RACE REPORT: Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
Race Notes
- Following a pole-winning effort by Max Taylor in yesterday’s qualifying session, the Andretti Global INDY NXT team kicked off the first race of the 2026 season on the Streets of St. Petersburg. Taylor secured his career-first INDY NXT podium in his debut at the Florida street circuit, while the rest of the Andretti INDY NXT lineup finished close behind, all inside the top 10.
- Yesterday’s qualifying results set the team up for a strong start this morning, with all four drivers lining up inside the top six for today’s race.
- Today’s event featured several interruptions, including four full-course yellows that lasted a combined 12 laps. With a significant number of laps run under caution by the halfway point, the race was converted to a timed event, with the clock determining the remaining laps.
- The INDY NXT by Firestone Series will take a week off before returning to action on the Streets of Arlington. The green flag will wave at 11 a.m. ET on Sunday, March 15, with live coverage airing on FS1.
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Race Results
Lochie Hughes
No. 26 Andretti Global Dallara
P5
| Started | P4 |
| Standings | P5 (30 points) |
- Taking the green flag from Row 2 this morning, Lochie Hughes made his second INDY NXT start on the Streets of St. Petersburg.
- After dropping to fifth in the shuffle at Turn 1 on the opening lap, Hughes kept his head down and maintained a strong pace to secure his 11th career INDY NXT top-five finish.
“That was an interesting race after a bit of a strange weekend for me. The chips didn’t really fall our way, and I don’t think we were aggressive enough with the changes we made before the race. We were anticipating more INDYCAR rubber, which we really hadn’t had all weekend. So I just had to bring it home with a top five. Now I’ll play the long game. There’s a long season ahead.”
Seb Murray
No. 27 Prosperity Dallara
P4
| Started | P3 |
| Standings | P4 (32 points) |
- Seb Murray made his second INDY NXT start in St. Petersburg this morning, rolling off from a career-best starting position of third on the grid.
- Murray slipped one position to fourth in the opening moments of the race but maintained strong pace and position through multiple restarts, ultimately crossing the checkered flag inside the top five.
- His fourth-place finish marks the Scot’s career-best INDY NXT result and his second career top-five finish.
“Race 1 of the season is done here in St. Pete. It would’ve been nice to finish on the podium today. The team put together a really good car, and we definitely had the pace to finish higher. Unfortunately, the outside line got a really good run, and the driver behind me made the pass. I managed to hold on through Turn 1, and from there it was all about managing tires and push-to-pass. We got close a few times and tried to make a move, but it’s just so hard to overtake around here. We’ll keep our heads up and see what we can do in Texas.”
Max Taylor
No. 28 Susan G. Komen Dallara
P2
| Started | P1 |
| Standings | P2 (41 points) |
- After securing pole position in yesterday’s qualifying session, Max Taylor led the field to green this morning in his INDY NXT debut on the Streets of St. Petersburg.
- Shortly after the green flag waved, Taylor lost the lead in Turn 1 and dropped to second. The young driver continued to apply pressure to the leader throughout the race and ultimately secured his first career INDY NXT podium finish.
“I came away with some good points today. We were dominant basically all weekend. We led all of the practices and earned the pole, but I made one mistake at the start of the race, and that was pretty much it. It’s just hard to pass around here. I tried to keep the pressure on Nikita [Johnson], and he did a really good job. I’ll take the strong points, and it’s all thanks to Andretti. They have an amazing program, and everyone there works so hard. We’ll keep our heads down and keep pushing. On to Arlington.”
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Josh Pierson
No. 29 Starchive Dallara
PX
| Started | PX |
| Standings | PX (X points) |
- Starting from the third row this morning, Andretti newcomer Josh Pierson, like his teammates, dropped one position in the shuffle of the opening lap.
- Pierson fended off the competition behind him and maintained his position for the remainder of the race, securing his 24th career INDY NXT top-10 finish.
“Good start to the year, but obviously we wanted a bit more. I lost a spot to Myles [Rowe] on the opening lap and probably should have defended a little more. I didn’t think the inside would be very usable in Turn 1, but I should’ve taken it, so fair play to him for making it work. After that, it’s just really hard to follow closely here, which is usually the nature of this track, especially in the top seven. It didn’t really shuffle around much after the opening lap.
The No. 29 car had great pace, and I just wish I could’ve found a little more to stay right on the gearbox ahead. I’m confident that if I had gotten there, I could have made a move. Overall, though, it was a strong start. Everyone on the team did a great job, and I can’t thank everyone at Andretti Global enough. Thanks as well to The Crypto Company, Starchive and TigerPLY. I’m really thankful for all the support. It’s nice to start the year on the right foot. Even though we lost a position there, we showed strong pace, so there are a lot of positives to take into the next one.”
Don Lambert
INDY NXT Team Manager
“I think Andretti Global had a really strong day today and collected a lot of valuable points, especially with Max finishing on the podium. We have a long season ahead of us, so there will be plenty of opportunities to keep building on that and moving up the standings. Between Max, Seb, Lochie and Josh, I think everyone had strong cars today. There are a few things we want to continue improving in our racecraft, and we’ll see everyone in Arlington.”
