The Briton was forced to fend off her rivals on multiple restarts, including one brought on by a red flag, over the over the 20-lap race to claim the maiden win in IndyCar’s developmental category.
She took the win by 0.8203s over team-mate Louis Foster at the 4.014-mile, 14-turn natural terrain road course. She is the third woman to win in Indy NXT, following Ana Beatriz in 2008 (Nashville Speedway) and 2009 (Iowa Speedway), as well as Pippa Mann in 2010 (Kentucky Speedway).
“Oh, my word,” Chadwick said after the race.
“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 with a red flag at the end. I was like, ‘Come on. We started to lose the tires a little bit. Louis had a look, and I just knew I had to be aggressive. I know they have a championship to worry about, and I just had to get my head down. I really wanted to win today, and I'm just so thankful for the Andretti guys. Honestly, it’s been a tough year and they've helped me so much, so this is to them.”
Foster held onto second with a 0.0236s over title rival Jacob Abel (Abel Motorsports).
HMD Motorsports was represented fourth through seventh, with Reece Gold leading Caio Collet, Callum Hedge and Josh Pierson.
Bryce Aron (Andretti Global) in eighth, followed by Yuven Sundaramoorthy (Abel Motorsports) and Nolan Allaer (HMD Motorsports) finishing ninth and 10th, respectively.
The Race
Chadwick fended off a challenge for the lead moments after the green flag dropped by Andretti team-mate Louis Foster, who went wide in Turn 1 and dropped down to third.
The move by Foster allowed championship leader Jacob Abel, who started fourth, to progress up to second and stalk Chadwick for the next couple of laps.
However, the caution waved on lap 3 after James Roe (Andretti Global) was punted by HMD Motorsports driver Kiko Porto, who was substituting for Nolan Siegel – who withdrew from the weekend to focus on his sudden IndyCar opportunity Juncos Hollinger Racing. Roe was running considerably slower after suffering front wing damage after contact with Salvador de Alba Jr. (Andretti Cape) earlier in the lap before Porto rear-ended him in Turn 7.
Both continued on, with Roe getting a new front wing and returning to the action a lap down. Porto received a drive-through penalty as a result of the contact.
Chadwick led the field to the restart on lap 6, but the caution came out again four laps later after Alba was stopped on track at the exit of Turn 14 due to electrical issues.
A restart on lap 12 allowed Foster to push by Abel for second. Abel attempted to fight back but was unsuccessful.
The pressure was on as Chadwick came under fire by Foster for the race lead. However, Chadwick held her own over the next three laps. Foster’s press opened the door for Abel, who got by for second entering Turn 1 with five laps to go. Moments later, though, Foster fought back to reclaim the runner-up spot as Chadwick put a small gap on Foster, Abel and Collet in fourth, who was beginning to come into the frame.
A yellow flag came out for a third time after Myles Roe (HMD Motorsports with Force Indy) hit the inside curbing of Turn 1 trying to make a pass on Michael d’Orlando (Andretti Cape) for 10th, which sent his car into the air briefly as he turned sideways and backed into Abel Motorsports’ Jordan Missig on the outside. The momentum of the contact carried both into the gravel trap.
Ultimately, the incident brought out a red flag with three laps to go.
After the brief break, the race resumed with a shootout with two laps to go as Chadwick led the field into Turn 1 as Foster tucked in behind.
The gap remained a couple of car lengths between the frontrunners, with Chadwick holding steady on Foster and Abel.
However, Gold (HMD Motorsports) managed to propel up to fourth after getting by Collet.
Chadwick widened the gap over Foster coming to the final lap, which she held all the way through the finish to collect her first win in Indy NXT.
