WEST ALLIS, Wis. — Max Garcia scored his first Indy NXT By Firestone victory, becoming the ninth first-time winner this season in Sunday morning’s Indy NXT By Firestone At The Milwaukee Mile.
It was an impressive drive for the 17-year-old driver, who has to return to Christopher Columbus High School in Miami, Florida on Monday, where he will be “Big Man on Campus.”
“Unbelievable, it’s been such a tough year for all of us at Abel Motorsports,” Garcia said. “We knew we had a good oval package and set the car up well for the race and could move through traffic. It was all about timing it right.
“I tried to convince my mom into not letting me go to school. A day off would be nice.”
Garcia defeated JM Correa’s No. 63 enter by 0. 9430-of-a-second. Jack Beeton was third in the No. 45 followed by Max Taylor, Nikita Johnson, Alessandro de Tullio and Enzo Fittipaldi.
Johnson regained the in the Indy NXT By Firestone Championship by three points over Fittipaldi and 29 points over Tymek Kucharczyk.
Johnson started 15th and finished fifth.
“I kept my head down, pushed really hard and found lines other people didn’t have until about halfway through,” Johnson explained. “That really helped me, playing around and trying different lines out when other people were stuck in just one line.
“We had a fast car, but it was a disappointment in qualifying. We had a fast car, though.”
The championship will be decided in a doubleheader at Laguna Seca in Monterey, California next weekend.
