{"id":27944,"date":"2024-12-27T08:00:08","date_gmt":"2024-12-27T13:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/?p=27944"},"modified":"2024-12-26T22:20:06","modified_gmt":"2024-12-27T03:20:06","slug":"rookie-recap-taking-a-look-at-nolan-siegels-first-year-in-indycar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/12\/27\/rookie-recap-taking-a-look-at-nolan-siegels-first-year-in-indycar\/","title":{"rendered":"Rookie Recap: Taking a Look at Nolan Siegel’s First Year in IndyCar"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was a busy year for Arrow McLaren while they were sorting out their driver situation for the 2024 Indycar season but Nolan Siegel seems to be the choice that stuck. <\/span><\/p>\n

Siegel\u2019s an accomplished driver who\u2019s previously raced in Indy Pro 2000 before moving up to Indy NXT<\/a> as a full-time driver in 2023. In 2024 he was expected to continue racing in Indy NXT full-time and race for Dale Coyne Racing in IndyCar part-time. In June, he was the substitute for Agust\u00edn Canapino for the race at Road America<\/a> after fans sent hateful messages towards Th\u00e9o Pourchaire following an on-track incident at the Detroit Grand Prix.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Siegel\u2019s Rookie Season has Been Anything Except for Boring\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n

Joining Arrow McLaren\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

When the 2024 season began it was expected that David Malukas<\/a> would be the driver of the No.6. Arrow McLaren. After sustaining an injury during the offseason, this was no longer the case and the team originally found a replacement in Callum Ilott.\u00a0<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

However, Ilott\u2019s<\/a> time was cut short and followed by Th\u00e9o Pourchaire making multiple race appearances for the team. It was widely believed that Pourchaire was going to be the driver of the No. 6 for the rest of the season. Ultimately the seat was offered to Siegel who drove for the remainder of the season.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Siegel debuted with Arrow McLaren for the 2024 IndyCar season at the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey, held at Laguna Seca. This gave the California native a chance to race in front of his home crowd. Siegel qualified 23 but managed to snag a P12 finish on race day. His teammate at the time, Alexander Rossi was on the podium finishing third while Pato O\u2019Ward finished P8.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Indy 500 Qualifying<\/b><\/h3>\n

2024 was also Siegel\u2019s first appearance during the Indy 500 weekend. While he was still racing for Dale Coyne at the time, Siegel took part in Indy 500 qualifying. Unfortunately, his Indy 500 debut was cut short after he didn’t qualify for the race.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

During qualifying, he started off strong during lap one but lost control of the car after hitting the wall at the exit of turn one during lap two. As a result he crashed out of qualifying and didn\u2019t make the cut for the qualifying grid. That weekend, the only other person representing Dale Coyne was part-time driver Katherine Legge who finished in 29.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n