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Fox Sports
5 days ago
- Automotive
- Fox Sports
Dennis Hauger Runs from Chaos To Win in Detroit, Pad Points Lead
INDYCAR Dennis Hauger quickly figured out the best way to avoid potential and real chaos Sunday in the INDY NXT by Firestone Detroit Grand Prix – stay out front. Pole sitter Hauger, from Norway, led all 45 laps of the race on the streets of downtown Detroit in the No. 28 Rental Group car for his fourth victory in five races this season in the INDYCAR development series. He held off the No. 76 HMD Motorsports car of 2024 series Rookie of the Year Caio Collet by 1.0460 seconds in a one-lap dash for the checkered flag after a restart at the end of Lap 44. SEE: Race Results 'The tires, they cool down really quickly, so that last lap was sketchy,' Hauger said. 'I think I heated up the tires nicely, and we got a good gap after the back straight. 'Super happy with that. We kept it clean, and we got a good win today.' Hauger expanded his series lead to 38 points over fellow rookie teammate Lochie Hughes, who is the only other driver to win a race this season. Rookie Juan Manuel Correa earned his career-best finish of third in the No. 39 HMD Motorsports car. His previous best result was 14th in the second race of the Indianapolis road course doubleheader last month. Series veteran Josh Pierson completed a solid day for HMD Motorsports, which fielded the cars that finished second, third and fourth, with a fourth-place result in the team's No. 16 machine. Hughes rallied from a late pit stop due to a damaged front wing to round out the top five in the No. 26 McGinley Clinic/USF Pro Championship car. Just six of the 20 cars in the race finished on the lead lap, as the tight confines of the nine-turn, 1.645-mile temporary circuit on the streets of downtown Detroit induced chaos nearly from the green flag. At the start, Hauger and Hughes raced side by side into the first turn, with Hauger clinging to the top spot. In Turn 4 on the same lap, the No. 99 Abel/Force Indy car of Myles Rowe was sent into a spin due to rear contact from the No. 17 car of teammate Callum Hedge. That incident spawned a caution period due to a bottleneck that blocked the track and led to an accordion effect of collisions, with nine cars involved and many suffering damage. Hauger held steady on the restart on Lap 3 and gradually eased away from Hughes and Andretti Global teammate Salvador de Alba in the No. 27 Grupo Indi machine. De Alba passed Hughes for second place on Lap 5 and stayed within four-tenths of a second of Hauger by Lap 10. But Hauger expanded his lead to 1.5 seconds by Lap 19 as de Alba, Hughes, Collet and Correa dueled – often side by side – for second through fifth. There was some contact, and the front wings on the cars of Hughes and de Alba were damaged. The wing damage, which also included rubbing a deep groove into his right front Firestone Firehawk tire, forced de Alba to pit from second place on Lap 24. Hauger had all but checked out up front by then, ahead by 6.5 seconds. Hughes' front-wing damage compromised his car's performance, and Collet passed him for second on Lap 38. Hughes was forced to pit for a front wing change on Lap 39 from third place. It looked like Hauger was going to canter to the checkered flag, as his lead had reached double digits by Lap 40. But Jordan Missig spun exiting Turn 2 on Lap 41 in the No. 48 Abel Motorsports car, triggering the second and final caution of the race and erasing Hauger's big lead. The field lined up for a final restart and one-lap shootout at the end of Lap 44, but Hauger got a big jump at the green and never was threatened by Collet or Correa. The next INDY NXT by Firestone race is Sunday, June 15 at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois, just across the Mississippi River from St. Louis. It's the first of four oval races this season for the series. recommended
Fox Sports
03-05-2025
- Automotive
- Fox Sports
Dennis Hauger Tops Again; Andretti Dominates Damp Barber Practice
INDYCAR He needed the last lap to pull it off, but Dennis Hauger remains untouchable so far this weekend in INDY NXT by Firestone competition at Barber Motorsports Park. Hauger led the pre-qualifying practice Saturday morning for the Grand Prix of Alabama, turning his best lap of 1 minute, 12.7743 seconds in the No. 28 Rental Group car fielded by Andretti Global on his final trip around the 17-turn, 2.3-mile natural-terrain road course. SEE: Practice Results Norwegian rookie Hauger and the rest of the 20-driver field coped with changing track conditions during the 45-minute session. The track started damp, with all drivers on Firestone Firehawk rain tires. Then, as the circuit dried, more and more drivers switched to slicks to find speed. 'It was just about improving every lap out there,' Hauger said. 'The track was just getting drier and drier. There were some wet spots out there and there. Happy with the run. We did it the right way with the session and the track just drying out. It was a fun run.' Qualifying is next at 1:30 p.m. ET Saturday. The 35-lap race starts at 11:30 a.m. ET Sunday. FS1, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network will provide live coverage of both sessions. Brazilian veteran Caio Collet was second quickest in the morning practice with his best lap of 1:12.8753 in the No. 76 HMD Motorsports car. Collet gained ground on Friday practice leader Hauger, as he trailed the series leader by three-tenths of a second after the first practice Friday. Salvador de Alba was third at 1:13.0559 in the No. 27 Grupo Indi car, followed by teammate Lochie Hughes at 1:13.0722 in the No. 26 McGinley Clinic/USF Pro Championship machine. Andretti Global boasted three of the top four drivers on the final time sheet. Myles Rowe rounded out the top five at 1:13.1207 in the No. 99 Abel/Force Indy car of Abel Motorsports. recommended
