INDY NXT: Christian Rasmussen tops Iowa test

The rising stars of INDYCAR took to the Iowa Speedway short oval track on Thursday in preparation for next month’s Hy-Vee INDYCAR Race Weekend, July 21-23. During today’s INDY NXT by Firestone open test, 17 cars turned laps on the 7/8 of a mile track in Newton, Iowa as series teams gear up for the first oval race of the 2023 season.

The test was a valuable one for INDY NXT competitors as they got their first opportunity to run the new Firestone tire compound for oval tracks, which will see its first race action during Hy-Vee INDYCAR Race Weekend. On Thursday, teams logged 1,353 combined laps over the course of the day at Iowa Speedway.

Series championship leader Christian Rasmussen of HMD Motorsports topped the testing speed chart with a fast lap of 20.4319 (157.518 mph).

“It’s always good when we roll off the gate this strong,” said Rasmussen, who finished second in last year’s series race at Iowa Speedway. “Obviously, it’s going to be quite a bit different race weekend with temperatures and all this and that, but it’s definitely confidence inducing. We want to be quick every time we’re on track and we seem to be. Whether we’re on street circuits, when we’re on road courses and even on the ovals now, so it was a good day. I’m very happy. P1 in both sessions today and we gained a lot of experience. We’ll come back for the race and try to do the same thing.”

For the second consecutive year, INDY NXT by Firestone will compete alongside the NTT INDYCAR SERIES during Hy-Vee INDYCAR Race Weekend. The next generation of INDYCAR stars will qualify on Friday, July 21 before hosting Round 8 of the 2023 INDY NXT by Firestone season on Saturday, July 22 (11 am ET on Peacock).

Test Results

Pos No Name Time Behind Gap Laps Speed Team
1 6 Christian Rasmussen 20.5741 0.000s 0.000s 58 156.430 HMD Motorsports
2 51 Jacob Abel 20.6006 0.0265 0.0265 64 156.228 Abel Motorsports
3 68 Danial Frost 20.8536 0.2795 0.2530 57 154.333 HMD Motorsports
4 29 James Roe 20.8988 0.3247 0.0452 59 153.999 Andretti Autosport
5 27 Hunter McElrea 20.9091 0.3350 0.0103 49 153.923 Andretti Autosport
6 7 Christian Bogle 20.9123 16 LAPS 0.0032 25 153.900 HMD Motorsports
7 26 Louis Foster 21.0041 0.4300 0.0918 48 153.227 Andretti Autosport
8 76 Rasmus Lindh 21.1574 28 LAPS 0.1533 29 152.117 Juncos Hollinger Racing
9 99 Ernie Francis Jr. 21.2501 0.6760 0.0927 63 151.453 Force Indy
10 39 Nolan Siegel 21.3007 0.7266 0.0506 46 151.094 HMD Motorsports
11 3 Josh Green 21.3216 0.7475 0.0209 61 150.946 HMD Motorsports
12 75 Matteo Nannini 21.3697 32 LAPS 0.0481 25 150.606 Juncos Hollinger Racing
13 21 Kyffin Simpson 21.6009 6 LAPS 0.2312 51 148.994 HMD Motorsports
14 28 Jamie Chadwick 21.8339 1.2598 0.2330 56 147.404 Andretti Autosport
15 98 Jagger Jones 21.9183 1.3442 0.0844 61 146.836 Cape Motorsports
16 47 Enaam Ahmed 22.1536 4 LAPS 0.2353 48 145.277 Cape Motorsports
17 10 Reece Gold 22.4152 4 LAPS 0.2616 42 143.581 HMD Motorsports
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