ARLINGTON, Texas — In a thrilling race that blended chaos and excitement in equal measure, Max Taylor earned his first Indy NXT by Firestone victory Sunday in the inaugural Grand Prix of Arlington.
Andretti Global driver Taylor, from Greenwich, Connecticut, drove his No. 28 Susan G. Komen car to a 1.8925-second victory over rookie Enzo Fittipaldi in the No. 67 HMD Motorsports car for his breakthrough win in his eighth career start in the IndyCar development series. The margin of victory deceived, as the two drivers and rookie Tymek Kucharczyk dueled for the lead multiple times over the closing laps of the 30-minute timed race.
“I wanted it with every ounce of my body,” Taylor said. “I had to fight for it. That was some hard racing out there. This track just creates such good racing. Absolutely incredible to drive around here. We had to make some moves out there. A lot of fun, a lot of carnage happening, but we were able to show our pace.”
Kucharczyk finished third for the second consecutive race in the No. 71 HMD Motorsports car to round out the podium finishers. JM Correa placed fourth in the No. 68 Cusick Morgan Motorsports car, while Lochie Hughes finished fifth in the No. 26 Andretti Global machine.
The race was filled with action and contact from the beginning on the 14-turn, 2.73-mile temporary street circuit that circles around AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys, and Globe Life Field, home of the Texas Rangers. A steady wind of 20 mph, with gusts approaching 40 mph, added to the challenge.
There was chaos as the field drove to the green flag, as the No. 57 Abel Motorsports car driven by Colin Kaminsky suffered heavy damage after colliding with other cars and the outside retaining wall on the backstretch as the tightly bunched field rocketed toward the flag stand for the green.
Immediately after that incident, it appeared Kucharczyk made light contact with pole sitter Alessandro de Tullio in the No. 14 AJ Foyt Racing entry, nudging de Tullio wide and handing the lead to Fittipaldi, who started second.
The incident involving Kaminsky triggered a caution that lasted until there were approximately 16 minutes, 30 seconds left in the race. Fittipaldi kept the lead on the restart but never got away from Kucharczyk and Taylor, who were running second and third, respectively.
Kucharczyk pulled to within inches of Fittipaldi’s gearbox with 12 and 10 minutes remaining but couldn’t get past for the lead. Meanwhile, Taylor bided his time in third after starting fourth.
Fittipaldi and Kucharczyk swapped the lead twice on the same lap with approximately nine minutes, 50 seconds remaining, with Fittipaldi prevailing when the duo crossed the start-finish line to judge the lap leader.
With eight minutes left, Taylor passed Kucharczyk and set his sights on leader Fittipaldi, the grandson of two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Emerson Fittipaldi. That task got a bit easier with about six minutes, 30 remaining when Josh Pierson’s No. 29 Starchive Andretti car stopped on track in Turn 2 after contact with the wall following a light hip check from the No. 17 HMD Motorsports entry driven by Salvador de Alba, triggering a caution to bunch the field.
Fittipaldi kept the lead on the restart with three minutes, 35 seconds remaining, but Taylor pulled to within .275 of a second with two minutes left.
Then Taylor dove under Fittipaldi for the lead in Turn 13 and pulled away over the closing two laps.
“It was hard racing,” Fittipaldi said. “That’s what I love about racing here in the States. It’s raw racing, and I really enjoy that. We had some good battles out there. Unfortunately, we came home second. I’m just a bit frustrated with the result but super happy at the same time.”
Taylor took the series lead by 10 points over St. Petersburg winner Nikita Johnson, who finished sixth today in the No. 21 Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR entry.
