships in off-road racing, rally car racing," she said. "The only thing he never really touched was NASCAR. But also I think with his image, it wasn't necessarily, I guess it didn't fit on brand." Deegan calls her family "on the edgier side." Her two younger brothers both race. Haiden is a professional AMA supercross and motocross racer, and Hudson competes in youth motocross. As for her own career, Deegan has plenty of accolades under her belt. She is the only female driver in the Lucas Oil Off Road Pro series, as well as the regional series to win championships (2013, 2015, 2016). She was also the only youth to win the Lucas Oil Off Road Pro series Driver of the Year award (2016). In Hailie's first season driving in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West in 2018, she scored her first win at Meridian Speedway in Idaho and went on to capture two more checkered flags in the 2019 season, making her the only female to have won races in the K&N Pro Series. As a current driver in Indy NXT, she ranks 19th out of 25 drivers with 82 points. Not exactly where she'd like to be. But she's working hard and trying to drown out any of the naysayers. "I really don't value anyone's opinion unless they're above me success-wise. So if some big name driver told me I sucked or I was terrible at this, obviously that would affect me a lot more," she said. "But people who have never done it before, it doesn't really affect me at all. I don't understand how people can feel like they can have an opinion about that when they've never done it before." Even when she was winning in K&N, there was some negativity. "At the end of the day, on the outside, I don't know if racing is ready for a fully competitive female," Deegan said. "Everyone says they want to push it, but ..." Deegan looks up to and has great admiration for Danica Patrick, modern day racing's female trailblazer. "She's probably, in my opinion, she was the woman that really really made it and did a lot and so I give her full props," said Deegan, who said she knows Patrick faced similar negativity from people as a female driver. "But who cares? She's way more successful than everyone who's talking about her combined." And Deegan has something Patrick didn't have when she started her career. "I'm thankful that I did build my social media and invest a bunch of time into it at a young age and didn't just neglect it," said Deegan, "because it's paying off for me right now."
Fox Sports
26-06-2025
- Automotive
- Fox Sports
Road America Victory Drives Caio Collet Into Title Hunt
INDYCAR Caio Collet thrust himself into contention for the 2025 INDY NXT by Firestone championship with a commanding win June 22 at Road America. That was Collet's first victory of the season and second of his career in the INDYCAR development series. HMD Motorsports driver Collet capitalized on a rare error by Andretti Global's Dennis Hauger, who had led the opening 15 laps from pole. Hauger slid wide in the final corner on the 4.014-mile track, allowing Collet to pounce and take the lead, one he never relinquished. 'For 14 laps, he didn't put a wheel wrong,' Collet said. 'At one point in Turn 14, he had a little slide. I got a run. In my mind, I thought, 'It's now or never.'' Collet topped both practice sessions during the weekend and converted his pace into a statement win, leading all five remaining laps after Hauger's mistake. The win capped Collet's third consecutive podium finish, building on a second-place result on the streets of Detroit on June 1 and a third at World Wide Technology Raceway, where he led a race-high 58 of 75 laps June 15. Despite losing out late in that race to rookie Lochie Hughes and second-year driver Myles Rowe, Collet found consistency at a critical stage in the championship, reaching the midway mark of the season. Entering WWTR, Collet trailed championship leader Hauger by 84, but his form has begun to shift momentum. He sits 70 points back heading into the next round Sunday, July 6 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, the site of his first pole and victory last season. This moment could catapult him to preseason expectations. Collet, the 2024 Rookie of the Year, was a title favorite entering this season – with good reason. He was the top returning points scorer, placing third last year. And 2024 champion Louis Foster and runner-up Jacob Abel each graduated to the NTT INDYCAR SERIES. However, early dominance by Andretti Global rookies Hauger and Hughes, who won the season's first six races, left Collet playing catch-up. A third-place finish behind Hauger and Hughes in the season opener at St. Petersburg was followed by a mechanical DNF at Barber Motorsports Park. 'To be honest, it was quite tough,' Collet said. 'When you come in a second year, you expect to be at the front. We were there, but not to their level.' Road America proved he has leveled the playing field. With four of the remaining seven races on natural road courses – where Collet has a strong record – and three ovals where he holds experience over the rookies, the championship picture has shifted. Even Hauger acknowledged the potential turning of the tide. 'We've been on the back foot compared to Collet all weekend (at Road America),' Hauger said. 'We did everything right, but they were just a bit stronger.' With momentum now on his side and tracks ahead that suit his style, Collet's resurgence sets up a thrilling second half of the season. 'Hopefully, we can gain the momentum throughout the rest of the season,' Collet said. 'For sure will be a long fight and a difficult one. Hopefully, we can win a couple more races, and we never know what can happen. I think our focus is to win races and see what happens.'
