Bryce Aron Racing
Bryce Aron Moves to HMD Motorsports for 2025 INDY NXT by Firestone Campaign
Returning for his second year of INDY NXT by Firestone competition, Bryce Aron will be making the switch to HMD Motorsports for the upcoming 2025 season. Piloting the #39 Jaguar Land Rover Chesterfield branded entry, Aron is set to build on his impressive rookie campaign as he continues his rise in America’s premier open-wheel development series.
“I’m extremely excited to be joining HMD motorsports for the 2025 INDY NXT season,” explained Bryce Aron. “The goal is nothing short of winning the championship, and I believe together with HMD, this is possible. I’m looking forward to getting started with the team at IMS later this week.”
In his rookie INDY NXT by Firestone season, Aron showed his potential claiming two podium results, with third-place finishes at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca and Portland International Raceway. He added a fourth-place finish at the Milwaukee Mile, showing speed and skill on road courses and oval tracks. Showing steady improvement throughout the second half of the season, the 21-year-old Illinois native will be an instant contender for wins and the championship title.
“Bryce steadily improved throughout the 2024 season, and we are very confident in his ability to be at the pointy end of the field week in and week out,” added Team President Mike Maurini. “Experience is key in the INDY NXT program, and Bryce is entering his sophomore season with experience at every venue that we will compete at in the 2025 season.”
Before joining the NTT INDYCAR SERIES development ladder, Aron spent four years racing and in Europe where he claimed multiple race wins and podiums across championships, including in GB3 with Hitech and EuroFormula Open with Motopark. Despite foregoing the season’s final three races, in EuroFormula Open, Aron finished fourth in the championship with three wins and two additional podiums. Aron was also the only one of the three INDY NXT drivers to claim a victory in the 2024 Formula Regional Oceania championship.
Bryce Aron will hit the track this coming Friday, October 18 for the annual Chris Griffis Memorial Test at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Photo Credit: Ignite Media
Aron Wraps Up Strong Indy NXT Rookie Season in Nashville
After being the fastest rookie in the opening practice session of the Nashville race weekend, weather conditions led to the cancellation of qualifying, resulting in starting positions being based on entrant points. This created a situation where drivers' starting positions did not reflect championship standings, allowing 2 drivers who were lower in the standings to start ahead of Bryce, who was 9th in the championship.
Despite being hindered by a slower car on the start, Bryce made a strong comeback, quickly moving up to 6th place and maintaining that position for most of the race. Bryce had a strong restart after the singular safety car of the race, and continued to hold position for several laps.
Photos: Ignite Media
Towards the end of the race, Bryce made a move on the 5th placed de Alba, who cut down on him on the low line. To avoid contact, Bryce had to take evasive action, which resulted in a loss of momentum and allowed the 7th placed d'Orlando, who had been unable to pass Bryce earlier, to get by. Ultimately, Bryce finished the race in 7th place.
Throughout the second half of the season, Bryce outshone two of his three Andretti teammates, outscoring third-year James Roe by 29 points and second-year Jamie Chadwick by 45 points. Bryce’s results are even more remarkable considering that most of the other top rookies had years of experience on American circuits, while Bryce’s first
Photos: Ignite Media
exposure came during his debut season. He was one of only two rookies to achieve two podiums on road circuits.
Bryce Aron emerged from the 2024 season as the fastest rookie and the third fastest driver overall, in terms of race pace, according to data taken from the Indy NXT website. He outpaced everyone except the top two championship contenders, Louis Foster and Jacob Abel. While Bryce’s pace was evident at the outset of the season, his ability translated to results most prominently during the second half of his rookie Indy NXT season. Bryce distinguished himself as one of only two rookies to achieve two podium finishes on road circuits. Over the final seven races, Bryce's thrilling performances included 2 podiums on road circuits, 3 top 5 finishes, and 6 top 10 finishes. Bryce’s driving promises an exciting future, making him a standout star to watch in the seasons ahead.
Bryce Aron’s Impressive Second-Half Surge
Bryce Aron has been making impressive strides in the latter half of this racing season, currently ranked as the fourth highest point scorer during this period, only behind the seasoned championship contenders. This accomplishment is particularly noteworthy given Aron’s recent move from Europe back home to the United States, where he has had to navigate unfamiliar tracks and oval racing for the first time.
At the Milwaukee Mile, Aron showcased his adaptability and skill, starting from 7th position in the 90-lap race (shortened from a scheduled 100 lap event). Early in the race, Aron moved past Caio Collet, who holds third place in the championship standings, to take sixth. Aron then engaged in a prolonged battle with Jacob Abel, who is holding second place in the championship, maintaining close proximity for several laps before opting to conserve his tires.
