Meet Yuven Sundaramoorthy: The Indian-American prospect making waves in the IndyCar ladder

Meet Yuven Sundaramoorthy - the first Indian-American driver to win a race in the IndyCar ladder. But just this tag, however historic, does not define the intense racer that he is. While budgetary concerns in this expensive sport have sidelined him from competing in the 2025 Indy NXT season, the 22-year-old is determined to make a comeback.

In an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda, Yuven spoke about his entire journey - from attending his first F1 race as a kid to how that started a domino effect in the high-paced world of motorsport that continues in his pursuit of success at the pinnacle of American open-wheel racing, IndyCar.

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How attending an F1 race on a "whim" led to love at first sight with racing

Yuven Sundaramoorthy spent a good part of his early life in China. In 2011, his father, Gopal, brought up the proposition to attend F1's Chinese GP in Shanghai. It was all "on a whim," he says, but a whim that would go on to shape his career path.

"Neither of us were F1 fans. We knew nothing about it. It was all just on a whim. I went to the race and immediately fell in love with the sport. From there, I just kept doing it and kept moving forward, and started go-karting at the track. And the rest is history from there. But none of us knew anything about the sport. It was all on a whim and just learning from there."

He watched Lewis Hamilton take his second win in China with McLaren. Sundaramoorthy couldn't resist the urge to attend the race again and returned to the Shanghai International Circuit for the 2012 edition.

He picked Nico Rosberg as the driver to root for "at random". As it turned out, the Mercedes man took his first career pole position and converted it into his first F1 win.

The two drivers Yuven Sundaramoorthy saw winning in China paired up at Mercedes in 2013, and the resulting intra-team rivalry became one for the ages, albeit infamous. Fast forward to today, Rosberg is 9 years retired, and Hamilton is at Ferrari in pursuit of his eighth F1 title. When asked about the latter, Yuven Sundaramoorthy had only positive things to say.

"It's common, right? Sebastian (Vettel) did the same thing, Michael Schumacher did the same thing. It's kind of what everyone wants to do, race with Ferrari. I hope it goes well for him. It seems like it's going well for him so far. I'm excited because this year seems like a bit more interesting than last year."

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Yuven Sundaramoorthy's steady rise in the IndyCar ladder

Yuven Sundaramoorthy leads a bunch of cars at the IndyNXT Series OUTFRONT Showdown - Source: Getty

Yuven Sundaramoorthy's racing efforts went into eighth gear when he returned to America from China. From his first F1600 season in 2017 to his first full Indy NXT season in 2024, it was a long journey. All the while, he continued his education to become a UW–Madison computer science graduate.

Growing up, he played various sports like soccer, lacrosse, basketball, anything 'he could get his hands on.' As he turned to professional racing, it became sponsors that he would need to get his hands on to rise through the ranks. Maintaining those relationships remains his priority even today.

From 2018 to 2021, Sundaramoorthy raced in the USF2000, the first step of the IndyCar junior ladder. In 2021, he won the season-opening race at Barber Motorsports Park with Pabst Racing. It immortalized him as the first Indian-American to win a race in the IndyCar ladder. Speaking about that feat, he said:

"It's definitely a great feeling. Obviously, it was never really something I was thinking about beforehand, but just being able to see the effect it's had afterwards is definitely massive for me. Hoping it can continue because it's definitely been a while since then."

That year, he won three more races, including two at the IMS road course. A third-place finish in the championship made a promotion to the USF Pro 2000 inevitable. In 2023, Yuven Sundaramoorthy got the call-up from ABEL Motorsports to join Indy NXT mid-season.

"It was all through the ABEL team manager and my manager (connecting). We've known him for a long time," he said about the move. "He was like, things are quite working out, lot of mechanical failures, just unfortunate situations. Sometimes when things aren't working out, you can't keep beating a dead horse, right? So you need to take that jump."

In four races, he secured two Top 10 finishes. Sundaramoorthy also spoke about the change in mindset going into 2024, his first full Indy NXT season.

