INDIANAPOLIS — Despite having to do some impromptu yard work at the start of Saturday’s (May 9) Sonsio Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, Louis Foster managed to score a career-best finish of seventh in the sixth round of the 2026 NTT IndyCar Series.
Felix Rosenqvist lightly hit Pato O’Ward, causing the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet to spin from second place. Foster, having nowhere to go from his sixth-place starting position, had to drive on the grass inside turn 2 before rejoining the 2.439-mile road course. By that point, the No. 45 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda had fallen to 11th place before race control put out a full-course yellow for the stopped cars of Caio Collet and Scott Dixon.
“Super happy to get my first top 10, you know,” Foster said. “A bit unlucky at the start there, similar to (Christian) Lundgaard, kind of just got pushed wide and had to take to the grass. I think I lost quite a lot of ground from that.”
Foster moved up to eighth on the lap after the restart and a quick bit of strategic thinking put the 2024 Indy NXT Champion into a good position strategically.
Alexander Rossi’s No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet stopped on the right side of the main straight just short of the Yard of Bricks on the race’s 21st lap. IndyCar put out a local yellow flag as cars sped past Rossi’s stranded car so that any driver who hadn’t made their first pit stop could do so before the inevitable full-course yellow happened, closing the pit lane.
However, the 2016 Indianapolis 500 winner took it upon himself to get out of his car while cars were speeding past him, forcing race control to throw the full-course yellow. Foster’s crew called the British racer onto pit road as soon as it was evident Rossi’s car would not be moving.
Six cars in the top 10 pitted before the yellow, and among those not going to pit road were race leader Alex Palou and Kyle Kirkwood, who was just over four seconds behind the series points leader.
After the ensuing caution, Foster moved up to fourth place. However, the next green flag pit stop sequence put the 2022 USF Pro 2000 Champion back in what was effectively seventh place behind Josef Newgarden, Palou and Dixon.
Once O’Ward and Kyffin Simpson made their final off-sequence pit stops, Foster remained in seventh place for the race’s final 20 laps to finish 28.1269 seconds behind eventual race winner Christian Lundgaard.
After advancing to the final round of qualifying for the second year in a row on the IMS road course earlier in the day, Foster couldn’t help but be elated at his team’s performance after the race.
“Without that (start chaos), I mean, I think we could have been a bit higher up, hopefully,” Foster said. “But no, I mean, to start sixth and finish seventh for us is like winning, genuinely. It’s a great result. Super happy, great points and it’s an upward trend.”
Foster helped RLL cap off a good day as teammate Graham Rahal finished third while Mick Schumacher in the third RLL Honda was set for a career-best finish just outside the top 10 but a drive-through penalty put an end to that.
“Graham’s now had 2 podiums this year, which is awesome,” Foster said. “I kind of hate him for it, ’cause I want one, but I’m super happy for the team, obviously. I’m super happy for Graham, you know, he works really hard and he’s a great driver, he deserves it. So, yeah, obviously, we’ll push to get that podium for us next time.”
After a couple of days off, practice will begin for the 110th Indianapolis 500 on Tuesday, May 12, ahead of race day on Sunday, May 24.
Christopher DeHarde has covered IndyCar racing and the Road to Indy for various outlets since 2014. In addition to open wheel racing, DeHarde has also covered IMSA and various short track racing events around Indiana. Originally from New Orleans, DeHarde moved to the Indianapolis area in 2017 to further pursue a career as a motorsports writer.