INDY NXT RACE REPORT: Grand Prix at Mid-Ohio Race 1
Race Results
| Grand Prix at Road America Race 1 |
| Lochie Hughes | P5 |
| Seb Murray | P15 |
| Max Taylor | P10 |
| Josh Pierson | P11 |
Race Notes
- The Andretti Global INDY NXT team took on the first race of the Fourth of July doubleheader weekend this afternoon at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Leading the charge for the team was No. 26 driver Lochie Hughes, who secured a top-five finish. Joining him in the top 10 was teammate Max Taylor, who, after a setback in the first lap of the race, made up 14 positions to break back into the top 10.
- Today’s 35-lap race saw three caution periods lasting a total of six laps.
- The doubleheader weekend continues tomorrow at 10:00 AM ET as INDY NXT by Firestone will take on Race 2. Live coverage will be available on FS1 and FOX One.
Lochie Hughes
No. 26 Andretti Global Dallara
P5
| Started | P7 |
| Standings | P5 (299 points) |
- Returning for his second career INDY NXT start at Mid-Ohio after landing on the podium last year, Lochie Hughes took on this afternoon’s race from seventh place on the grid. Hughes was the highest starter for the Andretti INDY NXT effort today.
- As the field went green, Hughes gained two positions to break into the top five. While he battled for fourth place, the Australian took home fifth place.
- This result marks the 16th top-five of Hughes’ INDY NXT career.
“Solid recovery after a very disappointing quali this morning. It’s very frustrating because we have so much pace, but we can’t execute in the race because we’re starting so far back in the field. I was able to drive up to fifth from seventh, and I think we set one of the quickest laps of the race. So, if we could have gotten quali hooked up, we may have had an even better result out there today. I still don’t know why this keeps happening in qualifying this year. We’ll just keep on keeping on and see about tomorrow.”
Seb Murray
No. 27 Megatron Dallara
P15
| Started | P16 |
| Standings | P12 (213 points) |
- Looking for redemption in this afternoon’s race following last year’s race-ending incident at Mid-Ohio, Seb Murray started Race 1 in the second half of the grid from 16th after struggling to find pace in qualifying this morning.
- While he managed to move up to 13th by Lap 2, Murray began falling back in the field as the race progressed, ultimately finishing the day in 15th.
“Race 1 done here at Mid-Ohio. We had a good start, and I think we made up a few spots, but we were just a sitting duck out there today, unfortunately. We didn’t have a lot of pace, but we’ve got new tires for the race tomorrow, so hopefully we can charge forward and get some solid points.”
Max Taylor
No. 28 Susan G. Komen Dallara
P10
| Started | P10 |
| Standings | P4 (309 points) |
- Max Taylor made his INDY NXT Mid-Ohio racing debut this afternoon from the fifth row.
- Taylor made up ground at the start, moving up to eighth. But this progress was short-lived, as within the opening lap, the No. 28 driver went off the track in Turn 2. Taylor recovered and rejoined the rear of the field.
- Carving his way through the field, Taylor made up 14 positions to capture a top-10 finish, the 11th of his INDY NXT career.
“It was an unfortunate race. I made a mistake in the beginning that sent us to last. But then we made a really good recovery back up into 10th, so we passed a lot of cars, and I was a lot happier with the balance. So we’ll keep moving forward, and I think we have a good shot at a good result tomorrow.”
Josh Pierson
No. 29 Starchive Dallara
P11
| Started | P8 |
| Standings | P10 (226 points) |
- Joining teammate Hughes in the fourth row for today’s race, Josh Pierson made his fourth INDY NXT start at Mid-Ohio this afternoon.
- After running in seventh for the first 14 laps of the race, Pierson fell back two positions to ninth by Lap 15 following the restart on Lap 13.
- Depleting his push-to-pass by Lap 27, Pierson was not able to hold his spot in the top 10, ultimately taking the checkered in 11th.
“It was a decent day. We decided to use old tires for Race 1 to try to save the new ones for tomorrow if it doesn’t rain. It was really tough at the end of the race. I think if it doesn’t rain tomorrow, we’ll be in really good shape. But for today, we just didn’t have a whole lot of tire life remaining there, and I ran out of push-to-pass too early. I’m really proud of my No. 29 Andretti Global crew. The car was pretty fast. There will be a few things to look at from today, like mistakes and areas we can improve on. Overall, it was a solid day considering the tire gamble, and hopefully it pays off tomorrow.”
Don Lambert
INDY NXT Team Manager
“Considering we didn’t have the best qualifying, I think the guys did a pretty good job. We made a big swing at the cars. I think we’ll have a better day tomorrow as well, but we needed to get out of here with some points, and we did that today. So we’ll see what we have tomorrow and go at it again.”
