NXT Gen Notebook: Rowe surges to thrilling Nashville finale win
- Archie O’Reilly
- Sep 6
- 10 min read
With the championship wrapped up by Andretti Global’s Dennis Hauger in the penultimate round of the season at the Milwaukee Mile, a gloves-off weekend beckoned at Nashville Superspeedway to round-out the 14-race Indy NXT season.
DIVEBOMB tells the story of the 2025 season finale…
How an epic 65 laps unfolded
Leading the field to green for the final race of the year was Andretti’s Salvador de Alba for the first time in his Indy NXT career - fresh off the back of his maiden victory at the Milwaukee Mile.
The Mexican driver took pole position by over 0.3 mph ahead of HMD Motorsports’ Caio Collet and almost 0.5 mph clear of teammate Hauger. It was a dominant top four in qualifying, rounded out by Andretti’s Lochie Hughes at over 1 mph ahead of the remainder of the field, with Andretti Cape’s Michael d’Orlando and Andretti’s James Roe in fifth and sixth.
But with this an impound race, those leading the way in qualifying were not guaranteed to be the dominant forces in race trim. Car setup could not be altered after qualifying so those with a higher-downforce setup would be better suited to race conditions than qualifying.
There was drama before the race even commenced as Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR)’s Bryce Aron spun on the pace laps, recovering to take his eighth-place starting spot. That preceded what ended up being a clean and utterly exhilarating start to the 65 laps.
De Alba got a good jump from the lead, with Hauger’s initial pressure on Collet coming to no avail and the Norwegian falling behind his rookie teammate Hughes. By the end of Lap 2, Hauger had dropped down to fifth past a fast-charging d’Orlando, with Abel Motorsports’ Myles Rowe, having started ninth, joining the fight to create a three-wide situation.
As Hauger found himself sixth, out front Collet recovered from early pressure from behind to run several laps up high, wheel-to-wheel with race-leading De Alba in a gripping duel.
Among the lead positions, it started to resemble something of a multi-car pack. It was Lap 10 by the time Collet’s bold and intense running of the second lane started to fade and he slipped back in behind De Alba.
Further back, the battle continued. In only his third round since returning to Indy NXT after almost an entire year on the sidelines, d’Orlando held fort side-by-side with Rowe for several laps, featuring occasional wheel-banging between the long-time junior series rivals. But as Rowe finally edged clear, an opportunity arose for Hauger to get by d’Orlando too.
Having gathered himself back up, d’Orlando immediately re-launched an attack on his stablemate with a dive down the inside. But having dropped his wheels beneath the yellow line, he was forced to give that position up.
The Hauger-d’Orlando fight allowed Rowe to streak clear in fourth. By Lap 19, the ninth-place starter - winner at Iowa Speedway - had jumped Hughes to get himself onto the podium. And little over five laps later, he had dispatched of Collet for second too.
“I knew the track obviously is flat-out for us,” Rowe said. “I had to get through quickly. Salvador, just being able to cruise up front… couldn’t lose too much time. Passing efficiently was crucial today. Had a little battle with d’Orlando, which was really fun. But I knew giving up a position like that could hinder that race win.”
Having been passed by Rowe, Hughes and then Collet found themselves overtaken by Hauger, who elevated himself back onto the podium by Lap 31. But the following lap, the first and only caution of the race was brandished to end an enthralling green-flag run.
D’Orlando had been front and centre of much of the action, but duelling with Abel’s Callum Hedge, he found himself wash up into the New Zealander, who was running the high line and found himself speared unfortunately into the Turn 2 wall.
Hedge climbed out without assistance and made a pointed gesture towards the No.3 car of d’Orlando, which was able to continue in the race. That said, D’Orlando was handed a race-ruining 10-second stop-and-hold penalty and finished two laps down in 14th.
By the start of the second lap post-restart, Rowe had seized to take the lead from De Alba and complete his surge to the front of the field from the rear end of the top 10.
“There was quite a few laps where I was able to understand the line and how [De Alba] was running,” Rowe said. “I also had a few laps to understand the trial and errors of Caio and Lochie, how they were running, how that was affecting their cars and balance.
