INDY NXT RACE REPORT: Music City Grand Prix
Race Results
| Music City Grand Prix |
| Lochie Hughes | P7 |
| Seb Murray | P13 |
| Max Taylor | P5 |
| Josh Pierson | P6 |
Race Notes
- The Andretti INDY NXT team battled it out this afternoon at Nashville Superspeedway in the Music City Grand Prix. Max Taylor emerged as the team’s highest finisher, putting on an impressive recovery drive to take fifth place. Crossing the finish line directly behind him were teammates Josh Pierson and Lochie Hughes in sixth and seventh place, respectively.
- Today’s 65-lap event saw two caution periods lasting a total of 11 laps.
- INDY NXT by Firestone will take a week off from racing before heading to the Pacific Northwest and transitioning to road course racing at Portland International Raceway, with the green flag set to wave on Sunday, August 9, at 2:00 PM ET.
Lochie Hughes
No. 26 Andretti Global Dallara
P7
| Started | P9 |
| Standings | P5 (345 points) |
- Leading the charge for the Andretti effort, Lochie Hughes lined up on the fifth row of the grid this afternoon to take on the high-speed Nashville oval.
- Hughes utilized a strong start to break into the top five before the Lap 5 caution. As the race continued, the Australian driver made strategic moves at the front of the field to work his way into second place on Lap 36, just one lap after posting the fastest lap of the race.
- Although he was fighting for the lead, Hughes unfortunately lost his momentum after his left rear tire made slight contact with the No. 99 car and fell out of the top three on Lap 52. He ultimately crossed the finish line in seventh place, taking home his 21st career INDY NXT top-10 finish.
“Good race. I was able to drive up from ninth to second. Really thought we had a shot at the win. Unfortunately, when I passed Myles [Rowe], I just cut my left rear a little bit, and that was just slowly, slowly getting worse and worse as the race went on. I was able to bring it home in seventh but really felt like we lost the win today.”
Seb Murray
No. 27 Megatron Dallara
P13
| Started | P18 |
| Standings | P13 (245 points) |
- Starting near the back of the field, Seb Murray looked to launch his way forward in his second INDY NXT career start at Nashville Superspeedway.
- Murray gained three positions as the green flag waved and eventually worked his way up to 13th place by Lap 15. Although he fell back one position shortly after, he managed to regain 13th place on Lap 53 and held it through the finish.
“That’s Nashville done. Honestly, probably the hottest race of the year, but it was a pretty solid race for us. We were mega on the first 10 laps. We passed a lot of cars and were really fast on the restarts, but we got stuck behind a lapped car for the last half of the race and just kind of lost some momentum there. So, we were in no man’s land, but the team put together a great car. It was certainly a good improvement from practice and qualifying. I feel like I did everything I could on my side; it was just unfortunate circumstances. This is still a good improvement on my side for racing on the ovals.”
Max Taylor
No. 28 Susan G. Komen Dallara
P5
| Started | P12 |
| Standings | P4 (361 points) |
- Making his Music City Grand Prix debut, Max Taylor took on the 65-lap event from 12th place on the grid.
- Taylor immediately launched up the field after the start, earning a spot in the top 10 in the initial moments of the race.
- On the Lap 14 restart, the No. 28 car got loose going into Turn 1. While he managed to make a save and continue, Taylor unfortunately lost his hard-earned track position and fell back to 15th place.
- Forced to work his way back forward, Taylor put on an impressive drive, gaining momentum and executing strategic passes. He fought his way into the top five with 12 laps remaining, where he ultimately took the checkered flag.
- The result marks Taylor’s eighth career INDY NXT top-five finish and matches his career-best result on an oval.
“I told the team before the race that I was going to pass some cars today. We had a really good start and got up to eighth from 12th, but on a restart, I had a big moment and nearly crashed the car. That dropped us to the back, so from there it was just about picking them off one by one and working our way back through the field. I’m happy with the drive and the performance, but it’s also frustrating because we had a car capable of winning or at least finishing on the podium. There are still a lot of positives to take away, but it definitely feels like we left something on the table.”
Josh Pierson
No. 29 Starchive Dallara
P6
| Started | P11 |
| Standings | P10 (282 points) |
- Joining teammate Taylor on the sixth row of the grid, Josh Pierson made his third career INDY NXT start at Nashville Superspeedway this afternoon.
- Maintaining position through the start, Pierson utilized the Lap 14 restart to vault into the top 10.
- Pierson only gained speed as the race progressed, making critical passes to secure sixth place in the final 10 laps of the race. This marks Pierson’s 30th career INDY NXT top-10 finish.
“That gamble in qualifying seemed to pay off a little. It’s tough to know if we qualified further forward with a little bit less downforce, if that would have been helpful. I feel like we were definitely stronger for the middle of the race, and at the end, we struggled a little bit more. Overall, I feel like, for the team, considering how we gambled qualifying away, we did a pretty good job of keeping things up there and making our way forward. Probably something to learn from Max, as he was a little more comfortable on top than I was. That might be due to some of the setup work we did differently between the cars.
Overall, really strong, and I am really proud of this No. 29 Andretti Global crew. I think after St. Louis, I wanted a stronger result on the oval, but one more at Milwaukee, so still plenty of chances left. Really grateful to Andretti Global and everybody here.”
Don Lambert
INDY NXT Team Manager
“We expected a little bit better day, but Lochie had a really good run there. He just couldn’t get by at the end on [Matteo] Nannini. Lochie had a left rear issue due to the incident between him and the No. 99. His left rear tire was cut pretty badly. It looked like the other three drivers were kind of back and forth today. I think it was a tough race for everybody, but we got away with some points. On to the next one.”
