Nolan Siegel, after a dramatic setback in his attempt to qualify for the 2024 Indianapolis 500, is ready to turn last year’s disappointment into a defining moment this year with Arrow McLaren. At just 19 in 2024, Siegel experienced one of the most memorable near-misses in Indy 500 qualifying history, crashing in the final moments while pushing hard on the track. Now 20 and armed with experience gained from that intense moment, Siegel aims to make a strong return at the 2025 event, bringing his determination and improved skills to one of racing’s most prestigious stages.
Driving the #18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda in 2024, Siegel fell short during qualifying after losing control and hitting the barriers late in the session.
“I was going to go home because I went flat and did everything I could. I wasn’t going to go home because I lifted,”
Siegel explained at the time, illustrating his commitment to pushing the limits. That moment, though heartbreaking, resonated deeply throughout the Indianapolis Motor Speedway community and marked Siegel as a driver with both courage and resolve.
This year, Siegel has stepped up to race with Arrow McLaren, a well-established team that brings stability and growth opportunities he lacked last season. Reflecting on his transition, Nolan Siegel shared,
“I think we’ve had a strong start to the season in a lot of ways. We’ve had some bad luck, but I think the last couple weekends, Barber especially, I feel like we were able to show the pace that we’ve kind of had all year. So it was nice to actually get a result out of that.”
Siegel emphasized the importance of teamwork and continuity. With nearly all new people working on the #6 car, he acknowledged the group’s progress:
“Pretty much everyone is different and they’re people that aren’t new to IndyCar, but it’s a new group that is learning how to work together. I think that every weekend, we’ve gotten better as a group, and I think we’ll continue to do that as we work together for longer.”
One of the key changes for Siegel in 2025 has been working alongside Kate Gundlach, his new race engineer.
“Kate has done a really, really good job,”
he said.
“She’s not new to IndyCar by any means. She worked with Pato [O’Ward] for a long time. She’s worked in the IndyCar paddock for a long time, but she’s new to the race engineer role. And she has done a great job stepping up to that role. She’s been a great leader for the team.”
Although stability came late in Siegel’s young career, he values its impact immensely.
“Last year was extremely challenging, driving for a bunch of different teams. And again, like we talk about how it’s going to take time for our group to get better working together and then for the results to follow. And last year, I was never in one place for long enough to really get to that point. So having the opportunity to work with the same people week in and week out, and just knowing where I am every weekend — it’s good for me, it allows us all to build together and, yeah, it makes a huge difference,”
Siegel explained.
Looking ahead to the second half of the 2025 season, Siegel anticipates smoother performance on tracks he’s become familiar with, such as the Indianapolis Grand Prix, Barber Motorsports Park, and St. Petersburg.
“When we take that away, it’s going to be a step forward and we’re just going to start the weekend in a better spot and start the weekend further ahead of where we have been. So, I’m excited to get back to places I’ve raced.”
As the 2025 Indy 500 approaches, Siegel has had a day of practice along with the Open Test at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) to adjust to the oval. His assessment is positive:
“I feel good so far. It’s hard to know how fast you really are, at the open test, obviously, and then even here on the first day, everyone’s doing different things. Our plan for the first day was to make sure that I was comfortable, everything was going well. I think we have a good race car. We have good balance out front by myself.”
Siegel added that the team’s early focus combines both race and qualifying setups.
“Early on, I think it’s both situations at the same time. As different as qualifying and the race are at the Speedway, I think if you have a good car, you have a car that has a nice balance, it’s going to have a good balance, whether you’re in traffic or by yourself if you’re doing a qualifying run.”
One challenge this season has been managing the hybrid system’s effects on car balance. Siegel explained,
“The hybrid has added quite a bit of understeer through the center of the corner, so we’ve been trying to work that out without sacrificing rear stability on entry. And that’s kind of the challenge for us right now.”
Reflecting on his rookie experience at IMS last year, Siegel acknowledges how that tough moment has strengthened him:
“After last year, yes, it was extremely difficult, but I learned so much from that. And I think, now this year coming in, having had that experience, I am so much better off than I would have been coming here having never driven before.”
Integral to Siegel’s development this year has been the mentorship of Arrow McLaren’s team principal, Tony Kanaan, a veteran with deep IndyCar and Indy 500 knowledge. Siegel shared,
“He’s helped me a lot, mainly, I feel like with kind of navigating a bigger team, that’s been the big change for me coming to Arrow McLaren as it’s just a big group of people and being able to work with all of those people effectively and such a big group of engineers is challenging and something new for me. He’s done it before at other big teams and he’s helped me kind of navigate those challenges.”
Alongside Kanaan’s guidance, Siegel benefits from working closely with JR Hildebrand, who brings significant experience at the Speedway. Siegel described his impact:
“JR has a huge amount of experience and has always been really good at the Speedway. So having that experience kind of on my stand is huge and it’s super helpful for me. He’s helped me a lot with kind of how I can affect the balance of the car with my driving and with the tools.”
Hildebrand’s support extends beyond technical advice, uniting a relatively new group:
“We have a lot of new people. It’s Kate’s first time engineering a car at the 500. I have a performance engineer as well that’s relatively new to the role. So he’s helping us all work together and helping us all kind of grow together because I think we all have a lot to learn.”
Within the Arrow McLaren stable, Siegel also works alongside teammates like Pato O’Ward, Christian Lundgaard, and the impressive Kyle Larson, who has quickly attracted attention for his talent. Siegel praised Larson’s abilities, stating,
“He is definitely a generational talent and he has a lot of media attention and is a pretty famous guy, but he’s extremely down to earth, willing to help and just a fun guy to talk to.”
What stands out most about Larson, according to Siegel, is his natural speed and adaptability.
“You listen to him talk and it’s like, did you use the tools? And he’s like, ‘no, not really. I just kind of worked on my driving and figured it out’. No matter what you give him, he goes fast. Like he doesn’t really care if it’s perfect, he doesn’t care if he’s not using the tools correctly or whatever,”
Siegel said, emphasizing Larson’s raw talent especially at a track as demanding as IMS.
Having endured the sting of missing the race last year, Nolan Siegel looks forward to competing at a higher level in 2025.
“I think after last year, I’d like to kind of show that I can come back after last year and be competitive and be like, I’m not here to just qualify and finish the race. We’re here to compete. And I think if we have a car to win, then the goal is to be competing for a win. So yeah, I’d like to show people that after last year, it didn’t affect me all that much and I can come back and use the experience that I gained and be competitive at the Indy 500.”
With the lessons of 2024 fueling his ambition, Nolan Siegel is poised to write a new chapter in his Indy 500 journey, seeking not just redemption but a breakthrough performance that confirms his place among IndyCar’s rising stars.