“There was a little bit of an advantage there, being able to study that, get into a position where I could execute my philosophy, how I wanted to run it. That played a part on the restart.
“The caution obviously played into effect. That gave us a little bit of an edge, having the restart in P2. Glad I was able to get up to [second] before the caution happened and be able to reset and then go at it again.
“It was really fun. The drivers all showed a good amount of respect - barely any touching or anything. Nothing too dangerous. Right on the fine line, which is what we’re here for.”
Rowe did not manage to check out on the Lap 43 restart, with both De Alba and Hauger holding on within one second. But passing appeared to have become more challenging than at the race start, with not quite as intense a 22-lap run to the finish.
At the head of the pack, Rowe continued to show his intelligence and methodical nature to control proceedings and ultimately take the chequered flag at 0.4376s ahead of De Alba and 1.0120s ahead of Hauger.
“I was focused on my line,” Rowe said. “The Andrettis were so fast in a straight line. I knew it possibly and probably wasn’t over yet. I really stopped using all the track distance and tried to do my best to control whatever draft they were doing.
“In the mirrors it looked quite threatening, I’m not going to lie. I knew I had to keep my composure and, at the same time, focus forward. There was really no feeling besides keeping composure and staying steady, focusing on what I could do best.
“The balance of my car was slightly changing at the time, especially since that was my first real grab on clean air. Focusing on my driver tools and everything was my mindset to make sure I could maximise the speed of the race car.
“It was a beautiful feeling. Times when you’re that honed in and focused, you never forget as a racing driver. That was one of those times.”
Rowe ready to run it back
Rowe’s rookie season was somewhat challenging with HMD, starting off strong but fading to 11th in the championship. But he has been revitalised with the Abel team in 2025, leaping to fourth in points.
And off the back of the success of the collaboration, with Rowe thriving in a smaller, more focused environment, he is confirmed to be returning for a third season in Indy NXT and second with Abel next year.
An off-season of hard work awaits ahead of trying to mount a title challenge in 2026.
“There’s going to be a lot of work done with my engineer in the shop - all the engineers,” Rowe said. “We’re going to really do a big debrief on everything because we have to work a lot smarter next year if we’re going to come out on top.
“It’s going to take a lot of understanding where we can capitalise, how we can further greaten our strength but also make sure we can understand our weaknesses and how to address them accordingly in an efficient way so we can be fast through all the sessions.”
Rowe finished the season with two wins, a total of six podiums, 10 top fives and 13 top-10 finishes. He only achieved seven top 10s last season - with only two of those in the final nine races - alongside two top fives, both of which fell inside the first five rounds.
“For sure it’s really good to come off a win at the end of the season, knowing we have a confirmed ride for next year,” Rowe said. “Big confidence going into next year. Just pleased the team can end on a high note. They do so much for me. They have so much faith in me. Very happy I could give this to them. That was honestly a really good show. Very grateful.
“The validation is crucial for IndyCar teams, as that’s where we all want to go. Especially it’s crucial because you know you have that skill. The teams, what they see is the results. It’s nice when the results start to even out with what you believe in your heart.”
De Alba caps strong end to year
Coming home second, De Alba continued a record of never finishing outside of the top five on an oval across his two years in Indy NXT.
This was his fifth podium in the series - all coming on ovals - to confirm he has finished on every step of the rostrum and no worse than fourth across the four oval races this year. He ends the season with a victory and runner-up finish.
“Definitely very positive end of the season, wrapping up two podiums, my first win last weekend and first pole this weekend,” De Alba said. “Happy with that. Not too happy with Myles getting us in that restart, two laps after that. Congrats to Myles.
“Just happy to be here celebrating podiums and showing the pace we’ve got. Just happy to take this one home and start working for what will come up next year.”
There is regret from De Alba that he found himself passed by Rowe on the restart from the only caution at Nashville. But he is still happy with his year - particularly how it ended.
“That restart, I was told I was to go outside. All of a sudden, Myles was on the inside,” De Alba said. “So nothing I could do there. It’s all about respect, especially in these superspeedways with all the speed we have.
