Pictured left to right: Caio Collet, Dennis Hauger and Lochie Hughes celebrate in victory lane after the Firestone INDY NXT Series race at St. Petersburg. (Photo Credit: Sydney Redden | The Podium Finish)
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Dennis Hauger put the field in check in his Firestone INDY NXT Series debut, leading flag to flag for 44 of the 45 scheduled laps en route to his first career victory Sunday morning at St. Petersburg, capping off a dominant weekend for the rookie driver.
Hauger started his weekend strong, recording the fastest time in the first practice session on Friday. He then secured the second-fastest time in the second practice session. On Saturday afternoon, he achieved pole position for the 45-lap event scheduled for Sunday.
The Oslo, Norway native was able to lead every lap of the event from the pole and turned in the quickest lap in Sunday’s duel on the twists and turns of St. Petersburg.
Unfortunately, the race started rough for the HMD Motorsports No. 30 entry, driven by Liam Sceats. Due to a mechanical issue with his car, Sceats had to begin the event watching the other 20 cars in the field take the green flag. He later returned to the race, but he was 11 laps behind the leaders.
Right as Hauger flew under the start-finish line to begin Sunday’s race, trouble broke out in the middle of the pack as Niels Koolen spun into the outside concrete wall entering Turn 1, causing Tommy Smith to spin into the inside wall, collecting James Roe to bring out the first of four cautions on the day. Koolen had suffered too much damage to the front of his car and was forced to retire just seconds after taking the green flag. Smith and Roe were able to continue.
As Hauger led the field back to racing on Lap 4, Roe’s race ended when he crashed into the tire barriers at Turn 10, severely damaging the front end of his No. 29 car, effectively putting him out of the race.
Hauger restarted the race with nothing but clean air and a clean racetrack, pulling away from his teammate Lochie Hughes by multiple seconds until Lap 21.
Nolan Allaer caused the yellow flag to be waved for the third time after spinning into the tire barriers while exiting Turn 13, ending his promising day in the No. 11 entry.
Despite the cautions during the race, rookie driver Hauger was able to pull ahead of the pack when the race resumed. Due to the extended caution periods, the race was set to conclude under a timer, which had been established at 55 minutes before the race began. This meant that the race would not cover the full distance.
With 10 minutes remaining, Hauger led Hughes by 1.3 seconds. That gap expanded to 2.4 seconds and was growing when Jack William Miller hit the barrier in Turn 9 while running fifth in the No. 40 Abel/Miller/Vinatieri Motorsports entry with only two minutes and 15 seconds left in the race. That triggered the fourth and final caution of the race, effectively ending the race under caution, granting Hauger the victory, who had led an unanswered 44 consecutive laps for his first career win in his first start.
Hauger became the first driver to win in their debut in the Firestone INDY NXT Series since 2021 when former NTT INDYCAR Series driver Linus Lindqvist took the victory at Barber Motorsports Park.
Dennis Hauger took in all of the emotions after winning the Firestone INDY NXT Series race at St. Petersburg in his debut. (Photo Credit: Sydney Redden | The Podium Finish)
“That was fun,” Hauger said after a dominant weekend at St. Petersburg. “First proper race on this course for me, as well. We had a good rhythm. The car was really good, and the team did an amazing job all weekend long to be up there with us. Super happy. Good start to the season and definitely a confidence boost for us.”
Hughes and Caio Collet filled out the podium in second and third when all was said and done.
Myles Rowe achieved his best career finish in INDY NXT competition, placing fourth in the No. 99 for Abel Motorsports. Salvador de Alba finished fifth, completing the top five.
Jordan Missig, Jonathan Brown, Callum Hedge, Josh Pierson, and Ricardo Escotto rounded out the top 10.
Two of the female rookie contenders for the 2025 Firestone INDY NXT Series Award in Sophia Floersch and Hailie Deegan, making her open-wheel debut, finished 12th and 14th, respectively. Deegan had climbed all the way from 21st to finish inside the top 15 for her first go on a street course.
The Firestone INDY NXT Series returns for round two of the season on May 4 at Barber Motorsports Park in Leeds, Alabama.
Firestone INDY NXT Series Grand Prix Of St. Petersburg Results
| Start | Finish | Car No. | Driver | Team | Status |
| 1 | 1 | 28 | Dennis Hauger | Andretti Global | Running |
| 2 | 2 | 26 | Lochie Hughes | Andretti Global | Running |
| 3 | 3 | 76 | Caio Collet | HMD Motorsports | Running |
| 4 | 4 | 99 | Myles Rowe | Abel Motorsports W/Force Indy | Running |
| 7 | 5 | 27 | Salvador de Alba | Andretti Global | Running |
| 9 | 6 | 48 | Jordan Missig | Abel Motorsports | Running |
| 10 | 7 | 9 | Jonathan Browne | Chip Ganassi Racing | Running |
| 12 | 8 | 17 | Callum Hedge | Abel Motorsports | Running |
| 19 | 9 | 14 | Josh Pierson | HMD Motorsports | Running |
| 8 | 10 | 3 | Ricardo Escotto | Andretti Cape Indy NXT | Running |
| 18 | 11 | 18 | Nikita Johnson | HMD Motorsports | Running |
| 17 | 12 | 24 | Sophia Floersch | HMD Motorsports | Running |
| 20 | 13 | 39 | Bryce Aron | HMD Motorsports | Running |
| 21 | 14 | 38 | Hailie Deegan | HMD Motorsports | Running |
| 16 | 15 | 16 | Tommy Smith | HMD Motorsports | Running |
| 6 | 16 | 40 | Jack William Miller | Abel Motorsports W/Miller Vintateri Motorsports | Accident |
| 13 | 17 | 2 | Sebastian Murray | Andretti Cape Indy NXT | Running |
| 5 | 18 | 30 | Liam Sceats | HMD Motorsports | Running |
| 15 | 19 | 11 | Nolan Allaer | HMD Motorsports | Accident |
| 14 | 20 | 29 | James Roe | Andretti Global | Accident |
| 11 | 21 | 10 | Niels Koolen | Chip Ganassi Racing | Accident |
