Toby Sowery: driver who beat Norris and Russell gets IndyCar chance

Indycar Racing News

A stop-start career has meant Toby Sowery has had to watch from the sidelines while his contemporaries progressed – but that all might be about to change

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Toby Sowery believes he still has a fighting chance of making it to IndyCar

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Author

Damien Smith

Everyone loves an underdog story, and here’s a cracker of an example that could be about to break, surrounding a little-known British racing driver who is bubbling under on the US scene. In fact he might be about to reach boiling point, as the latest Brit to make the IndyCar grid – if a forthcoming maiden test with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing goes to plan.

Heard of Toby Sowery? The 26-year-old from St Neots, Cambridgeshire was a karting contemporary of Lando Norris and George Russell, but lacked the budget advantages and career momentum that carried both to Formula 1. Instead, having made it as far as British Formula 3, Sowery headed west to the land of opportunity and has quietly built a rising reputation on the junior IndyCar single-seater ladder. I say quietly, because it’s been a stop-start climb, largely thanks to those tiresome old budget constraints. But Sowery has grit. He’s refused to give up in the face of daunting adversity and insists he’s now on the cusp.

“I grew up in karting paddocks with Lando and George, guys that you know are going to be successful and had the money to fulfil their needs,” Sowery tells Motor Sport on a call from Indianapolis. “I’m not salty about it. It would be nice to have that situation and support, but that’s the way the cookie crumbles.”

Toby Sowery IndyNXT Barber 2023

Sowery impressed with a podium on substitute appearance at Barber

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Sowery’s background is what you’d describe as normal. His father is ex-RAF who transitioned as a commercial pilot – “that’s where the speed must come from,” says Toby – and his mother worked in the city in the insurance industry. “My parents have done a fantastic job finding me the money to allow me to race, and a lot of it has also been down to hard work finding sponsors,” he says. “I can’t complain and we’ve overachieved up to this point.”

Beyond a couple of titles on the UK club-level single-seater scene, his headline achievement to date is third in the championship that used to be known as Indy Lights in 2019, which included a win at Portland with HMD Motorsports. That’s a grade not to be sniffed at. But Covid then scuppered his momentum – the series didn’t happen at all in 2020 – and a disappointing season with Juncos Racing came to a premature end in 2021. He sat out last season, but has found a way back into the series that’s now labelled Indy NXT.

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Sowery shares the grid with fellow Brits Louis Foster and Jamie Chadwick, but only on occasion. He’s back with HMD, but only for three races. The first, at Barber Motorsports Park, has been and gone – and he finished third, without the benefit of winter pre-season testing. “My personal goal was a podium,” he states, making it clear we shouldn’t be surprised that after so long away he was instantly a frontrunner. His further outings, as substitute for busy teenager Josh Pierson who has shared commitments in the World Endurance Championship and IMSA, will come in Detroit and Laguna Seca. Toby sees no reason why a repeat of the Barber result shouldn’t be possible at both venues.

It’s just a shame he can’t race more often. Both Foster and Chadwick are far better known, coming off the back of their titles in Indy Pro 2000 and W Series respectively. Last weekend Sowery was in Indianapolis with HMD to watch the NXT race on the road course, where Foster scored his first podium in the series by finishing second to Matteo Nannini (nephew of charismatic 1989 Japanese Grand Prix winner Alessandro Nannini). It can’t be easy to be on the sidelines. “I’ve got my races and my plan in place,” Sowery counters. “If I didn’t have that I’d be very frustrated, like having an itch you can’t scratch.”

The IndyCar test with RLL at Sebring on June 8, just after his Indy NXT race in Detroit, is what’s really driving him forward right now. It has come about through “being smart and making things happen”, plus getting to know Bobby Rahal. “When he was over in the UK he took time out to have lunch and meet me,” Sowery explains. “He’s been amazing. Genuinely a really nice guy who’s got heart and a love for the sport. There are no catches with him.”

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A test with Bobby Rahal’s Indy team is lined up

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So what does Sowery want to take from the experience? “For me it’s about acclimatising to the car and showing pace and consistency, with detailed feedback,” he replies. “At this level that’s what all drivers should be able to do, but it’s the relationship with the team that makes the big difference.” RRL, like the rest of the IndyCar world, has a certain race to deal with right now – the Indy 500 at the end of the month. But then Sowery will find out more about the plan for Sebring. “It’ll be interesting to see what they want,” he says. “What I want is to turn up, go P1 with great feedback and for them to say ‘Jesus Christ, this kid’s a rocket, we need him!’ But there are a lot of fast drivers out there, so it needs to be about more than just turning up and being quick.”

A test is one thing, but it still sounds a long shot for Sowery to find a berth on the 2024 IndyCar grid. The series is booming once again, with even Lewis Hamilton expressing a passing interest in the scene. It is, at least, more of a genuine meritocracy than F1. But can a driver with a relatively modest record, whatever the context, really lever himself into a race seat? Sowery is defiant on this one. “I think it’s entirely possible. If this was my first season perhaps not. But the fact I’ve done the whole of 2019 and the three-quarter season in 2021 I definitely think it is. I’ve been at this level for long enough and combined with this test that’s more than enough to be on the grid. You get drivers with a lot less experience and proven performance who jump in and do a good job.

“I’m also looking at the results and comparisons to my two team-mates I’ve had in those seasons. David Malukas is a hot commodity right now, a young driver who everyone seems to see a lot of talent in, which is justified. I beat him in equal machinery when I had a bit more experience [in their season together in 2019]. And then I was with Sting Ray Robb in 2021. He’s now in IndyCar with David – a small world.” Both Malukus and Robb race for Dale Coyne in the premier series this year.

“People can argue I haven’t won championships and there are not many race wins,” says Sowery. “But go into the full depth of it and people start to see: all this time away, then jumping in and getting a podium. I have full faith in myself.”

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Competing in 2019

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Without “a big bank of mum and dad” Sowery is up against it, just as he has always been. But it’s impossible not to be impressed by his iron-clad self-belief. Doesn’t he have a Plan B, I push? “Plan B is racing, as are plans C, D, E and F!” he shoots back. “We’ve got to this point against the grain and if we can get this far we can push it over the edge, even if it takes a few years. We’ve put so much time, effort and money in, it would be stupid to walk away now. It wouldn’t be right considering how much everyone has sacrificed, a waste of everyone’s time. We’re so close.”

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