Caio Collet dominated proceedings from start to finish last time out in Laguna Seca. With the fight for the Championship narrowed, could the young Brazilian Driver keep that momentum going as Indy NXT rolled into Portland for the third to last round of the 2025 Indy NXT Season?
Qualifying – Battle for Pole Position
New and Familiar Faces
Saturday’s Qualifying Session in Portland saw two new and familiar faces on the Indy NXT grid. Michael d’Orlando returned to the series with Andretti Cape. The American Driver was last season at the end of the 2024 Indy NXT Season in Nashville. He replaced the outgoing Ricardo Escotto.
Brazilian American Driver Nicholas Monteiro made his Indy NXT debut with HMD Motorsports. The pair qualified in P15 and P16 respectively.
Notable Results
Juan Manuel Correa qualified in a solid P9 with Lochie Hughes out of position slightly ahead of him in P7. The Australian Driver has slipped back into P3 in the Championship in recent times and came to Portland looking to start the end of the season on a high. When it came to qualifying, that didn’t look like it was going to materialise.
Hedge, Aron and De Alba qualified in P4, P5 and P6, a solid set of results for the trio.
Battle for Pole Position
The fight for the top spot on the Portland grid would be between Hauger, Rowe and Collet. Rowe looked strong early on in the session and set the benchmark time to beat. But Dennis Hauger came along not long after to do as everyone expects of him – dominate. It was quite the surprise then when Collet was just able to steal Pole Position away from him in the dying seconds of the session. So far into the weekend, Collet’s momentum from Laguna Seca seemed to have been carried foreward.
The race was set up to be a dramatic affair.
Dennis Hauger Strikes Back!
At the start of Sunday’s race however, Dennis Hauger flipped the script on Caio Collet. Dispatching Myles Rowe with ease heading down into T1, Hauger then made the very impressive move of carrying his momentum around the outside of Collet as they made their way through T2. The Norwegian sailed past the Brazilian and snatched the lead comfortably away from him. It was a masterful move that helped to re-establish why Dennis Hauger is a force to be reckoned with.
Coming from the world of Formula 2, Hauger had the option to go straight into IndyCar, as fellow ex-Formula 2 alumni, such as Christian Lundgaard, have done. But by opting for an apprenticeship style year in the junior category instead, Hauger has been able to learn the tracks, the different circuit types and the style of racing needed stateside. He’s also been able to begin rebuilding his career following his difficult stint in Formula 2. With two races left in 2025 in Indy NXT, Hauger looks to have played a very smart hand here that should all but guarantee him a seat in IndyCar in 2026.
Best of the Rest…Again
Finishing in second once again, Caio Collet now sits fifty four points away from Hauger in the Championship. While the fight is still technically on, things just became a lot harder for Collet – and his future in single seater racing in America may hang in the balance. Where will he be racing in 2026? It’s hard to know.
Ninety points behind Collet in fourth place overall is Myles Rowe. Here is a driver that is looking to finish his rookie season on a high. While catching Collet for P2 in the Championship is a very tall order, catching Lochie Hughes in P3 looks much more possible. Twenty-two points separate the pair and if Hughes continues to have his run of unfortunate results (more on that below), then Rowe could steal the final podium place of the Championship away from him. Whether that means setting himself up for a run at the Indy NXT Championship in 2026 or something else is uncertain at present. But regardless of where he lands, Rowe will be hot property and will have established himself very nicely indeed.
Tight Mid-Field Battle
Twenty-three points are all that stand between P5 and P7 in the Indy NXT Championship. Pierson, De Alba and Hedge are all fighting over these positions and the race in Portland ensured that this fight would remain tight until the season finale in Nashville. De Alba bounced back from a decidedly mixed double header race weekend in Laguna Seca to finish in P5.
Hedge, however, finished in P4 ahead of him. The New Zealander has been on a strong run of results lately and at present, looks best poised to claim P5 for himself overall. Pierson meanwhile finished outside the top ten for only the second time this season. The American will be hoping not to repeat that as he attempts to cling onto his position in the Championship. While the fight up front looks to be all but settled, these positions further down the order are still very much in play.
IndyCar – Key Takeaways from Portland
Worthy Mentions
Feature Image: IndyCar Media Centre
d’Orlando’s Return
Having qualified in P15 for his Indy NXT return, Michael d’Orlando finished in an impressive P7 in Portland. While one lap pace may have seen him struggling, his race craft appears not to have been impacted despite the sizeable gap between Indy NXT races. If he can repeat this result or even better it at the final two events of the year, then d’Orlando may have just reignited his Indy NXT career. Wouldn’t that be a great storyline to watch in 2026?
Positive Momentum for Correa
Correa finished the Grand Prix of Portland where he qualified, in P9. But this doesn’t tell the whole story. Racing was thick and fast around this circuit with plenty of chaos to avoid too, especially at the start. Correa hasn’t run a full season this year and has struggled at points. But a P9 finish will give him a boost in confidence heading into the final two race weekends. Could we see him back in Indy NXT in 2026? Fingers crossed.
Weekends to Forget
Having started out of position in P7, Lochie Hughes was then set to have a difficult race in Portland. Involved in the opening lap melee, he slipped down to the very rear of the field. It’s somewhat impressive then that he managed to slice his way back up through the order to finish in P10. But for a driver who looked set to fight Hauger for the Championship and who now may lose P3 to Myles Rowe, it will be a bit of a what if weekend for Hughes. Still, could be worse.
Bryce Aron was neatly positioned in P5 to make massive gains during the race. But his race day in Portland would instead go massively in the other direction. T1 in Portland is known notoriously for incidents and in 2025, it was no different. Caught up with the likes of Murray and Allaer in a contact heavy incident, Aron found himself facing the wrong way and subsequently out of the race. In an already tough season, the American will be frustrated at the events that transpired, particularly after qualifying so well.
The Hamster Wheel
Tommy Smith had a tremendous start from P13 on the grid, making his way up seven positions alone on the opening lap. Despite watching the race then, it’s still a bit of a mystery as to how after thirty-five laps of racing, he finished in P12. So much hard work seems to have gone into his race but at the end of the day, crossed the finish line essentially where he started. That is going to leave a sour taste behind as he leaves Portland.
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Indy NXT returns August 24th at Milwaukee.
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