In the first part of this interview, Pit Debrief spoke exclusively to Irish and Andretti Indy NXT driver James Roe as the man from Kildare discussed his 2025 campaign so far, getting advice from Robert Wickens, and discussions about getting an IndyCar test.
He heads into the Indy GP doubleheader this weekend looking to get his season back on track following a rather unfortunate start to his Indy NXT season.
The 26-year-old is in his fourth season in the category, and it is his third at Andretti Global. After getting taken out at St. Pete, the Irish driver finished P10 at Barber at the weekend following P8 in qualifying.
James Roe reliving what could have been scenarios
He explained how an error on his run in qualifying last Saturday was still playing on his mind. It cost him P1 in his group, which would have been 2nd on the grid alongside teammate Dennis Hauger had he completed the lap. Instead he was P4, leaving him down in 8th and amongst the midfield.
Roe has come close to winning twice in Indy NXT: The Indy GP 2023 against good friend Hunter McElrea when he closed down a significant gap after the Kiwi struggled on his tyres at the end, and Iowa last year against Louis Foster after taking pole and setting the lap record.
“Yeah, you always relive those thoughts in your heads for sure, should have, would have, could have, as we like to say.
“Last weekend in Barber was another one of them where I should have been on pole in my group, but a little mistake on the last lap when we were tracking by two tenths to be on pole bit us.
“And yeah, you live them for a few days and still relive the Barber one, but come back later on today or tomorrow morning you have to snap out of it because you’re moving into the next race weekend.
“Look, I haven’t been off the front row in Indy three races in a row now in qualifying and that’s something that obviously is a great start, but I need to replicate it this weekend and hopefully get the job done and keep any sort of momentum going.
“And again, you relive them, you learn from them and you move forward, but for sure I’ll focus ahead.
“We’re very early in this season, we’re two rounds into 14, so you’ve got a long way to go.”
How Robert Wickens is giving James Roe advice and support
Canadian racing driver Robert Wickens is currently an adviser at the Andretti Global squad on the IndyCar side. The 36-year-old’s story is truly a remarkable one following his life-changing injuries picked up in a terrible IndyCar crash at Pocono in 2018. He has shown remarkable strength and courage in his journey, as well as his return to racing.
Speaking about Wickens, Roe revealed the help he gets from the highly successful and regarded Canadian, and the importance of having someone like him in his corner.
“He’s helped me quite a bit.
“The thing about Robbie is it’s just a voice or a contact that you can have that I know I can call or reach out to any time and pick his brains and get some opinion on various different things or run some engineering stuff by him and different things.
“I actually have a quick call [coming up] with him about this coming weekend [at the Indy GP] and just run some thoughts and theories. It’s important to have someone you can bounce stuff off I think in motorsport that you know has your back.
“You guys are on the same page about different things as well because especially when the season gets busy things are moving quick and fast and it’s very easy for little things to slip by that you may have not otherwise thought about.
“It’s been a great benefit.”
Full focus on making it to IndyCar for James Roe
Although the Irishman has driven in sportscars this year at Daytona and Sebring — which will be a topic in a future article — his ultimate goal to drive in the NTT IndyCar series is very clear.
After the hectic month of May is completed following the 500 for all IndyCar teams, Roe hopes to make further progress on talks as he looks to complete a test in an IndyCar and try to make the step up to the main series in 2026.
With the Indy NXT and IndyCar seasons finishing at Nashville on August 31st, Roe hopes to secure a test in September at least.
“Yeah, I would like to certainly get a test done quite soon in the sense of get talks going quite soon.
“I think the season ends quite early this year, August 31st is our last race, so if we could do a test early September or maybe even before that, that would be great for us, and that’s what I’m going to work towards.
“There’s a few conversations going on in the background. Really it’s just a little bit early in the season for people to start pulling triggers and that sort of thing, so get through the month of May and then let’s see what chips start falling for a test, but that’s certainly the aspiration and the goal, yeah, absolutely.”