Photos: Ignite Media
The race took a pivotal turn on lap 30 with a full-course caution. Aron seized the opportunity to advance, executing a strong restart and overtaking Christian Brooks—who has taken over Nolan Siegel’s car. This move propelled Aron into the top 5, setting up a dramatic finish.With 13 laps remaining, Aron closed in on his teammate Jamie Chadwick. With a well planned and decisive move around the outside of Chadwick, Aron moved into 4th place.
Aron then navigated lapped traffic and with 3 laps remaining was 2 seconds away from the driver in 3rd. A strong push on the final laps saw Aron narrow the gap to under 0.5 seconds but further progress was prevented by the shortened race distance.
Photos: Ignite Media
Aron’s ability to advance through the field was evident as he moved up from 7th to 4th position. His impressive drive included scoring the second-fastest lap. In addition to forward progress, Aron encountered lapped traffic, and was thus credited with 11 overtakes, tying for the most passes of the race. As a newcomer to ovals, Bryce has demonstrated progress and adaptability. His impressive performance in the second half of the season highlights his rapid development and potential. With the final race at Nashville approaching, Aron is eager to carry this momentum forward.
A Podium in Portland for Bryce Aron
Bryce had a successful first visit to the Portland International Raceway, where he achieved his second podium in the Indy NXT by Firestone Championship. Aron had a great start and comfortably maintained his position, saving push-to-pass and managing his tires through the entire race. With 5 laps to go, Bryce was the fastest car on track, providing for a thrilling finish.
Aron Scores First Indy NXT Podium at Laguna Seca
Bryce Aron achieved his first podium result in the INDY NXT by Firestone Championship, by finishing in 3rd place at Laguna Seca during the second race of the weekend. Aron had a strong start from P5, and focused on saving his tires and preserving his push to pass.
Aron had a strong restart after a safety car on lap 17. Prior to the restart, a lapped car rejoined the field in the middle of the front runners, directly ahead of Bryce. Undeterred, Bryce passed that car shortly after the restart and was able to hold off the cars behind him. The positioning of the lapped car cost Bryce an opportunity on the restart, however Bryce was able to stay close enough to the lead pack to enter the battle for third place.
With 8 laps remaining Bryce was able to take evasive action and avoid 2 cars that had become entangled in the corkscrew. Bryce passed the cars and moved into podium position. Aron maintained his pace and built the gap to the cars behind increasing his advantage to more than 3.5 seconds at the line.
“I’m super happy to get my first podium in INDY NXT. The car was great, I have to thank everyone on the team for all the hard work. We’ve had some ups and downs, but we have so much pace. To finally get a podium, I’m really happy to give the team what they deserve.” - Bryce Aron
Photos by Ignite Media
Aron is Biggest Mover and takes 6th on Debut at Outfront Showdown
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This was Bryce's first time racing at World Wide Technology Raceway, never having had the opportunity to test at the circuit. Bryce had an excellent showing, moving up 7 positions to claim the Josten's Biggest Mover award. Aron spent a great portion of the race battling for positions and made several exciting passes during the race, culminating in a last lap move where Bryce jumped out 3 wide into turn three to take 6th place at the line.
Aron 8th on Debut
Road America
Bryce Aron got off to a good start in his first race at Road America. Starting from 7th Bryce made up a spot on the first lap. Bryce did well on the first of three safety car restarts and made a pass around the outside to take 5th. The third safety car restart saw Aron get boxed in, resulting in a loss of position. Still determined, Bryce made a pass on the last lap to take 8th place.
“It was quite a positive race today. The boys worked really hard after Detroit, so a big thank you goes out to everyone here at Andretti for getting the car together and giving me such a package to fight with. Also, congratulations to Jamie. I'm really happy for her and for Louis. It’s great to see them secure that 1-2 result for the team. My race was good. I mean, we were up there for a while, but I made a few mistakes on the restart and ended up pushing us down a little bit. Still, P8 gives us some good points and a lot to build on. I’m looking forward to Laguna next.” - Bryce Aron
Photo by Ignite Media
Aron runs in top 5 until mechanical fault during closing laps
Bryce Aron once again showed great pace and skill at Barber Motorsport Park. Aron qualified 4th in his group which was the faster group. Starting the race from P7 Bryce was up to P5 on the opening lap where he remained until the closing laps when a fuel pump failure depleted his power.
Bryce had saved his tires and his push to pass. With 7 laps to go Bryce had the most push to pass of the drivers in the field. With 5 laps remaining a fuel pump warning light came on and Bryce suffered a significant loss of power. The mechanical fault impaired Bryce’s pace, leaving him at a great disadvantage. Bryce continued forward and tried to defend his position. Despite the mechanical issue Bryce was able to bring the car home in P8.
