Foster stalked and made numerous attempts to pass race leader Caio Collett (HMD Motorsports) for the majority of the race before finally getting by with 11 laps to go and then went on to win by 2.3688s on the 2.439-mile, 14-turn circuit.
“Managed our tires, managed our push pass,” Foster said.
“It's quite tricky for me 'cause I had to burn more get past able and then I had to pressure Caio enough to burn up his because he didn't use any of his whilst I was behind Jacob. But I think we managed it well. Managed the tire as well. So yeah, all around a really good job for the Andretti crew.”
Collett and Foster tangled in Turn 11 during the opening race on Friday evening, which opened up the idea to make that the spot for the race-winning pass.
“Well, I put my nose there and he got a penalty of blocking me yesterday,” Foster said. “So, I knew that if I put my nose there, he wasn't gonna risk it again and he didn't.”
Jacob Abel (Abel Motorsports), who won the opening race of the weekend, also managed to get by Collett in the late stages to collect the runner-up finish. Collett finished third.
Despite starting on pole, Abel quickly fell off the lead after Collett took advantage of his front row start and pulled off an outside pass into Turn 1 and quickly set off from the field.
Foster made quick work from his fourth-place grid start and stalked Abel for the runner-up spot in the early running before pulling off a pass in Turn 7 on lap 9 of 35.
Although the gap to Collett was 2s, Foster quickly began to reel in the race leader and cut it down to 0.5s by lap 14.
While the leader was beginning to fall under attack, the attention turned to Andretti Global’s Jamie Chadwick, who was running fourth but then quickly fell down the running order due to gearbox issues. She ended up finishing 16th following her maiden podium in the opening race of the weekend.
On lap 16, Foster caught and attempted to make a move for the lead, going side-by-side with Collett into Turn 1 through Turn 3 but the latter was able to fend off the challenge.
Everything remained unchanged until 12 laps to go when Foster mounted another challenge, once again with an outside move into Turn 1 and continued to apply it through Turn 2 until Collett managed once again held firm with the lead coming out of Turn 3.
.@17LouisFoster TO THE FRONT!
— INDY NXT by Firestone (@INDYNXT) May 11, 2024
Who will hold on to win in Indy?
📺: Peacock pic.twitter.com/PRr4ixi2tf
Foster tried to repeat the move on the next lap but was again not successful. However, he managed to press enough for a challenge in a difficult part of the track and squeezed by Collett with a sensation inside pass in Turn 11 to grab the lead and pull away.
Although Abel managed to catch the leaders while the battle was going on, he was only able to get by Collett entering Turn 1 with 10 to go.
Foster, Abel and Collett held their respective positions through the checkered flag, with James Roe (Andretti Global) and Nolan Siegel (HMD Motorsports) rounding out the rest of the top five.
Michael d’Orlando (Andretti Cape) and Myle Rowe (HMD Motorsports with Force Indy) finished sixth and seventh, respectively.
Jonathan Browne (HMD Motorsports) ended up eighth, ahead of Salvador de Alba Jr (Andretti Cape) in ninth and Callum Hedge (HMD Motorsports) in 10th.
