Indycar Ladder Series (Indy NXT, USF2000, etc)

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virtualbalboa

driver of corey day bandwagon since 2022
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Putting on the St. Pete NXT race from yesterday on in the background as I work - not an ideal way to watch since it's inherently impossible to pay total attention, but there's plenty of downtime here. Chadwick did not have a stellar day: one thing that I noticed was even as she had dropped back following the caution she was involved in, you could still compare her lap times to the next competitor to see if she was gaining with the bulk of the field or losing time to them. It was the latter. Still, first race in these cars, a new (and tough) circuit, it feels harsh to be that critical of her performance. OTOH, Louis Foster was also making his first start in these cars, same team, and started front row. As I'm watching right now, he's competing right there for the lead.

Now, as for the racing on the whole - I like the NXT cars a lot as a fan. Lots and lots of seeing the back end slide around. Kaminsky in particular was a guy I had some time to watch earlier in the race and was really entertained by him dealing with an understeering car.

Ernie Francis Jr. is also a work in progress. He's squarely in the middle of the pack but I imagine he may be more competitive at the ovals.

USF2000 I tried watching on Saturday but the video quality was terrible. Very choppy, like the entire thing was casting off of someone's prepaid cell phone. Their chat suggests the video was fixed for Sunday, so I might hit play on that later.
 
I think if Chadwick is going to make this work she needs two years in NXT guaranteed, which I hope she has in her deal with Andretti and DHL. These guys she’s competing against have experience on these American tracks from their days in USF2000 and Indy Pro 2000. The cars are also a massive step up from W Series, which ran pretty much regional F3 cars. Ultimately I think she probably winds up in sports cars somewhere, but I hope she can elevate her game and develop as a driver during her stay here.

Ernie Francis seemed quicker than last year, that’s a good start for him. Another case where he needs this second season to get better adapted open wheelers. I think he’s doing alright so far and sticks with it.

It’s great to see they’ve gotten the NXT car count up to 19 cars, just a few years ago the series looked finished. Should be a really competitive season for sure.

Great start to his Pro 2000 career from Myles Rowe too, with a podium and a win. I’m pulling for that kid.
 
FLRacingFan said:
It’s great to see they’ve gotten the NXT car count up to 19 cars, just a few years ago the series looked finished. Should be a really competitive season for sure.
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I hope they can keep the car count up all season. It's been painful to watch the past couple of years with the small fields. A couple of them take each other out right away and then the few that are left are spaced apart and there'd be no racing. I'll try and have a positive attitude as I like to see up and coming talent in the lower series.
 
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