"Overall it was a really good race, and we were running P5 for most of it. We did have a mechanical failure at the end there, which meant we had to really fight to stay in position because we weren't getting full power from the engine. It’s a bit of a shame that we had that issue but, it happens, it’s racing. We still managed to bring it home in P8 and got some good points on the board."
Aron Top 5 Pace in First Ever Street Race
Bryce Aron embarked on his first ever street race with Andretti Global at The Streets of St. Pete. After some early mechanical issues in the first practice session, Bryce quickly got up to speed. Bryce’s third session ever on the street circuit took place during a disrupted qualifying session, in which Bryce qualified fourth, in his group, and was the fastest rookie.
The Indy NXT Grid at St. Pete was comprised of 21 drivers. Bryce was the only driver who had never driven on a street circuit. The average Indy NXT driver was in their fourth year of experience on the Streets of St. Pete street circuit. This made Bryce’s adaptability and pace that much more impressive.
Photo Credit:Joe Skibinski
Aron 5th Fastest Overall on First Street Circuit
Source: IndyNXT.com
On Sunday, as the green flags were waved Bryce had a great start from P8. Bryce made it up to P6 and was focused on preserving his tires and saving push to pass for the final portion of the race. With 12 laps remaining, Bryce saw the opportunity to go for a podium position and chose to pick up his pace. Late braking in Turn 10 led to contact with the wall and an end to what had been a strong debut.
There were a lot of positives to take away from Bryce’s first Indy NXT race weekend. Bryce was fifth fastest overall and third fastest driver on five and ten lap pace.
"It was an unfortunate end there in the race today. I just made a mistake into Turn 10 that caused me to hit the wall. I tried to correct it, but there’s not much margin for error there. But overall, it’s been a positive weekend for us and I think we were very quick and adapted really well. It’s my first time on a street circuit and everyone at Andretti has been really crucial in helping me get up to speed. It's a shame the weekend ended the way it did, but we’ll move on and be stronger at the next one." - Bryce Aron
Aron continues to show top pace at IMS
Bryce Aron once again showed top pace at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Aron ended the only practice session as the fastest rookie and third fastest driver overall. Aron's speed is impressive as he is competing against drivers with several years of experience on the American tracks visited by the Indy NXT series. Having spent most of his career racing in Europe, Bryce has not raced on these tracks.
Despite incidents in the beginning of both races, Bryce was still able to show his pace scoring the 5th fastest lap in race 2 and the seventh fastest lap in race 1 despite having a broken front wing.
Aron Wins in New Zealand
Bryce Aron started off his 2024 season with a win in New Zealand. Bryce jumped into the Formula Regional Oceania series for the final 2 rounds, having never driven a formula regional car or driven in New Zealand. Aron was joined by two Indy NXT drivers, both of whom had the advantage of competing in the entire 2023 New Zealand based championship. While all three drivers had some impressive results, Aron was the only one to claim a win and also the only one to claim a fastest lap during his short visit. (Link to Results)
The New Zealand Grand Prix, one of only two official Grand Prix’s sanctioned by the FIA outside of Formula 1, features an F1 style qualifying, with a three phase knockout. All drivers compete in Q1, with the fastest 13 drivers moving on to Q2. The 8 fastest drivers from Q2 then move onto Q3. Bryce made it through all three qualifying sessions.
Drivers are given two sets of sticker new tires for the entire race weekend, including qualifying. The drivers who made it through the third qualifying session all used both sets of tires. Drivers who did not make it to Q2 or Q3 would have a set of new tires and a set of only slightly used tires.
The weekend would play out with Bryce taking pole in race 2. Typically, drivers use their newest tires when they start from pole, but Bryce and his team decided that he would compete on his most used tires in order to save his newer (still used) set for the longer final race. Bryce used the same tires he used in Q1, Q2 and Race 1, for Race 2, they had been used for more than 150 kilometers, which is a lot for racing tires.
Bryce had a great start from pole, getting off the line quicker than anyone on the grid. Bryce managed his old tires throughout the race fending off the series champion who was on much newer tires. This was probably the most exciting race of the weekend as it featured a prolonged intense battle at the front of the field. The series champion, who had made easy work passing the rest of the field, could not get by Bryce. Despite continuous pressure, Bryce kept the competiton at bay, leading the entire race and claiming a well earned victory!
Photo Credit: Clint Thambi (Mad Angles Photography)
Category: Single Seater | Written by: Supplied
US aces in mix for big Castrol Toyota FR Oceania weekend in Christchurch
Date:February 9, 2024 | Photographer Credit: Bruce Jenkins
Championship leader Roman Bilinski maintained his competitiveness ahead of the fourth round of the 2024 Castrol Toyota FR Oceania Championship in Christchurch, but for once in a great season, he wasn’t the centre of attention.
