A new INDYCAR driver reminds me a little bit of the late, great Greg Moore. Time will tell if Nolan Siegel, a 19 year-old American driver has the determination, fearless driving style, and rare car control that Moore demonstrated.
Competing at the Twin Ring Motegi (Japan) track, a 1.549-mi (2.493-km) egg-shaped oval for Forsythe Racing’s CART team, Moore spun exiting Turn 4 at the start of the race. In my twenty-seven years of covering open wheel racing, I’ve never seen his brilliance better displayed than when Moore put his car in reverse and drove backwards to avoid a major shunt as the field accelerated towards him. Moore smoked his tires all the way down the front straight to Turn 1 where he used the banking to straighten out his car as the others drove beneath him.
It was such a great loss to the racing world when at only 24 years old, Moore suffered a fatal accident at the 2-mile Fontana, CA oval. He had just signed a US $10 M, three-year deal to drive for Team Penske starting in 2000, likely one of the highest paid drivers of that time. His rise to the top of coveted seats followed his 1995 INDY Lights title after winning ten events in his third season. The New Westminster native advanced to the CART series still driving for Forsythe Racing. He was runner-up for the 1996 Rookie of the Year that went to Alex Zanardi. In 1997 and 1998, Moore earned two CART victories and another in 1999.
Autosport named Moore as one of the greatest 50 drivers in the world who did not compete in F1. Frank Williams extended Moore an offer of test driver for his F1 team only to learn his Forsythe contract prevented it.
Like Moore, as a teenager, Siegel has had early success with two wins and five podiums in his first full INDY NXT (previously Lights) season. This year, his goal was to earn the NXT championship, taking the prize money to advance to an INDYCAR ride. Also in 2024, Siegel was scheduled to compete in four INDYCAR events with Dale Coyne Racing. His third such race was the Indianapolis 500, where he was eliminated as a consequence of crashing his oval-prepared car in a practice incident and then switching to his slower backup car.
What surprised the entire paddock and probably Siegel himself, was being pulled, literally, from his HMD NXT car at Road America to drive as a sudden replacement for Agustin Canapino. The Argentinian driver was unexpectedly removed from the #78 Juncos Hollinger Racing entry right before the first practice session on Friday afternoon due to a loss in focus. There had been social media threats against Théo Pourchaire, who had light contact with Canapino the previous week at the Detroit Grand Prix. Siegel finished 23rd, having started 21st.
In his first attempt at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, driving for United Autosport, Siegel, along with Bijoy Garg and Oliver Jarvis, won the LMP2 class. By catching the attention of Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren Racing (who also has an interest in the United team), Seigel was announced, effective immediately, to replace Pourchaire with a multi-year INDYCAR contract. Pourchaire, the 2023 F2 champion, had been announced last May to finish out the season in the #6 Arrow McLaren entry replacing David Malukas, who was still recovering from a left wrist injury. The Frenchman was unceremoniously thanked for filling in.
“It’s been a crazy couple of weeks with the driving side of things and then everything off track that’s been happening,” explained Siegel, who has taken his race car seat from team to team to team. “Road America obviously was very unexpected for me. I’m glad that happened because it really fueled what happened on the Arrow McLaren side for me.
“I was very much looking forward to fighting for the NXT championship. I think we had a good shot at it with a really strong team. As a feeder to INDYCAR, the goal is to be here full time. After what happened at Road America and what happened at Le Mans, it made sense to start the relationship early and for the rest of 2024.
“The goal is to maximize results every weekend this year. It’s not that we’re just writing this season off and preparing for next year. There are a lot of things for me to learn. I’ll take it as it comes and be more prepared for the next one.
“I’ve done a lot of sports car racing in IMSA and now at Le Mans. Having that GT and prototype experience is really big. Having done pitstops and having done longer races where you are managing tires and saving fuel, is a very different skill set. And INDYCAR is kind of a combination of the things in sports cars that you don’t get in to do in junior open wheel series. You also get the full push mindset that you have in open wheel that you don’t have in sports cars. INDYCAR is a cool combination of these different factors in each different discipline. Doing both is very helpful.”
Siegel, who appears mature for his age, didn’t disappoint in his first INDYCAR race wearing Papaya. Although he started 23rd at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, he finished 12th. The California native’s achievements over the next few years will determine how similar he is to such a rarely talented and exceptional driver as Moore.
