{"id":88622,"date":"2022-12-01T17:03:23","date_gmt":"2022-12-02T01:03:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/?p=88622"},"modified":"2022-12-02T07:05:38","modified_gmt":"2022-12-02T15:05:38","slug":"jamie-chadwick-to-race-indy-nxt-with-andretti-autosport-dhl-backing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/jamie-chadwick-to-race-indy-nxt-with-andretti-autosport-dhl-backing\/","title":{"rendered":"Jamie Chadwick to Race INDY NXT with Andretti Autosport, DHL backing"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Can Jamie Chadwick replicate her W Series success in INDY NXT?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Three-time W Series champion Jamie Chadwick is headed across the Atlantic Ocean to take part in the top rung of INDYCAR\u2019s ladder series, the newly renamed INDY NXT by Firestone. Chadwick, the sole champion of the now disbanded W Series, which was brought forward by the FIA to promote women drivers in open wheel competition, tested the INDY NXT SERIES Dallara earlier this fall.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With the support of long-time sponsor DHL, Andretti Autosport announced it will field Chadwick in the No. 28 DHL Andretti Autosport Dallara, making her the first female in 13 years to compete full-time in the former Indy Lights championship. Andretti Autosport has been a staunch supporter of this series; it comes as no surprise that the team is, once again, fielding cars in INDY NXT. In addition to Chadwick, the team\u2019s No. 26 is driven by fellow rookie Louis Foster, while Hunter McElrea fields the No. 27 Dallara for a second season with the Andretti squad.<\/p>\n

DHL, which will sponsor Chadwick\u2019s car in the 14-race INDY NXT 2023 campaign that includes three doubleheaders, has worked with Andretti Autosport for 12 years, joining the team in the 2010 INDYCAR season. Mike Parra, CEO of DHL Express, Americas, noted that supporting Chadwick is a natural progression that aligns with DHL\u2019s global values of increasing inclusion for all. \u201cWe did this to support Jamie,\u201d Parra said. While this is DHL\u2019s initial support of INDY NXT, \u201cThis shows our commitment to the series going forward. We see the upside and opportunity of continuing to work with Andretti Autosport and Jamie Chadwick.\u201d<\/p>\n

Demise of the W Series might have been a blessing in disguise for Williams Racing Driver Academy driver Chadwick, whose third title in the free-to-enter series was a dominant one: she secured five of seven race victories, finishing 50 points ahead of the next competitor., Alice Powell. Her first season, 2019, saw Chadwick earn two race victories together with three podium results. While W Series was on hiatus in 2020, Chadwick continued her domination in both 2021 and 2022, even as she continued as a member of Formula One legacy team, Williams\u2019 Racing Driver Academy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re very excited to see Jamie embark on a new chapter in INDY NXT,\u201d said Sven Smeets, sporting director for Williams Racing. \u201cThroughout this year, Jamie displayed an incredible level of skill and determination to claim her third W Series title. We look forward to supporting Jamie with her challenge stateside.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJamie\u2019s successful career speaks for itself,\u201d Andretti Autosports’ CEO Michael Andretti noted, \u201cbut the INDY NXT series gives Jamie the opportunity to continue her development in a new type of racing. We\u2019ve turned out five INDY NXT champions over the years, and look forward to continuing our role in developing new talent,\u201d he said. While Andretti acknowledged his team\u2019s continuing pursuance of a Formula One team by stating, \u201cWe\u2019re not giving up on F1,\u201d Chadwick\u2019s inclusion in that series is not, at this time anyway, considered a primary focus.<\/p>\n

\u201cJame is a proven winner. We\u2019re excited to give her a chance to move up to INDY NXT. She\u2019s shown great potential already in the testing; she\u2019s been right on pace,\u201d Andretti said of his newest driver. He also expressed his gratitude to DHL for their continuing support of the team, something Parra felt important, as DHL has supported women\u2019s and LGBTQ+ endeavors in motorsports. \u201cRecognizing the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion is something that we\u2019re on a mission on, from a company that\u2019s in 220 countries across the world,\u201d Parra said.<\/p>\n

