British Indy NXT champion Louis Foster will graduate to IndyCar next season with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing after agreeing a multi-year deal beginning in 2025.
The 21-year-old captured the 2024 Indy NXT championship with Andretti Global, winning eight of 14 races to defeat Jacob Abel.
A run of 11 races without finishing lower than second to end the season coincided with snatching seven poles, as he led 362 of 640 total laps.
A two-time finalist in the Autosport BRDC Award, Foster will partner Graham Rahal and a yet-to-be-announced third driver at the team owned by the combination of Bobby Rahal, David Letterman and Mike Lanigan.
“I am really looking forward to working with the team,” Foster said.
“Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing have Indy 500 victories, obviously Bobby has won an Indy 500 and there is a great wealth of knowledge with the team.
“I want to thank Bobby, David and Mike for their faith in my abilities and I want to thank all my sponsors who have helped me achieve my dream of driving in IndyCar, in particular Copart.
“I can’t wait to start my IndyCar career with the team and hopefully we can have a long and successful career together.
“I’m hoping that coming off the experience gained from winning the Indy NXT championship, that will leave me in a good stance to get the ball rolling.
“This is where the hard work starts. We will start the preparations and make sure we get hit the ground running in St. Pete.”
Foster’s first taste of IndyCar machinery came in September last year with Andretti Global at Road America. In an effort to further his preparation, RLL is currently working to solidify a test programme for the 2025 season that may include a test later this year.
“We are very pleased that we have been able to come to an agreement with Louis to have him drive for the team for the next several years,” Rahal said.
“He obviously dominated Indy NXT in 2024 and we feel he has a big future ahead of him and are happy to support the ladder system IndyCar has created.
“We look at this as a long-term relationship that will go beyond the existing terms and are very excited to get started on preparations for the 2025 season and his series debut.”
Lanigan had especially high praise for Foster and compared him to the late Justin Wilson, who was Graham Rahal's team-mate in 2008 with Newman/Haas Racing.
“We are very excited to have Louis Foster drive for us over the next few years,” Lanigan said.
“I look forward to watching him grow into a future IndyCar star. He reminds me of another driver; the late, great Justin Wilson.”
