Taylor tops Indy Nxt’s disrupted first Arlington practice session

Photo: Paul Hurley / Penske Entertainment

Max Taylor topped the first of two practice sessions for the Indy Nxt paddock on the new Arlington street circuit.

The Andretti Global driver was the only driver to lap sub-1m40s, with his last flying lap putting him over a second clear of HMD Motorsport’s Tymek Kucharczyk in second place.

Taylor set the pace early in the 45-minute session before being knocked from the top spot by Kucharczyk. He was still top of the order when the first of two red flag periods began.

AJ Foyt Racing’s Nicholas Monteiro was not the first driver to explore the run off at Turn 4, but he came to a stop just on the edge of the track and he only got going again once the red flags were brought out.

After the session restarted, Taylor returned to first place and was still occupying it when a second red flag period was required. It did not take long for the track to be cleared and running resumed.

Kucharczyk was the first driver to lap in the 1m40s, which put him at the top until the final laptimes came in as rubber had been laid down and a quicker pace was now achievable.

Laptimes tumbled as many drivers improved when they met the chequered flag. Andretti’s Lochie Hughes was briefly in second before being knocked down the order by HMD’s Jack Beeton.

Abel Motorsports with Force Indy’s Myles Rowe slotted into what was then third, but the order at the top shifted downwards as Taylor completed his last lap.

He set a 1m39.8262s to go 1.1205s faster than Kucharczyk, who was unable to answer with his final effort.

Cape Motorsports by Ed Carpenter Racing’s Matteo Nannini improved late on to go sixth quickest, just ahead of Salvador de Alba (HMD) who was only 0.1733s slower than Kucharczyk.

Seb Murray (Andretti) was seventh and the last driver within 1.5s of the pace, with 11 of the field’s 24 drivers being over two seconds slower than Taylor.

Points leader Nikita Johnson (Cape) was down in 14th place, trailing by 2.0336s and 0.1922s behind Enzo Fittipaldi (HMD) in 13th. