The 23-year-old Dane picked up five wins - including both oval races at Iowa and Illinois - and three further podiums, plus five pole positions from his second season in the championship previously known as Indy Lights. He only finished outside the top 10 once in 14 starts, after a crash at Road America.
Maybe no performance was more impressive, though, than how the HMD Motorsports driver concluded his career in the developmental category, winning by almost 18s over title rival Hunter McElrea last Sunday at Laguna Seca. In capturing the title, Rasmussen joined Andretti IndyCar race winner Kirkwood as the only drivers to win championships in USF2000, USF Pro 2000 and Indy NXT – formerly known as the Road to Indy.
“I don't think it has sunken in yet,” said Rasmussen, who has also made three LMP2 appearances in the IMSA SportsCar Championship this season with Era Motorsports.
“But yeah, it's come down to a whole season's worth of hard work, from not only me but from everyone involved. My mechanics, my engineers, Mike [Maurini, general manager for HMD], everyone involved in this journey.
“It's been amazing, we've had a super good year. We've been strong from the start, first win came already in Barber [at round two].
“We've been strong all year, obviously dominant on the ovals. Just been able to show how competitive the team is, how competitive our package as a team is on every occasion that we have been able to this year.”
There were some unknowns coming into this year. As a rookie last season with Andretti Autosport, Rasmussen claimed two wins, three further podiums and one pole, but looked erratic at times and failed to close out races.
Source: Autosport