NXT Gen Notebook: Collet back winning & Milwaukee testing

Credit: Dominic Loyer

It has been a week in Wisconsin for Indy NXT, starting with the Road America race weekend and culminating with an oval test on the equally iconic Milwaukee Mile. DIVEBOMB rounds up the key stories from a busy five-day stretch…

Collet ousts Hauger to end winless run

It was not straightforward throughout but it was Caio Collet’s weekend at Road America. 

Winless since Mid-Ohio at the start of July last year - his only previous victory in Indy NXT - HMD Motorsport’s Brazilian youngster started off strong by pacing both practice sessions at Road America ahead of star-of-2025 Dennis Hauger.

But Collet, who finished third in the standings as a rookie last year owing to six podiums, fell two-tenths short of Hauger in qualifying, despite being in the preferable Group 2.

“I was quite frustrated to not get the pole,” Collet admitted. “Dennis did a mega lap. I think I left a bit in the tank. When I saw my lap time on the dash: ‘How is it possible that I’m not pole?’”

Winner of the previous race at Gateway, Hauger’s Andretti Global teammate and second-place man in the standings, Lochie Hughes, was second to Collet in the slower group. HMD’s Josh Pierson started in a career-best third place.

Having been quicker for most of the weekend, Collet immediately placed pressure on Hauger early in the race. The Norwegian former Formula 3 champion defended expertly though, with Collet remaining behind but the lead pair checking out in tandem up front.

“At the beginning of the race when I tried in the start and it didn’t work, I said: ‘Let’s take a step down, keep the pressure up,’ saving the corners that I needed to, pushing the corners that I had to push to keep the pressure up,” Collet said. “We did very well. I had a great car to do that. Kept him under pressure the whole race.”

Finally with five laps remaining after race-long pressure, Collet was able to pounce on Hauger, passing the championship leader around the outside of Turn 1. It was the first time Collet had led a lap in 2025.

Credit: Dominic Loyer

“For 12 laps, he didn’t put a wheel off,” Collet said. “It was quite frustrating because I was pushing behind him to keep the pressure. He was driving very well, not doing any mistake. It was a tough race for all of us. With his mistake, I was able to get a run, finally made the pass. I’m glad it worked. I’m happy with the weekend.”

Behind the dominant lead pair, Pierson led Hughes for 19 laps after the latter briefly found his way past on the opening lap. But after several laps of significant pressure, the two-time race winner denied Pierson a maiden Indy NXT podium with an aggressive final-lap move.

Both drivers have been tales of consistency in 2025. Hughes has finished inside the top five in every race and has been on the podium in all bar one, still sitting only 28 points behind Hauger and a comfortable 42 points ahead of Collet in the championship. Pierson has finished no worse than ninth, has only twice finished lower than sixth and sits fifth in points.

It was still a double podium for Andretti, but for the first time in 2025 and since Jacob Abel’s victory for Abel Motorsports in Portland last year, it was a different team on the top step of the podium.

“We had a great car all weekend,” Collet said. “At the start [of the race] I tried, it didn’t happen. After that I kept the pressure and I was praying for a mistake. I just kept it calm and pushed [Hauger] to the mistake.”

Collet focusing on wins in title battle

As a rookie in 2024, Collet achieved a total of six podiums. Already at the halfway point in the 2025 season, the 23-year-old has five rostrum visits to his name and has only been off the podium twice in seven rounds.

But Collet and the HMD squad have lagged a little behind the rookie Andretti duo of Hauger and Hughes at the start of the year. A 70-point deficit to the championship lead in third is substantial but there is hope that Road America could provide a springboard.

Credit: Chris Owens

“The early part of the season was dominated by [Andretti],” Collet said. “To be honest, it was quite tough. Obviously when you come in a second year, you expect to be at the front. We were there but not quite. We were able to be in the fight [at Road America]. 

“Hopefully we can gain momentum throughout the rest of the season. For sure it will be a long fight and difficult one. Hopefully we can win a couple more races and we never know what can happen. Our focus is to win races and see what happens.”

Hauger and Andretti on the back foot

They may have been second-best to only a singular driver, but a rarity in 2025 and off the back of Louis Foster’s dominant championship run in 2024, Andretti found themselves with gains to find at Road America.

