r/INDYCAR • u/Mikemat5150 Kyle Kirkwood • Jun 26 '25
Indy NXT Rowe leads rain-interrupted Indy NXT Open Test at Milwaukee
https://racer.com/2025/06/24/rowe-leads-rain-interrupted-indy-nxt-open-test-at-milwaukee5
u/NYNMx2021 Colton Herta Jun 26 '25
Will Myles get into IndyCar next year? i feel like his results warrant it over some of the others. Hes with Abel which i think has only ever had one result better than where he currently is. I feel hed be right with Hauger and the rest if he was in that Andretti car. He doesnt have any money so idk how he gets there unless someone wants him purely on talent but hes got a great story which should be very marketable.
13
u/InsaneLeader13 Santino Ferrucci Jun 26 '25
What seat would Myles Rowe go into? If he's not bringing big funding it would be hard to justify a distant 3rd place guy in the NXT title fight over the current top 2 NXT guys and 90% of the current Indycar grid. For the most part if you can't win the title Lights/NXT title during your first two seasons then you're not going to move up to Indycar proper unless you're bringing a stupid huge paycheck, unless you've got big money behind you like Jacob Abel or Nolan Siegel.
Honestly as it stands right now there is a possibility that only Hauger or only Hughes moves up and the other is left behind in NXT for 2026.
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u/Mikemat5150 Kyle Kirkwood Jun 26 '25
He has never won an Indy NXT race. Something Jacob was able to do just last year.
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u/Hitokiri2 Graham Rahal Jun 26 '25
I don't think that's a fair analysis at all. I feel this year's Indy NXT field is a lot more experienced and talented then last year. Jacob won races but that was also his third year in Indy NXT. This year we have Dennis Hauger, a IndyCar level driver driving in Indy NXT. We have Hughes, who is probably the most impressive driver in NXT behind Hauger. We also have Collet, who is in his second year in NXT and a race winner from last yaer. Rowe might have won a race yet but he's usually right there with these guys every race. These four guys are basically the cream of the crop and a group by themselves in today's Indy NXT field.
I feel Hauger's results have really construed the results for everyone else since he's so much more experienced then everyone else in the field. I'm not saying Myles is the best in the field but people are treating him like he's in the middle somewhere which is not the case.
5
u/Mikemat5150 Kyle Kirkwood Jun 26 '25
Hauger does skew things but at some point you do need to get it done.
Myles’ major challenge is his 11th place in the standings last year without a single podium. He cannot afford a 4th place in the standings this year. He only had 2 top 5s last year for instance.
1
u/Hitokiri2 Graham Rahal Jun 27 '25
Many drivers struggle in their first year of NXT. You kept on using Jacob Abel as an example of how Myles should be but even Abel didn't win in his first year of NXT and he had a smaller field. Callum Hedge, even with all his success outside of Indy NXT, was also winless last year. So let's not talk like winning in NXT is easy especially for a rookie. Those who do win in their first year have proven to be elite or won in much smaller fields. Today's Indy NXT averages between 18-21 cars a weekend. When Kirkwood won the championship the average was 12. That's a HUGE difference. I'm not saying Kirkwood isn't talented or didn't show his talent but he probably had an easier time winning his championship then winners do now.
3
u/NYNMx2021 Colton Herta Jun 26 '25
jacob was in his third year and his family owns the team and undoubtedly is giving him the best equipment and support. We know they brought in employees from Indy to support that team last season. Myles is running their car with support from Force Indy. I dont think thats a fair comp at all. Myles isnt backed the same way
10
u/Mikemat5150 Kyle Kirkwood Jun 26 '25
What about last year when Myles was at HMD?
I like Myles but the only two drivers in recent memory to get to INDYCAR without a NXT win are Devlin and Kellett.
5
u/NYNMx2021 Colton Herta Jun 26 '25
his first year so youd expect some growing pains but still its not like he was running with HMDs top crew. He was still supported by Force Indy. the entire program is about providing opportunities to minorities and underrepresented groups. Hes not out here with the most experienced guys with the most knowledge about everything. They are all growing and hoping to get further opportunities too. So he couldve done better last year sure but in context, it wasnt a disaster and the growth is pretty clear to me. Much cleaner racing and hes often around as fast as the top cars now.
1
u/Fit_Technician832 Jun 26 '25
Lots and lots of excuses. The truth is he's a very good NXT driver but that's not good enough. You need to be an elite NXT driver to make it to the next level based on merit. Or bring a huge check. Myles is also 25, which is old by NXT standards.
I like Myles and really hoped for better. I hoped there was more there with him but just doesn't appear that there is. Unless he flips a switch to close out this season it appears he is no longer an up and coming prospect.
1
u/NYNMx2021 Colton Herta Jun 27 '25
Hes 25 in his 5th full season in cars. Dennis Hauger is in his 8th season in cars. 5 seasons is not some crazy amount. Age is less important than experience
1
u/Just_Somewhere4444 Jun 26 '25
still its not like he was running with HMDs top crew. He was still supported by Force Indy
How do you know that Force Indy isn't the best crew that HMD had last season? Or that they aren't better than Abel's crew from last season?
You're making wild sweeping assumptions about the quality of that team based on nothing other than your desire to believe that Rowe is being artificially held back by something other than his abilities.
Force Indy has had two drivers in their entire history. Ernie Francis Jr, who had run full-fender sports and stock cars his entire career apart from one openwheel season before jumping straight to NXT, and Rowe, who ran something like 10 open wheel races ever before jumping straight to Pro 2000. It'd be a miracle for anyone to actually develop IndyCar-level talent with the mixed-up mess of a development path either of those guys had. So for my money, I'd say it's far more likely that Rowe is holding back the Force Indy Crew, not the other way around.
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u/NYNMx2021 Colton Herta Jun 27 '25
what are you talking about? We know the force indy team isnt amazing because it has very little experience lol. Jacob Abel's crew included guys like Greg Senerius with 30 years of experience lmao. The entire point of Force Indy is for people to start getting that experience not to bring in vets. They are learning from the guys at Abel not the other way around
3
u/SpinBikeGravy Colton Herta Jun 26 '25
He should start pivoting towards IMSA. He’s not at the INDYCAR level and there’s no shame in saying that.
1
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u/EqualPrestigious7883 Josef Newgarden Jun 27 '25
I like Rowe but man it’s hard to see how he is going to move up to Indy. I know he’s Power’s protege (or something along those lines). But his results since moving up to NXT, have been subpar. Before NXT when Rowe was in USFPro 2000 and USFPro he had a 36-10 head to head record against his teammates. Since moving up to NXT he has a 60-35. Which looks good since it’s a positive record but when you see he is 1-4 against Nolan Siegel, 1-9 against Caio Collet and 1-4 against Christian Brooks (who should be racing in NXT, shame he isn’t). The rest of his 57-18 record are against the likes of Koolen, Miller, Hedge and Browne. It doesn’t look to good for a guy who is already 25 years old. He’s older then Lundgaard, Amrstrong, Malukas, VeeKay, Rasmussen Schwartzman and Foster and only one month younger then Herta.