INDY NXT SERIES: GRAND PRIX OF PORTLAND

August 10, 2025

Caio Collet

Dennis Hauger

Myles Rowe

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Wrapping up today's INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Portland. Joined by Dennis Hauger, sixth win this season, ninth podium of 2025. Also clinches the Dallara Rookie of the Year award.

Caio Collet, ninth podium in the 12 races this year. His 15th career podium.

Also joined by Myles Rowe, fifth podium of the season, third top five in the last four races.

Congratulations all three of you guys. Talk us through what this win does for you as the championship moves on to Milwaukee.

DENNIS HAUGER: Yeah, for sure a good race. We really needed that for the championship, to keep the momentum going into the last two.

No, really happy. Great car today, as well. Feel like we didn't quite put everything together yesterday, but we managed to do that today. Super happy about that.

Obviously a good step in the championship.

THE MODERATOR: Tell us about the pass in turn two.

DENNIS HAUGER: Yeah, I was looking a lot at the start yesterday and this morning. Was just trying to find different scenarios. In the end it worked out pretty well.

I think Caio was a bit focused on Myles, who got on the outside, got around. I just saw a little bit of room into the inside and took it. I saw that worked last year. So yeah, it was a good move. Happy we made it stick. No collision. We all came out clean. That's not the easiest in turn one on lap one in Portland.

Yeah, from there on it was just about keeping it clean, not doing too many mistakes, just be smart with the push to pass.

THE MODERATOR: Caio, I know you were wishing for a little bit more. Tell us what happened from your perspective there in turn two.

CAIO COLLET: Yeah, I think very frustrating from my side. I think I did the mistake of looking at Myles. I think we both overshoot a little bit turn one. When I saw Dennis on the outside, he was already ahead. It was just too late to react.

But yeah, he found a really good gap, made a great move. I didn't even see it coming. I think I was quite focused on Myles on the outside. When I saw Dennis, was too late. Yeah, mistake from my side. I think after that, the race was quite okay. I kept pressure till the end. I think he did a really good job again on not doing any mistakes.

Yeah, just frustrating with my mistake at the start.

THE MODERATOR: You caught up with him, maybe 3/10ths at one point.

CAIO COLLET: Just keeping the pressure. I think we were using a little bit of the push to pass as well, see if I could push him into a mistake. I think he never did one. I never got a clear opportunity.

I think on the restart, the chance of having a collision there if I went on the outside was, like, huge. Yeah, I think point to him that he did a very good job on the first lap. After that the race was pretty much over.

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations Myles Rowe. Third top five in the last four INDY NXT races. I feel like there's some momentum with this team. What do you think?

MYLES ROWE: Yeah, for sure. We're starting to pick up a little bit of momentum the second half of the season. For sure we wanted to place at least a little higher, at least where we started. Dennis made a stellar move on the inside. Nothing much we can do about that.

Very happy with Abel Motorsports crew. They've been working very hard with all four cars. Very happy to give them a little bit of a result at the end of this weekend.

THE MODERATOR: You have two ovals coming up. You have a race win on an oval. How much are you looking forward to getting back to Milwaukee and Nashville?

MYLES ROWE: Yeah, we're really excited for the ovals. Judging by this season, that seems to be our strong suit. Happy to be going back there. My engineer loves the ovals. We'll be looking for strong finishes there, no doubt.

THE MODERATOR: We'll open it up for questions.

Q. Dennis, obviously you dominated at the start of the year. Feels like you've been challenged more recently. What have you learned throughout this season, first year in U.S.?

DENNIS HAUGER: Yeah, you would think the rhythm would be in the opposite direction. I was just a rookie this year.

I think the team has been doing an amazing job. The first five, six races we were really on it. We managed to maximize most of it with a lot of the cars.

I think HMD, especially on the road courses, just caught up with us a bit, found some really good pace, when we saw (indiscernible) as well in Laguna last weekend. They've definitely come alive.

I think Caio, I always considered him fighting for the championship this year. Yeah, I think we were just really on it from the beginning. Luckily we got some momentum back now. It's been a bit of a tough few weekends.

Yeah, it's good to gain back momentum, yeah, have a good feeling going into the ovals.

Q. Obviously this is a development year, learn the tracks. Do you feel having this season in INDY NXT has set you up better for a possible future in INDYCAR?

DENNIS HAUGER: Repeat that.

Q. Do you feel having this kind of development here in INDY NXT, has that set you up for a possible future in INDYCAR?

DENNIS HAUGER: Yeah, I think so. Obviously getting to know the tracks and ovals, for sure, being a big part of the series over here. Yeah, it's been a really great experience so far this year, learning a lot of new things.

It's a bit of a different mindset here compared to what I've been used to. For sure it's been a learning curve that I've had to adapt to quickly. It's been feeling really natural so far. So hopefully it's something I can bring to the future, hopefully in INDYCAR.

Q. Myles, obviously it feels like you've made big strides this year. How do you feel you've developed as a driver this season?

MYLES ROWE: Yeah, very happy with the progression from last year to this year. I just think things have just clicked between us on the team. That's enabled me to really show my strong suits.

Yeah, very happy with how they've just had faith in me and just went through the process of the weekend. Yeah, I'm quite pleased with it all, for sure. It's no doubt been a good journey.

Q. What are the kind of key differences that you feel have helped you to thrive this year?

MYLES ROWE: Yeah, I think for one just a little bit of the foundation with the team and things have just helped us start strong I think. They work really well with me at the shop and things like that.

Just certain things off the track I think that weren't really implemented last year really helped me really kind of show my strengths, like I always have on the Road to Indy.

All in all though, I think just the organization and the hard work they put in, just being a little bit more of a focused program, focused on slightly less drivers than the program I was in last year has helped me as well.

Q. Caio, can you talk about how that qualifying session panned out for you yesterday? Was that one of your better qualifying laps do you feel?

CAIO COLLET: Yeah, I think I managed to put one of the best laps of my life yesterday. I think when I left the pits with the drive-through, my engineer came on and said you only have one lap to deliver. Was quite hard to hear. But I think we managed to put a good lap together. I had a great car. Also today I had a mega car.

Yeah, just frustrating that I couldn't capitalize on the win mainly because of my mistake at the start. Yeah, a bit frustrating for myself. But we will keep push.

Q. I found out that Norway is now paying to show INDY NXT in your home country. When I'm speaking to people involved, they say it's pretty much all down to you. How much does it feel to be almost a TV celebrity at home and knowing your achievements has pushed the championship into your country?

DENNIS HAUGER: Yeah, it's been really cool. They were on Viaplay with F2 last year. They saw the popularity in the audience. When I came over here, we weren't sure how it was going to be. They joined it.

It seems like the interest kept growing when I went over here. That's really cool to see. And yeah, it's been a great year so far. To see the crowd from Norway even reaching flags over here has been a really cool thing.

Really proud to be a part of that.

Q. Caio, for Brazil, how much attention do you feel you're getting from back home?

CAIO COLLET: Yeah, quite a lot. I think there's a lot of steaming as well back home. People are starting to see more a little bit the races. I think hopefully is a great deal for the championship not only in Brazil but I think it's broadcast everywhere in the world, as well as Dennis now in Norway.

It's very nice for us to know people are watching and hopefully we can put on a good show.

THE MODERATOR: The series tested there, open test, not too long ago at the Milwaukee Mile. Look forward to seeing you back there in a couple weeks.