Join our season preview series where we break down storylines to watch out for in 2025 with each of Arrow McLaren’s three drivers. 

The series continues with the pilot of the No. 6 NTT DATA Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, 20-year-old Nolan Siegel. 

One big thing: quality Qualifying 

In case you haven’t heard, 2024 was a wild ride for Nolan. The Palo Alto, California, native started the season thinking he was going to fight for the INDY NXT by Firestone championship, and ended it as a full-time driver for Arrow McLaren. Nolan’s success in the ladder series’ and his diverse driving background set him up to make that mid-year transition better than most, but it still wasn’t without its ups and downs. 

“I think in the situation that I was in, it went well and there were a lot of positives to take away," Nolan says. "We knew it was going to be challenging coming in midseason. You don’t have a lot of prep time because it’s super busy in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES season once you get going. I think we have all the pieces of the puzzle, it’s just about fitting them all together.” 

The pieces of the team on the No. 6 crew were shuffled around to help put that proverbial puzzle together for Nolan, notably promoting Kate Gundlach from Performance Engineer on the No. 5 crew to Race Engineer for Nolan. While this will be the first full season they’ve worked together on track, they’ve banked almost a season’s worth of debriefs in one winter to help accelerate the relationship building. Together, along with the rest of the members of the timing stand, Nolan and company explored the fine details of each race together this offseason, breaking down his performance and his competitors on track.  

There were countless takeaways that Nolan plans to bring to the track this year. In order to maximize that work and turn that planning into points, he has to start higher up on the grid on race day. 

“The biggest priority this year is Qualifying,” Nolan said. “I feel like we raced really well in 2024. Most races we ended up further ahead of where we started. I’m not necessarily concerned about race pace, race craft or strategy. If we can start further up the grid, we can stay there and still make progress. It was just hard digging ourselves out of holes from Qualifying.” 

Nolan’s confidence in his race pace is well placed. In his 10 starts with Arrow McLaren last year, Nolan’s average starting position was 18.9 while he average finishing position was 16.7, gaining an average of over two positions per race. He also managed to compile five races in which he gained seven or more positions.  

“Just watching him last year from the No. 5 car, there were a couple moments where we had to look and say ‘Hey, Pato, look at what Nolan’s doing on this corner because he’s quicker than you.’ There were moments where we quickly identified that Nolan had some strong suits,” Kate says. 

It’s one thing to say you’re going to improve in qualifying year over year, it’s another thing to actually do it. And Nolan knows just how difficult that is and how slim the margins are.  

“In INDYCAR, you have to be so precise and on it all the time, there’s no room for error,” Nolan said. “If you make a mistake, instead of costing you one or two positions, it’ll cost you 15 positions because everyone is so good. Qualifying specifically is where that comes into play a lot. You really only get one lap, maybe two if you’re lucky, to put it all together.” 

Like Nolan said, the pieces of the puzzle are there – the next step is to put them all together. 

Keep an eye out for

• Kate’s emphasis as the Race Engineer will be focusing on the fundamentals for the whole crew. “There’s a lot on the table for all the mundane bits. Pit stops, restarts, pit apron performance - all of those little things make a difference.” 

• Nolan’s best performances in 2024 were on ovals, notching an average finish of 15.5, compared to 18.5 on street and road courses. 

What to know about the crew 

Depth has been an area of focus across Arrow McLaren this offseason, building a roster of team members that can step in to one of the pit stop roles seamlessly if need be. With the hot summers and condensed summer schedule, being able to be deep and flexible will be key throughout the summer. 

“It’s crucial having that depth,” Chris Stafford, Chief Mechanic, said. “We need to make sure we have those people there that if someone does go down, they can fit into each individual role because each individual role is so different. It’s challenging if you have one person to be a backup across the car because then they need to be skilled in six different positions. I feel like we’re fortunate enough that we can try to train three or four people in just a few different roles.  

Chris Stafford also noted how that training has raised the level of the competition across the team, and that will help in performance all season as the team searches for success on the margins. 

2025 outlook 

The goal of any driver is to collect Poles, podiums and wins, and Nolan is aiming to battle for those throughout the season. For a first-time lead engineer, though, Kate has some less quantifiable goals that she wants the team to accomplish. 

“Everyone needs to feel like they’re heard and respected. If they’re challenged, we want it to be in a way that’s constructive. If we have that together with our strong group, that would be perfect. I'm focused on the little things and little steps. If we do that, the results will come.”