Early in Sunday’s (Sept. 6) Mission Foods Grand Prix of Monterey, Dennis Hauger probably thought his chances of winning the 2026 NTT IndyCar Series Rookie of the Year award were probably gone.
The Norweigan was running 23rd on the second lap of the 95-lap race at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca when Sting Ray Robb hit the rear of the No. 19 Dale Coyne Racing Honda as the pair approached turn 6. The contact sent Hauger spinning into the tire barrier, damaging the car and ending the rookie’s race.
Race control levied a 10 second stop-and-hold penalty to Robb for the contact, but for Hauger, the math was simple. If Mick Schumacher could finish eighth or better, he would snatch Rookie of the Year away from Hauger and move up into 22nd place in points. That’s important because that’s the final spot for IndyCar’s Leader’s Circle purse-sharing program worth over $1.5 million to an IndyCar team owner.
“Everyone checked up into (turn) 6,” Hauger told Frontstretch. “It’s kind of normal there…I guess when you’re not aware to see what’s ahead of you I guess, (Robb) crashes into someone in front of you. Everyone checked up and I got hit from the back and that was it.
“Bit annoying, fighting for the rookie title, we end up getting taken out on lap one, so probably what we wanted, not probably what we were looking for. I thought we could have a decent race and get some points. Pretty sour.”
Hauger did not continue in the race and Schumacher’s four-stop strategy did not pay off as the No. 47 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda finished 22nd in the race. That result gave Hauger the final Leader Circle spot in the standings, 22nd, by 15 points over the Formula 1 veteran.
The path for Hauger to win Rookie of the Year went through many peaks and valleys for the 2025 Indy NXT Champion.
The season began with much promise for him after a 10th place finish in the season-opening race on the streets of St. Petersburg. Though a 15th in Phoenix followed that performance, the rookie had perhaps the highlight of the weekend when he saved his car following a spin and rolled down the track backwards.
After a pair of results outside the top 15, Hauger finished 11th at Long Beach and scored his season-best eighth at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
A pit road speeding penalty kept Hauger from being the top-finishing rookie at the Indianapolis 500. At the next oval race at Worldwide Technology Raceway near St. Louis, Hauger’s race never got started as a fuel leak kept the car in the garage area when the green came out.
That began a four-race streak of Hauger finishing 20th or worse with a 20th at Road America, 25th (last) at Mid-Ohio and 21st at Nashville Superspeedway following contact with the turn 2 wall.
Compounding that frustration was Hauger running out of fuel on the final lap at Markham, dropping him from 11th to 15th place. Another 15th at Washington, D.C. preceded a pair of 21st-place finishes at the Milwaukee Mile, leading to the season finale at WeatherTech Raceway.
Despite sitting on the sideline for almost the entire race, Hauger’s previous 17 race performances were enough to keep him on top in the IndyCar rookie standings.
“Overall there’s been some good moments,” Hauger said. “I wouldn’t say there’s been like any super big surprises, but there’s definitely been some good moments and bad moments to take with me from this season.
“I feel like there was still a lot of points left at the table at times, which is probably one of the things if I went again next year, that would be a big thing to have a look at and think about.
“Coming from P24 to P8 in the Indy road course was a pretty good moment. That was kind of a surprising moment. Yeah, again, just trying to make the most of every situation we end up in. We’ve definitely had a few that I guess saved our rookie title in the end.”
While he walks away with the Rookie of the Year Award, currently Hauger’s 2027 plans are uncertain.
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.
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