That honour went to debuting Bryce Aron out of the United States aboard his M2 Competition Toyota FT60 and countryman Jacob Abel aboard his MTEC Motorsport car and it was the two Americans who had everyone talking at the Euromarque Motorsport Park, Christchurch today.
INDY NXT ace Abel – who finished third in the championship in 2023 and is back for the final two rounds of the 2024 series – followed up his Thursday testing form with another eye-catching performance in the first practice session, completing it in second place behind Bilinski.
Another surprise in the opening run was Aron, another to sign-up for the last two rounds but without the experience of a full season behind him like Abel. His third place ahead of top Kiwi Liam Sceats and fifth placed Michael Shin was impressive and a marker for what was to come during the rest of the day at the Christchurch circuit.
The morning session brought rain and slow lap times but with track conditions so changeable the previous weekend at Hampton Downs, some of the leading drivers were keen to try slicks in the final minutes as the surface improved. Bilinski, Gerrard Xie and Kaleb Ngatoa all made the switch with eight minutes to go and put in their best laps of the opening session.
Aron – a contracted Andretti Global driver highly regarded in the USA – was fully into the groove by the second session, pushing the best lap recorded marker down into the 1 minute 17 second bracket, an impressive lap time around the 3.33km track, even allowing for the fact that a lot of the runners used this session for a run on brand new Pirelli slicks.
Only Giles Motorsport’s Ngatoa and Bilinski were able to match him in the session and dip under 1 minute 18 seconds and they ended it second and third fastest.
Patrick Woods-Toth was another to go well having set the pace on Thursday and he finished up fourth for Kiwi Motorsport ahead of Abel. Jett Bowling in another Kiwi Motorsport entry put in one of his best runs so far in the championship to take sixth fastest time just two and half tenths off Aron with countryman Titus Sherlock eighth and Kiwis Sceats and Alex Crosbie ninth and tenth.
In the third and final 30-minute session before the weekend it was Xie, Bilinski and Woods-Toth who traded fastest time early on before Roman set a 1 minute 17.821 lap. That was marginally quicker than Aron’s second session time and would stand as quickest of the day. Ngatoa went close but had to settle for second while Alex Crosbie looked like a contender with third fastest time. Michael Shin was fourth and Aron was there again with fifth fastest time ahead of Xie, Woods-Toth, Bowling, Sherlock and Sceats.
With unofficial testing and practice complete, the 15 car field gets down to business on Saturday morning with qualifying and the first race of the weekend in the afternoon.
Bryce Aron to Make INDY NXT Debut in 2024 With Andretti Global
INDIANAPOLIS (October 11, 2023) – Andretti Global announced today that Bryce Aron will join the team’s 2024 INDY NXT by Firestone driver lineup piloting the No. 27 Andretti Dallara. The American rookie is the second confirmed Andretti INDY NXT driver for the 2024 season, joining already announced teammate James Roe.
The 20-year-old Illinois native began his car racing career in the F1600 Championship Series in 2019, finishing third in the Championship standings as a rookie. The following year saw Aron receive the coveted 2020 Team USA Scholarship and become the first American in British motorsports history to place in the top five at the Walter Hayes Trophy (third) and Formula Ford Festival (fifth). Aron went on to compete in the 2021 and 2022 BRDC British F3 Championship (GB3) seasons, collecting 12 top-10 finishes in his first year and scoring a win, three podiums and eight top-10 finishes to help secure the overall 2022 British F3 Team Championship.
Most recently, Aron competed in the 2023 Euroformula Open F3 Championship scoring three wins, five podiums and a pole position, placing him in fourth place in the Driver’s Championship standings. The sole American in the field will forgo the final round of the season to make his INDY NXT debut October 20 on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway at the annual Chris Griffis Memorial Test.
J-F THORMANN, PRESIDENT, ANDRETTI GLOBAL
“We take a great deal of pride in the up-and-coming drivers we bring into our INDY NXT program and the addition of Bryce is no exception. He’s proven that he knows how to win races during his time in Europe, so we’re eager to see what he will do with an opportunity to compete in INDY NXT. We have high hopes for Bryce in his rookie year, and we’re thrilled to have him join the team for the upcoming season.”
BRYCE ARON, DRIVER, ANDRETTI INDY NXT
“To say I’m excited to be joining Andretti Global is a vast understatement. It’s really a dream come true, and I’m honored to be a part of this amazing team. I’ve grown up watching the Andretti team win in Indianapolis, so it means everything to me to be able to learn from this talented group. I’m happy to be returning to the U.S. to take this giant step towards my end goal of competing in INDYCAR. I can’t wait to get started with the team and I believe we can achieve a lot together in 2024.”