Andretti Cape drivers earn valuable oval experience at WWTR

The first oval race of the 2025 season took place on Sunday, with World Wide Technology Raceway hosting the series for a 75-lap race. With two completely different corners on either end of the speedway, both Andretti Cape INDY NXT drivers were presented a unique challenge.

As soon as the green flag waved, Seb Murray and Ricardo Escotto were embroiled in tight battles for position. The high line was working early in the race, allowing drivers to race side by side as they scrambled to make early gains.

Through multiple laps of wheel to wheel racing, Escotto was able to retain his 11th place starting position. Murray was shuffled back a couple positions to 15th, but he quickly moved back up one spot and began plotting his next moves.

Within 20 laps, both young Cape Motorsports drivers began to navigate lapped traffic. The added complexity of passing slower cars led to an intense battle between Escotto and Niels Coolen. The two drivers were side by side for over two laps, with Escotto eventually having to cede 11th position to the more experienced driver.

Escotto and Murray ran nose to tail for most of the second half of the race, pacing each other as the laps wound down. Lapped traffic once again created a momentarily chaotic situation on lap 35, which allowed Murray to squeeze past his team-mate and take the 12th position for himself.

There were no cautions during the event, the first time that has happened in an IndyNXT by Firestone oval race since 2022. The consistent build-up of rubber marbles made it increasingly more difficult to pass and both drivers could not help but to hold position through to the checkered flag.

Murray, in his first ever oval race, ended the day one place ahead of his grid slot in 12th, and gained a heap of valuable experience for later in the year. Escotto crossed the line less than a quarter of a second behind to earn the 13th finishing position.

Next on the schedule is a visit to Road America, a favorite among drivers and fans alike. The lengthy road course will present a unique challenge as the busy summer stretch of races continues on.

Seb Murray

Feels good to get my first oval out of the way. I think we got what we wanted out of today. We finished the race and made up a few positions. We had the pace, but we got stuck behind other cars for the second half of the race. If we had managed to get past, it would have been a different story.

Massive ‘thank you’ to the team. They’ve done a great job. We’ll see what we can do next week at Road America.

Ricardo Escotto

Disappointing end to the race here at Gateway. We’ll look back and see what we can do better next time. It was so hard to overtake. Even when the leaders came up behind, they couldn’t overtake. Just shows you how tough it was at the end.

Change of mindset now heading back to a road course. We’ll go into a better position at Road America.