"All that we were going for in 2023 was learning, figuring everything out from there, understanding everything a little bit more. The end of 2024, obviously, I felt like I had a much better chance at good results. I'd be more disappointed with a Top 5 in the end of the year than at the start of the year. Especially on the ovals, I felt we were very, very strong on the ovals. As you keep doing something, your expectations increase, and that changes your trajectory and focus."

Unfortunately, 'unforeseen budgetary concerns' forced Yuven Sundaramoorthy to withdraw from the 2025 season.

"It's the racing industry, right? It's all based on sponsors and everything like that. The economic world is very variable right now, so it makes it very tough for sponsors to be consistent, to be able to help you through everything, especially for a full season. It's just a lot of money, unfortunately, and that's just how the racing world works," he said, elaborating on the funding issue.

He hopes to make part-time appearances in select races with the aim of securing a full-time seat in 2026. When asked if replacing Sophia Floersch, who left HMD Motorsports after the season-opening Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, would be viable, Yuven Sundaramoorthy said:

"Again, it's the same issue with money. I don't know her situation, but no matter what if there's an open car, it doesn't mean it's got the funding behind it. When a car opens up, it's an extra spot, but it isn't like most other things, unfortunately, where an open seat brings the price down."

HMD Motorsports has since filled Floersch's seat by signing Evagoras Papasavvas for the rest of the season.

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Breaking stereotypes and speaking with families of aspiring racers

Becoming the first Indian-American racer to win in the IndyCar ladder brought its perks. When asked if families of aspiring, young racers reached out to him for help or advice, Yuven Sundaramoorthy said:

"Yeah, 100%. That's the best thing. That was what I was kind of referring to, like it's never something that I was thinking about beforehand, but once you start getting people to reach out to you, it's like, 'Oh, wow.' You actually have an impact even if you didn't think you would. It's definitely massive."

The 22-year-old also spoke about how society can stereotype people based on factors like nationality. Through his journey, he wants to break those glass walls.

"There's the stereotype that there's specific jobs that everyone would think... 'I'm an Indian, this is what I would do,' but I just try to prove that as long as you keep your head down, push forward, you can break those stereotypes a little bit."

In this year without full-time racing commitments, Yuven Sundaramoorthy remains focused on his job as a performance engineer at Tesla. Talking about the multi-faceted role, he said:

"It's driving around, so I get to be in the car. It's more track time, right? Being in the simulator is helpful to some people, (but for me) sometimes it's just nice to be in the car. It's definitely a lot of work, but I enjoy it. It's the same thing I've always talked about - you gotta have a backup plan. It helps out and makes me help pay some debts I've had over the years."

The Wisconsin native, however, isn't a fan of racing or training on simulators. While many drivers swear by it, simulator racing was something Yuven Sundaramoorthy did just "for fun" during the Coronavirus pandemic.

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Yuven Sundaramoorthy on potential moves to NASCAR and the '4x more expensive' F1 ladder

Yuven Sundaramoorthy's interest in racing transcends the boundaries of various racing categories, much like Kyle Larson's or Tony Stewart's. The former ABEL Motorsports driver shared his feelings about a potential move to Europe to race in the F1 ladder.

"Everyone's considered it, but it's about 3-4 times more expensive to drive there. So it just makes it a whole lot harder. Also, I really like the IndyCar series. I think the races, everyone can be competitive, no matter what team you're on. That's kind of the best part for me and what I really value in a series. So I don't see any reason why there would be a need to go over there. It's way more money per season," he said.

Sundaramoorthy also revealed an interest in stock car racing with a potential switch to NASCAR, but it all came down to the singular problem of sponsorship and funding.

"It's something I've thought about in the past," he said about a NASCAR switch. "I love the NASCAR ladder, I love sports car racing and everything like that, you know it's all just racing. But at the end of the day, it's just all money. So it kind of comes down to the same roots and same issues. But definitely if the situation arises."

While a lack of sponsorships has paused Yuven Sundaramoorthy's pursuit of success in American open-wheel racing, he remains focused on the comeback. Until then, he indulges in another passion of his, which is talking with people and marketing himself and the sport.