They recovered from a more challenging pair of practice sessions for Hauger to take his impressive pole position, but HMD’s advantage showed again on race day despite Hauger leading 15 laps.

“[Collet was] strong all week,” said Hauger, who still holds a 28-point championship lead over Hughes. “We started a bit on the back foot this weekend. The team did an amazing job to get back [for qualifying]. They were just a bit stronger [in the race]. 

“I was struggling a bit more and more towards the last half of the race. Caio was really strong from Turn 12 to 14 all race. I tried to hold on, got a bit of a slide after 14. That just gave him a bit of a run. So I was more or less passed before Turn 1. 

“He had really good pace. Once he got past, we tried to stick with him. It’s good points. Obviously we’re here to win, race for the win. It was close but just not enough.”

Credit: Dominic Loyer

Hughes gets his elbows out for third

After his heroics late on to win at Gateway, Hughes was again required to make a meaningful late pass after the intense duress under which he placed Pierson. It took wheel-banging on the final lap but he managed to get the job done.

It was not the easiest of weekends for Hughes but the reigning USF Pro 2000 champion maintained his supreme consistency and extended to a six-from-seven podium record to limit his losses to Hauger.

“We’ve been struggling all weekend,” Hughes said. “The track just seemed strange. I’ve never felt the feelings I felt here before - I’ve raced here in a few different cars. [We were] on the back foot. We went the wrong way with the setup so the weekend started off a bit rough. 

“In the race, we made some changes that I think were good. Got Pierson at the start, got greedy in [Turn] 6, he got by. Just after that it was pretty hard to pass without [malfunctioning] push-to pass, getting aero wash, then you’d suck back up down the straight. 

“It was pretty difficult. Found something through [Turn] 3, which I was able to keep close. Had a big crack at him on the last lap.”

Signal processing issue mars push-to-pass

There was panic early in the race as drivers found themselves without the additional bursts of power from the push-to-pass system. But it quickly transpired it was a field-wide problem due to a car-side signal processing issue.

“It was quite weird,” Collet said. “When I took the last corner, I pushed the button, nothing came up… I was catching Dennis on the straight. I am like: ‘Maybe he didn’t use. Maybe it’s not working.’ I went on the radio; they said the push to pass wasn’t working. 

“If I wanted to go for the win, I had to make the move on track. I just take the push-to-pass out of my mind and just focus on the race, what I had to do on track. It was quite strange.”

Credit: Dominic Loyer

Odds and ends through the field

It was another clean Indy NXT race, extending to two events without caution after an unpunctuated affair at Gateway the week prior. 

Myles Rowe achieved his sixth top-five result in seven races for Abel Motorsports, gaining one position after starting sixth. He maintains fourth in the standings by 22 points ahead of Pierson, who sits nine positions ahead of where he finished last season.

Rowe was the first in a string of Abel-run cars in the finishing order, followed by Callum Hedge, who sits seventh in the standings as he looks to rediscover the form that saw him end his rookie season fourth in points. In the Miller Vinatieri Motorsports-partnered car, Jack William Miller dropped from a career-best start of fifth to finish a joint-career-best seventh.

Andretti’s Salvador de Alba was eighth but has fallen behind Pierson to sixth in points. Two-time 2024 Andretti podium-sitter Bryce Aron achieved his first top 10 for Chip Ganassi Racing in ninth, ahead of HMD’s Liam Sceats - the third-highest-placed rookie.

Andretti Cape’s Sebastian Murray and Ricardo Escotto both gained three positions to finish 11th and 13th, sharing the ‘biggest mover’ title with Andretti stablemate James Roe in 14th.

Rowe tops Milwaukee Mile oval test

Two days after Road America, Indy NXT tested at the Milwaukee Mile. Rain late in the morning caused a four-plus-hour delay, but across two sessions, a combined total of 2774 laps were turned.

Rowe paced both sessions from oval novice Hauger as Andretti-affiliated cars completed the overall top five with Hughes, De Alba and Escotto. 

“Happy with the day,” Rowe said. “It’s looking good for Milwaukee and we had a pretty good Iowa test. Very clearly looking forward to the ovals. Hopefully we can just carry the momentum and the execution toward those events. This is good momentum.”

Hedge, Rowe, HMD rookie Juan Manuel Correa and Pierson filled positions sixth to ninth. Collet was down in 10th after finishing ninth in the first session and 17th in the second.