New Zealander Hunter McElrea took his first Indy NXT podium of the season over the weekend, charging from thirteenth on the grid to finish third at Road America.
The Andretti Autosport racer showed great pace all weekend, going fastest in the final practice session before a difficult qualifying session saw him only classified 13th.
A chaotic start to the race saw pole-sitter Kyffin Simpson run wide at Turn 1, launching his car airborne and dropping down the order to seventh. A rhythm was then established, until the races only Safety Car came into play on Lap 10, as Christian Rasmussen crashed out.
Resuming on Lap 13 McElrea continued his charge forward, ultimately ending up third, behind winner Nolan Siegel and second-placed Jacob Abel.
It was Siegel’s second win on the trot, and it could have been three had he not suffered a failure on the final lap with a clear lead in the opening race in Detroit.
The result sees the HMD Motorsports driver extend his lead in the Indy NXT standings to 40 points over Rasmussen, with McElrea, remaining third, closing the gap to the top two to only sit 16 points off second.
Indy NXT will return to action at Mid-Ohio over the weekend of July 2.
