INDY NXT RACE REPORT: Indianapolis Grand Prix Race 2
Race Results
| Indianapolis Grand Prix Race 2 |
| Lochie Hughes | P4 |
| Seb Murray | P9 |
| Max Taylor | P2 |
| Josh Pierson | P8 |
Race Notes
- Building on yesterday’s rainy podium finish by Lochie Hughes, the Andretti Global INDY NXT team rounded out the doubleheader weekend with Race 2 of the Indianapolis Grand Prix this afternoon with more strong results. Max Taylor led the field to green from the pole before securing a second-place finish and the team’s 286th total podium finish.
- Teammate Hughes joined Taylor in the top five, with all four Andretti INDY NXT drivers ultimately finishing the day inside the top 10.
- The INDY NXT by Firestone Series will take a few weeks off from racing before returning to the streets of Detroit for Round 7 of the 2026 season.
Lochie Hughes
No. 26 Andretti Global Dallara
P4
| Started | P6 |
| Standings | P5 (167 points) |
- Following a podium finish in Race 1, Lochie Hughes lined up on the third row of the grid today for Race 2 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course.
- Despite losing a position on the opening lap, Hughes remained aggressive, quickly fighting his way back into the top five.
- With only three laps remaining, Hughes executed a strategic pass for fourth, where he ultimately took the checkered flag to secure his 14th career INDY NXT top-five finish.
“Good race today with some good points. Crazy start. I’m not sure really what happened, but we made it out and immediately made a big move into fifth. From there, I honestly just tried to manage tires and save the push to pass to hopefully come back at the end because I knew it was going to be difficult. I didn’t want to burn the push-to-pass early. Our strategy was working, and I made a move up to fourth with a couple of laps to go. I tried to break into third, but unfortunately, I didn’t use my button at quite the right times at the end of the race to get Enzo for the podium. He defended well. It was close there. Brought it home in the top five in the end, which was a good points day.”
Seb Murray
No. 27 Prosperity Dallara
P9
| Started | P8 |
| Standings | P10 (118 points) |
- Seeking redemption after a penalty hindered his Race 1 result yesterday, Seb Murray took the green flag for Race 2 from eighth on the grid.
- Murray lost one position in the opening lap of the race, falling to ninth, and remained in this position through the checkered flag. Today’s result marks Murray’s best finish on the IMS Road Course and his sixth INDY NXT career top 10 finish.
“It was a pretty tricky weekend for us, to be honest. We were so fast in preseason testing this, so we expected to be further up at the front, but we just didn’t really have the pace to move forward. The Andretti team has done a great job this weekend and delivered a great car. So a massive thank you to them. Now, we have the rest of May to reset before Detroit, and hopefully we can head there with some good pace.”
Max Taylor
No. 28 Susan G. Komen Dallara
P2
| Started | P1 |
| Standings | P3 (217 points) |
- Max Taylor led the field to green this afternoon for Race 2 after securing a top-five finish in yesterday’s race.
- Going into Turn 1 at the start of the race, Taylor misjudged his brake timing and got caught in a multi-car shuffle, losing the lead to the No. 71 car.
- Despite maintaining pressure on the leader for the duration of the race, Taylor remained in second to secure his fourth INDY NXT career podium.
- Today’s result by Taylor closed the gap to the current Championship leader to only 14 points.
“I need to look over the start of the race to see what happened there. I think I just broke too early. After the start, it was just hard to come back from that. I did what I could to keep the pressure on, but he (Kucharczyk) held on. I can’t believe we didn’t catch him, to be honest. I thought we would. Still, this gives us some good points and a lot to look over and learn from.
Josh Pierson
No. 29 Starchive Dallara
P8
| Started | P3 |
| Standings | P11 (107 points) |
- Josh Pierson aimed to capitalize on his INDY NXT-career best starting position on the IMS Road Course to secure strong results to follow up yesterday’s sixth-place finish.
- In an attempt to gain position in the opening lap of the race by fighting with the front of the pack, Pierson went into the grass in Turn 1, setting him back in the top 10. He managed to recover quickly and moved into P7 by the third lap.
- While battling for position with five laps remaining, Pierson again caught the grass, which ultimately cost him a spot in the field. He closed out the weekend with his 26th INDY NXT career top-10 finish.
“Not the race I wanted or was looking for. Frustrated with what transpired in Turn 1, and disappointed with the end result. I’m grateful for the car Andretti Global and my No. 29 crew gave me this weekend. I wish I could’ve provided a better result today.”
Don Lambert
INDY NXT Team Manager
“Not a bad points day for Max and Lochie, and having all our drivers finish in the top 10 definitely doesn’t hurt. Although Josh did have a tough day today with other cars blocking and things of that nature. Going forward, we need to stay sharp, keep our heads down and execute to keep bringing home those strong results. Onto Detroit.”
