top of page

Loyalty, risk & trust: Why Foster committed long-term IndyCar future to RLL

Credit: Joe Skibinski
Credit: Joe Skibinski

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLL) have always had faith in Louis Foster. Off the back of such a dominant championship-winning campaign in Indy NXT, there was a reason why they afforded a 21-year-old rookie the immediate security of a two-year deal.


But before even the conclusion of his debut campaign - and before he had secured the Rookie of the Year title in the Nashville finale - the team’s leadership was adamant they wanted to further reaffirm their unwavering, high-belief commitment to the Briton.


So Foster was beckoned into the trackside office of team president Jay Frye. And as he heads into his second year in the series, he now has three more years in the series to hand.


“It was very random,” Foster recalled of extending his contract, speaking on the DIVEBOMB IndyCar Podcast. “It was after the race at, I want to say, Milwaukee. [Frye] said: ‘I want to talk to you after the race.’ So I went and talked to him. He said: ‘We want to sign a new deal.’


“I was like: ‘Okay, sure. I have no issue with that.’ And then once the season finished and we had a bit of a break, that’s when we started getting into the actual contract. But it was pretty easy. It was straightforward. He said what he wanted to do and we did it. Simple as that.”


Foster’s rookie season was one defined by its impressive peak pace but collective struggles to execute on race day. Ultimately, the abundance of the former, peaking with a maiden pole position at Road America, was plenty enough of a foundation for RLL to determine Foster is a desirable feature for the long-term, despite being yet to record a top-10 result.


On the opposite side, even with the team having shown shortcomings in 2025, Foster was encouraged enough by the direction of the organisation to sign the fresh deal. And it was an entirely fuss-free process with no unreasonable asks from either side.


Credit: Dominic Loyer
Credit: Dominic Loyer

“It’s basically the same contract - just an extension,” Foster detailed. “It’s only an extra page of whatever basically saying: ‘Oh, it’s now until this date.’ So there’s no real changes [apart from] bits and bobs in there that have changed figures-wise. 


“[It is not] like they gave me a Ferrari. They didn’t try and sugar me up. I just wanted to be there and trying to sign a longer contract in IndyCar is always hard. So the fact that it gets given to you is quite nice.”


There is no denying it has been a turbulent few years at RLL, defined by a hefty turnover of personnel and volatility within the leadership positions. Aside from largely the shining light of Christian Lundgaard, who Foster has been tasked with replacing as the team’s young figurehead, much of this has been reflected in ailing results.


It was not an easy situation for a rookie to slot into. But after a season within the camp, which has been guided by Frye’s leadership now for the best part of a year, Foster is confident that things are beginning to right themselves away from trickier times.


“I like the environment,” he deduced after his first campaign. “I like the people. I think the team has potential to go forwards. Things have got to start working, though, for sure. I want to see the guys who work there see some success because they deserve it. 


“And I want some damn success as well, so we’re working hard to get there. That’s the main reason [for signing the deal]. I’m not going to sit here and say that we’re going to win in two years’ time. [But] there’s a chance for it. I have faith in the team.”


Much of that belief is stemming from the investment from Droplight, a partner brought onboard at last year’s Indianapolis 500 with aid of Frye. They are now serving as Foster’s primary sponsor and are having a noteworthy impact on the wider team.


Credit: Chris Owens
Credit: Chris Owens

“They’ve been very, very helpful,” Foster insisted of his sponsor. “We’ve been able to hire a lot of people because of them. So there’s that aspect where I think financially the team’s in a better position than they were 12 months ago. And at the end of the day, money equals speed. Everyone knows that. That’s how it works. So that’s one piece of the puzzle.


“Using that money the right way is the other piece of the puzzle - and that’s where Jay comes in. You can have someone with a lot of money in a race team but not really know where to go or not know a direction. He’s a good person that has a clear direction and I think those two combined long-term is a good thing. 


“In my brain, I don’t see how the hell in three years’ time we’ll be the same or worse than we are right now. There’s no way, with what we’ve got going on. It can only improve.”


Of course, committing so far into the future, essentially forming a three-year deal, comes with its risks. With 22-year-old Foster set to be 25 by the time this contract expires, he is aware enough to realise, if there is not an uptick in team performance, he is possibly preventing himself from exploring other opportunities in the crucial proving years.


But he has been given plenty of means to believe it is a gamble worth taking.


“I would hope this year I’m going to be a better driver than I was last year and I’ll keep improving. And if the team is struggling and they can’t figure out certain things, then I’m going to be locked into a place where I can’t show my abilities,” he acknowledged. “But the reason why I signed it is because I have trust in the team that they will pull through. 


Credit: Chris Owens
Credit: Chris Owens

“If I didn’t think they had the ability to do so, I probably wouldn’t have signed a deal. Or if I would have, I would have signed a shorter one. So it is a risk, at the end of the day, but at the same time, dude, I’m doing my dream job, I’m racing Indy cars. 


“Greed can sometimes be a bit too high in some drivers and it can bite them in the ass. So when you get given an offer like this from a team, a lot of the time, unless you’ve got a good reason not to, it’s usually a smart thing to say ‘thank you’ and take it.”


This humility, in many ways, is emblematic of Foster’s character: a confident young driver but one able to swallow his pride. And in this case, as well as trusting the trajectory of the team, out of gratitude he is staunchly committed to those who invested in him as part of the team’s project and gave him the opportunity to step up to become an IndyCar driver.


It is also expected that there could be significant amounts of driver movement ahead of next season, so while Foster’s name is taken off the table for one of the leading rides, a new deal also removes it from the conversation of having to merely fight for any seat in the series.


“It’s such a hard series to get into,” Foster affirmed. “The fact that I was given the opportunity by [co-owners] Bobby [Rahal] and Mike [Lanigan] and David [Letterman], I have a lot of loyalty to them because of that. I would like to think I am a loyal person.


“So when they offered this contract, it’s not like I wanted to say no but was one of those things where you can’t really say no either. So it was a no-brainer.”


Credit: James Black
Credit: James Black

Crucially, no longer a ‘contract year’, pressure is alleviated from Foster having to perform in a certain way in 2026 to secure a future in the series. With three more years in hand, the next two of those can afford him the chance to continue to progress without major duress.


But in a landscape so cutthroat, he knows you can never rest too greatly on your laurels. So while security is very much welcome, it does not detract from his drive to succeed.


“I don’t want to say it makes me feel like I can relax because I still want to do better and I still want to be better,” Foster asserted. “It won’t make me work less hard. I don’t need to go into this year having to prove myself to get a seat, which is nice, and it takes some pressure off. 


“But I’ve still got the pressure on myself to want to do as good of a job as I can. I’ve got my own goals for the next year and the team’s got their goals and those are goals we want to achieve. And there’s pressure to do that.”

Advertisement

bottom of page