ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — After many restarts and a change to a timed race from laps, Danial Frost wins the first Indy NXT by Firestone Series race of the 2023 season on the streets of St. Petersburg.
After Nolan Siegel barely locked up his tires on a late restart, Danial Frost swept through on the inside at the first corner to go from second to first in the No. 68 HMD Motorsports entry.
The race began with Louis Foster leading from pole position but there was contact immediately. As Enaam Ahmed attempted to overtake Reece Gold, Gold swerved to block Ahmed. The resulting contact lodged Ahmed’s front wing in the front suspension and ended the No. 47 Cape Motorsports entry’s progress.
The full course yellow for the debris lasted two laps but the yellow was out again shortly thereafter as Jagger Jones hit the Turn 4 tire barrier and Jamie Chadwick hit the rear of Jones’s car as she had nowhere to go.
.@jaggerjones98 and @JamieChadwick get tied up in the tire barrier. #INDYNXT // @peacock pic.twitter.com/LOCPGr6wLt
— INDY NXT (@INDYNXT) March 5, 2023
Jacob Abel picked up the race lead on the ensuing restart as Foster locked up on the way to Turn 1. Abel went from third to first, overtaking Foster and Christian Rasmussen. Abel built up a lead over Foster of about two and a half seconds before Foster gradually began to close the gap.
.@jacobabelracing with the HUGE pass up to P1.
?: @peacock #INDYNXT // @AbelMotorsports pic.twitter.com/uLfOkJ6uEG
— INDY NXT (@INDYNXT) March 5, 2023
The race’s third full course yellow came out on Lap 27 as Josh Pierson hit the Turn 10 tire barrier. On the restart, Foster lost a pair of positions in Turn 1 before brushing the wall with the left rear of the car exiting Turn 3. That contact damaged the No. 26 Andretti Autosport entry’s suspension.
Chadwick again had contact with the Turn 4 tire barrier, leading to another full course yellow. On the next restart, Nolan Siegel took the lead from Abel and Rasmussen after the pair ran wide in Turn 1.
WHAT. A. RESTART! pic.twitter.com/tx2SEloFTv
— INDY NXT (@INDYNXT) March 5, 2023
The green flag would not be out for long as Josh Green spun in Turn 4, collecting Matteo Nannini and Kyffin Simpson. Race control then converted the race into a timed race, as the race was scheduled to be 45 laps or 55 minutes.
Frost made his move on the race’s final restart to get the lead from Siegel through the Turns 1-2 complex and picked up his second Indy NXT win after a win at the IMS road course in May of 2022.
Siegel finished second ahead of Abel, Rasmsusen, Hunter McElrea and Ernie Francis Jr.
Finishing order:
- Danial Frost
- Nolan Siegel
- Jacob Abel
- Christian Rasmussen
- Hunter McElrea
- Ernie Francis Jr.
- Josh Green
- Reece Gold
- Rasmus Lindh
- Kyffin Simpson
- Colin Kaminsky
- Christian Bogle
- Jamie Chadwick
- Louis Foster
- Matteo Nannini
- Josh Pierson
- James Roe
- Jagger Jones
- Enaam Ahmed
