Jamie Chadwick is the third woman to win a race in the IndyCar junior series – but she is the first woman to triumph on a circuit rather than an oval
Jamie Chadwick has claimed her biggest racing success to date in the USA. The Briton won the Indy NXT race, the junior series of IndyCars, at Elkhart Lake Road America. This makes her the third woman to win a race in this series.
Brazilian Ana Beatriz won at Nashville Speedway in 2008 and in Iowa in 2009. And Pippa Mann from the UK won at Kentucky Speedway in 2010. These were all oval courses, whereas Chadwick has now triumphed on a circuit.
Chadwick is contesting her second season in the Indy NXT with the Andretti team. In May, she finished third on the podium for the first time on the infield circuit in Indianapolis. Now the 26-year-old took her first pole position at Road America and drove to victory.
“I’m lost for words,” says Chadwick. “To be honest, I’m a bit emotional. We’ve had an incredible car this year, but just haven’t been able to do anything. I’m just so glad we hung in there.”
“I really wanted to win today and I’m just so grateful to the Andretti guys. Honestly, it’s been a tough year. They’ve helped me so much, so I dedicate this win to them.” She won just ahead of teammate Louis Foster.
Chadwick had to defend on several restarts. At the start, Jacob Abel (Abel Motorsports) improved from fourth to second and immediately put pressure on Chadwick. But despite two safety car periods in the first half of the race, she was able to hold on to the lead.
On lap 13, Foster overtook Abel in turn 1, increasing Chadwick’s lead to just over a second. Foster quickly caught up and attacked in turn 13, but Chadwick successfully fended off the maneuver.
Abel then got involved again. The duel between Foster and Abel gave Chadwick some breathing space again. On lap 15, there was an accident between Myles Rowe (HMD) and Jordan Missing (Abel Motorsports). This brought out a red flag.
The race was restarted over two laps. “When the red flag came out, I thought to myself, come on,” says Chadwick. “The tires were already degrading a bit, so I knew I had to be aggressive. I really wanted to win.” And it worked.
After the restart, she built up a lead of seven tenths of a second for the final lap and drove to the finish line without any mistakes. After six races of the season, Chadwick is in ninth place in the championship. She is still part of the driver academy of the Williams Formula 1 team.