“Happy with the result - not 100 percent but I’ll take this home and wrap up the 2025 season with the highs. Just start working [to] figure out where we’re going to be [in 2026].”
There is yet to be confirmation of De Alba’s plans for 2026. But a two-time NASCAR Mexico Series champion, the 25-year-old has further proven himself as a single-seater driver with fifth in points and only two results worse than ninth across his sophomore Indy NXT season.
Hauger’s “holy s**t” moment
Heading into his championship-winning campaign, ovals were an alien concept to Hauger, who had risen through the Formula One junior ranks with vast success.
He spent the off-season watching countless videos - “at least 50 times of each track” - every day, studying footage and trying to learn as much as possible. His first oval test, incidentally at Nashville, could hardly have gone better as he led the speed charts.
But despite his early comfort levels, he knew running with other cars would be a different beast. He ends the year without an oval victory but is pleased with his growth.
“Bit annoyed I didn’t get an oval win but there is [only] so much you can expect as well when you look at all the rookies,” Hauger said. “The progression we’ve had has been really good. The learning curve has been steep. That’s all I can ask for myself at the moment.”
A high-speed oval at 1.33 miles, Nashville was another new experience compared to Hauger’s first three oval events at World Wide Technology Raceway (Gateway), Iowa Speedway and the Milwaukee Mile. So to finish third was an achievement.
“It was so different,” Hauger said. “I was in the middle of the race: ‘Holy s**t, this is crazy. It’s so intense.’ People were side-by-side for four or five laps at some point. The high line was getting more and more dirty. When I got Lochie, I was really hanging on on the top there.
“We had a good race car. If there was no caution, I think we would have been in a good position to get forward. Running the highest downforce, we were a bit stuck once it was just clean racing and clean driving from the guys ahead.
“But it’s such a different way of driving. It was a really cool experience - probably the race I learned the most about ovals. I’ll definitely take that with me.”
Hauger knows, as he continues to explore IndyCar opportunities for 2026, further oval growth will come with experience. There is only so far you can get by watching footage and running ovals in a simulator, he acknowledges.
But with top fives to boot in all four oval races - including three successive podiums - Hauger has already learned plenty in 2025.
“[I have learned] what you need from the car to drive fast around ovals, especially in a race and in traffic,” Hauger said. “Try different lines, get up to the high line, work it, use it all the way through the race… I was trying different things, trying different lines.
“Just experimented with it - with the tools I had in the car as well. I was really happy with the progress we had in [Nashville]. We didn’t have the best start but we worked our way progressively up to the podium again. That’s definitely something to take with me.
“Couple of intense moments going side by side, which is something I haven’t experienced in that way on the other ovals.”
Odds and ends at the close
Outside of the podium, Collet and Hughes rounded out the top five as the pair came home second and third in the standings.
Collet’s consistency has been exceptional this year, with 12 top-five results in 14 races - his worst finish aside from a mechanical retirement at Barber being seventh place at Milwaukee. Hughes only twice finished outside of the top 10, with 10 top fives of his own.
Finishing sixth in the race, Aron continued a late-season hot streak for CGR to secure 11th in points. Teammate Niels Koolen was one position further back in the race as he locked up eighth in the championship in CGR’s return year.
Abel’s Jordan Missig and HMD’s Josh Pierson were eighth and ninth in the race, Pierson jumping eight positions year-to-year to sixth in points - with no race result worse than 11th - and Missig ending his first complete season in ninth. Roe achieved only the fourth top 10 in his fourth season as he dropped six positions in the championship from last year to 12th.
The crashed Hedge finished seventh in points - three positions lower than his rookie finish in 2024. Abel with Miller Vinatieri Motorsports’ Jack William Miller rounded out the top 10 in the championship, despite also retiring at Nashville. HMD pair Davey Hamilton Jr. and Tommy Smith also suffered issues during the race.
Of note, Hailie Deegan equalled her best qualifying of the year in 10th - the second-best HMD car - before finishing 13th in the race, rounding out the season 14th in points, beating Smith on a tiebreaker.
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