Hauger’s debut race in IndyCar would always be challenging for a rookie and especially at a street course like St Pete. The street course known for its drama-filled and chaotic races, a lot of Hauger’s success would likely come from being methodical and avoiding the drama in order to rack up laps and confidence in the car.

This approach ultimately paid off during the weekend, as Hauger himself reflected on his first race:

“I think it was a good start for sure. Didn’t really know what to expect going into the weekend… It was a lot of new experiences this weekend.”

Pastures New

Dennis Hauger, a former Formula F3 champion in Europe, after a few years of mediocrity in Formula 2, decided to take a bold leap of faith in his motorsport career. The Norwegian is trying to follow in the footsteps of former drivers in his position like Louis Foster and most recently Caio Collet to take the excursion to Stateside.

Hauger’s career was stalling in Formula 2 with a best championship finish of P8 across 3 seasons. The motorsport ladder is dynamic with the conveyor belt of drivers constantly shifting and moving. Hauger wanted to get back on the front foot and was decisive.

Looking back at that decision, Hauger explained the motivation behind leaving Europe: “I felt like I struggled a bit with the car in Formula 2… it didn’t feel natural to me. It was just about trying to make the decision of what’s best for my career going forward.”

Hauger decided to join the 2025 Indy NXT championship which is the feeder series to Indycar with the Andretti Global outfit. This resulted in one of the best decisions of his career to date as he dominated the championship in incredible fashion, taking 6 wins and 11 podiums on the way to the title.

Reflecting on the transition to racing in the United States, Hauger described it as a fresh start: “It felt really nice. It felt like just a refreshed start. I really enjoyed it, so I’m really happy about the choice I made.”

This championship was even more impressive in that Hauger defeated Collet, a 2nd year driver and ROTY of 2024 by 72pts. Collet is by no means a slow driver in the slightest but the commanding nature of Hauger’s title win definitely warranted an IndyCar seat for 2026 which he was able to grab with Dale Coyne Racing believing in his services.

A Weekend to Remember

Hauger, the Indy NXT champion of 2025, kicked off his Indycar career in amazing fashion, really sending out a message to the rest of the grid. Throughout the weekend, Hauger looked so settled for a rookie which was one of the most impressive traits shown by the Norwegian.

After the race, Hauger himself admitted that even he had not expected such a strong start: “To get the third place in qualifying was more than I could expect, to be honest.”

Last year, Hauger took a clean sweep of the event taking pole, win, most laps led and fastest lap in domineering fashion so we could conclude that this was a possible track Hauger could prosper on.

The main caveat that we initially thought the denying factor of a strong result was Dale Coyne Racing but we were proven wrong in style.

Practicing with a Purpose

Rolling off the trucks, in the Friday practice sessions, Hauger and Dale Coyne showed early signs of promise mixed with concern. Hauger exclaimed how ‘that we had a few issues that we ran through in Practice 1’ which was frustrating for him and the team.

Thankfully, these issues were ironed out in FP2 as Hauger felt like ‘they turned it around a bit’, as Hauger explained:

“We had a few issues that we ran through in practice one, which was a bit frustrating, but we managed to turn it around for practice two.”

Consistency from here improved as the weekend went on as overall Hauger finished in the midpack in both sessions in P13 and P17 in Practice day 1 and ‘felt like they were on the right path’ which was critical on a weekend like this with many unknowns with the new driver lineup of the team.

Executing the Plan

Qualifying came around and the first one of the way always gives a few surprises to the team and drivers. For Hauger he explained how ‘they didn’t know what to expect’ heading into quali but they were pleasantly surprised.

Hauger referenced how their car came alive and they had a ‘pretty good car when on the soft tyres’.

As he described the session afterwards: “When we got on the soft tyres the car really came alive, and that gave me so much confidence to push more.”

This allowed him to feel more and more comfortable as the session went on and push the limits of the car’s potential.

The margins were so tight at the end of the session in the Fast Six with hundredths of a second covering the front-row.

Hauger scored a momentous P3 for Dale Coyne which capped off a brilliant individual achievement but also having 2 cars in the Fast Six was an amazing surprise.

Hauger mentioned how they managed to get ‘a bit more out of it every time’ throughout the session which to him was the key factor that made the difference in such a tight field of cars.

A Race of Consolidation

Starting in a lofty P3 after a sensational qualifying performance, Hauger would have wanted to move further forward but quite quickly the realisation is Dale Coyne race pace wasn’t as strong so therefore had to do some damage limitation which was executed very well.

Hauger himself admitted after the race that there were still lessons to learn from the race:

“I think the race itself for sure could have done a few things better… but those are things you have to expect on your first race weekend.”

Hauger exclaimed how ‘he always wanted more’ but understood that he had to be ‘realistic about it’ as well which shows a firm steadfast determination reflecting his good mentality.

He summed up his feelings about the debut weekend with three simple words:

“Happy, surreal, and decent.”

Hauger lost a few positions at the start by being conservative but it was understandable for a rookie at his first Indycar race start under high fuel with cold tyres.

It would have been very easy to lose composure but Hauger kept a cool demeanour and was able to consolidate in P5 with his teammate as rear guard in P6.

As the race went on, Hauger showed promising pace and ultimately finished the race holding onto P10 battling with strong drivers like VeeKay, Newgarden and his more experienced teammate Grosjean around him.

Looking Ahead to Phoenix

One of the best rookie debut weekend performances in the recent past but time moves fast and the next weekend of the NTT Indycar series is upon us in a flash as we head to the Phoenix Raceway – our first oval of the year which we haven’t raced at since 2018.

Hauger understands the challenge ahead as the series moves to a completely different type of circuit.

“It’s about learning as well this weekend. It’s a new type of racing again for the ovals for me as a rookie, and it’s just about gaining experience.”

A new track for many will probably even the playing field for drivers like Hauger but it will be naturally difficult to handle expectations after such a strong opening weekend of the year.

Hauger however firmly believes in the understanding that “there will be good weekends and there will be bad weekends” but the main goal remains consistency.

“For sure the goal is to keep the consistency going.”

What is for sure is that the Norwegian is an extremely promising talent in which it will be very intriguing to see how he develops in the coming rounds and for the rest of the season.

written by Taegan Hignett // Media Credit: Penske Entertainment