The few test days she\u2019s completed convinced Chadwick that racing INDY NXT would be a great chance to show her worth on a different stage. \u201cIt\u2019s one thing having the opportunity to now step up and progress into the championship like INDY NXT,\u201d she said, \u201cbut it\u2019s another to be doing it with a team like Andretti [Autosport]. I think everyone wants these opportunities, and very few people get them. So I\u2019m very, very grateful. It wouldn\u2019t be possible without the likes of DHL, so I\u2019m really excited by it,\u201d Chadwick emphasized.<\/p>\n

She definitely thinks INDY NXT is a step up for her career. \u201cI think the performance of the cars, in general, is definitely higher (than W Series). I was surprised by how quick they were when I first tested. That said, they\u2019re really enjoyable to drive, so I think it\u2019s a different driving style required. The main thing,\u201d she noted, \u201cis the slightly longer races.\u201d While W Series performed on a number of street tracks, she\u2019ll be introduced to other, unfamiliar street tracks and ovals, \u201cWhich are going to be a new challenge for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

When she first tested with Andretti Autosport in September, Chadwick felt at home with the team. \u201cI felt like everyone wanted to support me and give me the best opportunity, so I was successful not just in the test but now ultimately going forward.\u201d There is a lot different from the W Series car she\u2019s driven since 2019: \u201cIt\u2019s the amount of adjustability within setups from the engineering aspect,\u201d that interests the driver. \u201cThe ability to work with engineers and go through many different test items in the day, as opposed to being quite restricted on those options, I found really interesting – and something I\u2019m really looking forward to learning more about.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unsure of W Series\u2019 future, Chadwick wanted to progress outside of that group, looking at Formula 3 as well as INDY NXT. \u201cThe opportunity I have here in INDY NXT is far greater than anything I was able to achieve over in Europe with Formula 3. You always want to put yourself in the best position with the best team and the beset environment, and to be in that environment with the likes of Andretti and INDY NXT, I think it was definitely a huge opportunity that gave me a big, big chance for the future. Unfortunately, I didn\u2019t quite have that come together in Europe\u2026 \u201c<\/p>\n

The physicality of INDY NXT race cars is a challenge for Chadwick. \u201cI think the thing that\u2019s the toughest part or the biggest step up is the duration of the races,\u201d she admitted. \u201cI definitely feel capable for one lap, but now looking at 45 minutes to an hour, is going to be the challenge. But it\u2019s something I definitely feel is achievable with training,\u201d something she intends to do throughout the winter, non-track-testing period. \u201cI\u2019ve driven the car enough to know what I need to do,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Jamie Chadwick will be 24 years old during her rookie, INDY NXT season and realizes she came to the sport a bit later in life. \u201cI was 12 years old. I only did club karting and I think I need to be fully focused on what I need to do to be as best prepared regardless of my age,\u201d realizing there are plenty of drivers in INDY NXT and the NTT INDYCAR SERIES who are younger than she is and who started their paths well before her. \u201cI need to use the INDY NXT championship as the best development platform as possible, learn as much as possible and, when I\u2019m ready for the likes of INDYCAR, I\u2019m ready, and I can make that step.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Three-time W Series champion Jamie Chadwick is headed across the Atlantic Ocean to take part in the top rung of INDYCAR\u2019s ladder series, the newly renamed INDY NXT by Firestone.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":88621,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[17,3470,5029,22],"tags":[727,5420,9381,9380,712,7042,6302],"class_list":["post-88622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guest-column","category-news","category-racing","category-event-coverage","tag-andretti-autosport","tag-fia","tag-firestone","tag-indy-nxt","tag-indycar","tag-jamie-chadwick","tag-w-series"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Jamie-Chadwick-e1669942960917.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p42YSK-n3o","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88622","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88622"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88622\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88653,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88622\/revisions\/88653"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/88621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}