Note: The Penske Entertainment editorial staff is looking back at the five biggest moments of 2023 in INDY NXT by Firestone in this year-end series, with one installment appearing on the site per day in countdown fashion from Dec. 27-31.

A lot was riding on the 2023 season for Danish driver Christian Rasmussen. With so many fresh faces in the series and Rasmussen in his second year, the pressure was on to perform.

It took some time though for Rasmussen to find success. He had swapped teams during the offseason, going from Andretti Autosport to HMD Motorsports with Dale Coyne Racing. That was an adjustment in and of itself.

While Rasmussen won the second race of 2023 at the Barber Motorsports Park, that was his lone podium finish until the second leg of the Detroit doubleheader in June. His average finish through the first six races run was 6.6.

But once the series got to the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in July, Rasmussen was primed for a championship-winning run.

Beginning with that race weekend, Rasmussen had four victories and a runner-up over the final eight races. He also had an average finishing position of 2.5 to finish with a 65-point advantage on Andretti Autosport's Hunter McElrea.

That run set Rasmussen up for the future. He has taken his scholarship from winning the championship to Ed Carpenter Racing where he will run all the road and street course events during the 2024 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season, and he will also compete with Ed Carpenter's team in the 108th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.