Making history for the second consecutive day at one of America’s most storied racetracks, Jamie Chadwick led every lap to win the Indy NXT race at Road America.
Chadwick, who turned 26 last month, became the first woman to win on a road course in series history, a day after she became the first woman to capture the pole position on a road course in an Indy NXT event.
The native of Bath, England, won by 0.8203 seconds over teammate Louis Foster on the 14-turn, 4.014-mile road course in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. Jacob Abel finished third.
RESULTS: Indy NXT box score at Road America
The Andretti Global driver is in her second season of Indy NXT, which is one rung below the NTT IndyCar Series. She previously had won titles in multiple European ladder series and also raced in Extreme E for Veloce Racing. Chadwick won all three championships of the W Series, an all-female circuit that went defunct after the 2022 season.
She immediately was congratulated in victory lane by team owner Michael Andretti.
Pole on Saturday, victory on Sunday. That’s a great weekend @JamieChadwick 👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/GbO5iLSht6
— Michael Andretti (@michaelandretti) June 9, 2024
“Oh man, I have no words,” Chadwick told NBC Sports on Peacock after leading all 20 laps. “Honestly, a bit emotional. We’ve had an unbelievable car this year and just haven’t been able to really do anything about it. So I’m just so happy we held on there.”
The race was red-flagged with four laps to go, but Chadwick staved off a final charge by Foster and Abel, who are the top two contenders for the 2024 Indy NXT championship.
“The red flag at the end ... we started to lose the tires a little bit,” said Chadwick, who moved up four spots to ninth in the points standings. “So I just knew I had to be aggressive. I knew they have a championship to worry about, and I just had to get my head down.”
Said Foster: “Firstly, massive congratulations to Jamie. She’s done an amazing job. She was the woman to beat this weekend. Really, really fast. So I’m more than happy for the team.”
Abel maintained a 19-point lead over Foster in the championship standings.
“It was a good battle; first of all, big congrats to Jamie,” Abel said. “She’s been working hard for this for a while, and she drove a good race there up front. We were the fastest car on track for sure and just had a tough time getting around these guys.
“Little bit of a contact here and there and a couple of questionable things moving under braking. It is what it is, and we’ll keep moving forward with the championship lead.”
The first female to win an #INDYNXT race in 15 years!@JamieChadwick continues to make her mark.#GPRoadAmerica // @AndrettiIndy pic.twitter.com/7LlLWJgsjA
— INDY NXT by Firestone (@INDYNXT) June 9, 2024
Chadwick’s previous best finish in the series was a third place last month on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. She finished 12th in the 2023 points standings with a best finish of sixth as a rookie.
“I really wanted to win today,” she said. “How cool for the Andretti guys honestly. Last year was a tough go, but they’ve helped me so much. This is for them. Thank you.”
Chadwick became the first woman to win in the Indy NXT Series since Pippa Mann, who won on the Kentucky Speedway oval on Sept. 3, 2010 when the series was known as Indy Lights. Ana Beatriz was the first female winner in Indy Lights at Nashville Superspeedway in 2008 and also won at Iowa Speedway in 2009.
Katherine Legge and Simona de Silvestro were female winners in the Atlantic Series before both advanced to the NTT IndyCar Series.
