While Alex Palou clinched his fourth NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship with two races to spare earlier this month, the race for the series’ Rookie of the Year honor is tight and will come down to the season-ending Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by WillScot on Sunday, Aug. 31 at Nashville Superspeedway (2 p.m. ET, FOX, FOX Deportes, FOX One, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network).

Louis Foster of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing leads Robert Shwartzman of PREMA Racing by eight points in the series standings in one of the tightest Rookie of the Year battles in recent years.

Here’s a look at the 2025 seasons of these two top rookies, in tale-of-the-tape boxing style:

Louis Foster

LOUIS FOSTER

Hometown: Odiham, England

Team: Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing

Entry at Nashville: No. 45 Desnuda Tequila Honda

Starts: 16

2025 Points: 203 (21st overall)

Best Finish: 11th (Road America, Indianapolis GP)

Best Start: Pole (Road America)

Top-10 Finishes: 0

Races Led: 3

Laps Led: 5

Laps Completed: 1,954 out of 2,230

Races Running at the Finish: 13 of 16

2025 Oval Points: 69

What He's Saying: “Throughout the year, I haven’t really been too focused (on the Rookie of the Year race). I’ve known where I was, but I wasn’t too worried about it. I just tried to do the best I could overall. Now, it definitely feels like an uphill battle to retain it even though we’re leading. I’m going to do the best I can and try to stay ahead. We’re obviously aware of where Robert (Shwartzman) is the entire time.”

Robert Shwartzman

ROBERT SHWARTZMAN

Hometown: Tel Aviv, Israel

Team: PREMA Racing

Entry at Nashville: No. 83 PREMA Racing Chevrolet

Starts: 16

2025 Points: 195 (24th overall)

Best Finish: 9th (Iowa-2)

Best Start: Pole (Indianapolis 500)

Top-10 Finishes: 2 (World Wide Technology Raceway, Iowa-2)

Races Led: 1

Laps Led: 8

Laps Completed: 2,085 out of 2,230

Races Running at the Finish: 14 of 16

2025 Oval Points: 82

What He's Saying: "I really appreciate the Rookie of the Year, and it's a good thing. But I generally focus on how to make my team and my car good because I want to believe that we're going to continue (together) next year, and I want to come to a stage where we're going to do it again. The Rookie of the Year, it's a good thing. It's a nice addition. It's a nice bonus."

Presented by Tennessee Sounds Perfect