The IndyNXT by Firestone series took to the track for their third and fourth races of the season at Barber Motorsports Park, one of the most physically demanding tracks on the calendar.
The trend of rookie dominance continued, with the podium in both races being made up entirely of drivers in their first full time series campaigns. Though on paper the weekend’s pair of races only saw one lead change, the top spot was tightly contested from flag to flag on both occasions, leading to noteworthy moments throughout both races.
In qualifying it was Max Taylor who led the opening group, but would be unable to claim his second pole position of the season. Group two came down to a back and forth battle between Alessandro de Tullio and Nikita Johnson. On both of Johnson’s final push laps, he reported losing time after hitting the limiter, allowing de Tullio to take pole for both of the weekend’s races, relegating Taylor to second and Johnson to third.
Race One
The opening race on Saturday got off to a promising start, with all 24 drivers making it through the first corner. Unfortunately, the field couldn’t avoid contact for long. On the first lap in turn five, Seb Murray locked up and made contact with JM Correa, turning the American driver sideways. Murray then skidded into Andretti Global teammate Josh Pierson, hitting him in the rear-left tire and ending his race. A yellow flag would come out, and all but Pierson continued in the race.
On the restart, spins for Carson Etter and Niels Koolen turned an unsatisfactory weekend into a worse one for Chip Ganassi Racing. As the race progressed into its second half, polesitter de Tullio continued to protect the lead he had held since the start. Taylor had maintained a steady gap of around one second, with Johnson falling behind, and Enzo Fittipaldi and Tymek Kucharczyk rounding out the top five.
With just nine laps to go, the race reached its climax. Chip Ganassi Racing’s James Roe was racing wheel to wheel with Etter as the leading duo approached to put them a lap down. The ensuing battle between the backmarkers forced de Tullio to heavily check up in turn nine, giving Taylor a chance to pass around the outside. Taylor’s lead, however, was short lived. After going around Etter, he found himself slowed up just enough behind Roe that de Tullio slipped back around, retaking the top position.
Though the leading pair had cleared the two backmarkers, the fight wasn’t over yet. Sensing this was his best chance to pass de Tullio once and for all, Taylor attempted an overtake down the inside of turn 16. As they approached the apex, Taylor was only alongside de Tullio enough to have his front left tire alongside de Tullio’s right rear. As de Tullio turned into the corner, Taylor made contact with him, sending both cars spinning. Johnson would go through to take the lead in dramatic fashion, as de Tullio found himself beached in the gravel and Taylor had to get his car turned back around as well.
“When I saw those lapped cars, I knew something was going to happen, some type of chaos,” Johnson said in the post-race press conference. “I was thankful to get through it because I was passing one of the lapped cars at the same time while they’re both on either end of the track.”
A caution for de Tullio’s stricken car meant that a five lap shootout would end the race. Taylor would be given a drive-through penalty, further ruining his race and ultimately relegating him to the back of the top 20. Despite a major disadvantage to Fittipaldi and Kucharczyk on remaining seconds of push-to-pass, Johnson was able to hold his lead until the end, and claim his second victory of the season. Fittipaldi claimed his second consecutive top two finish, and Kucharczyk made it three third places in three races.
Kucharczyk, who made his first visit to Barber for the weekend, noted the intensity of the circuit and the difficulty that came with maneuvering around the “Alabama Rollercoaster.”
“The track is very physically demanding,” Kucharczyk said. “I ran the car for the first time on a proper circuit with high downforce setup with high-speed corners. We don’t have power steering. We don’t have any help or support. It’s just physically demanding in terms of handling. The steering feels heavy. If you have a lot of compressions, which you do around here, it’s just basically like the steering wheel trying to kick your hands off every time. It takes a bit of your confidence out if you can’t hold the car, you’re not basically risking enough, pushing enough. If you have a snap in a moment, you might not be able to catch it. That’s why I found it a bit more tricky.”
Behind the podium finishers came rookie Max Garcia, the defending USF Pro 2000 champion who was overdue for a strong result. In fifth came Garcia’s Abel Motorsports teammate, Myles Rowe. Jordan Missig, Ricardo Escotto, Bryce Aron, Jack Beeton, and Nico Stati completed the top ten.
Race Two
After the disastrous contact that undid de Tullio and Taylor’s races on Saturday, the pair showed no signs of hard feelings towards one another on the grid the following morning. Taylor, who took responsibility for the incident in an Instagram post on Saturday night, had friendly talks with de Tullio on the grid in the minutes right before the second race.
“We had a few exchanges of words,” de Tullio said. “He apologized immediately. That shows a lot of sportsmanship from his side. I immediately calmed down when he apologized. I told him it’s all right. So that was good. You have to recognize sometimes a mistake. I also understand. I’ve been in that position before where I made an ambitious move, whether it be in karting, last year. It’s just stuff that happens. I understood. We shook hands and we moved on.”
Once the green flag waved, it was a clean getaway for the top three, but again trouble struck on the opening lap. Garcia and Rowe, fighting for seventh position, made contact entering the fast turn 12. Rowe, likely in an effort to give his teammate space into the narrow turn, bounded over the inside curbing, and both cars spun through the grass before ultimately retiring from the race. Prior to his retirement, Rowe served a penalty for avoidable contact.
The race played out in a mostly orderly fashion, though the closing laps made for quite a tense sequence. Though de Tullio was quick enough to maintain the lead, the drivers behind each seemed to close the gap until each formed a train spanning from about first back to seventh place. Missig did at one point attempt a pass on Kucharczyk for fifth place, but the Pole was unwilling to concede his position. Taylor came quite close to the lead at the end of the final lap, but de Tullio held on to take his maiden Indy NXT victory, with Taylor, Johnson, Fittipaldi, and Kucharczyk rounding out the top five.
Naturally, for de Tullio, it was a matter of blocking out the disappointment of yesterday and looking forwards.
“Keeping your head down and staying calm, especially when you have another race the next day, is super important,” de Tullio said. “That’s what the team helped me with a lot. My engineer, Joe, kept me very calm… It was just about resetting, moving on, and focusing on today.”
Though Taylor was unable to retake the championship lead from Johnson, he was content with a result that, in his eyes, was as good of a finish as he had a chance to get.
“I mean, I think at the end of the day it’s just about taking the opportunity of what you can control,” Taylor said. “You can set the sails, but you can’t control the wind.”
Following the fourth race of seventeen, the top ten in the championship standings are as follows:
- Nikita Johnson – 168
- Max Taylor – 144
- Tymek Kucharczyk – 135
- Enzo Fittipaldi – 129
- Alessandro de Tullio – 108
- JM Correa – 97
- Lochie Hughes – 92
- Jordan Missig – 92
- Myles Rowe – 87
- Seb Murray – 86
Though the series does not race again until May 8-9, the drivers and teams will remain busy in the weeks ahead, with upcoming tests at Nashville and Mid-Ohio. The Indy NXT by Firestone series will be back in action at the IMS Road Course for another doubleheader weekend, as the shape of the championship battle begins to take shape.
written by Owen White / Media Credit: Penske Entertainment
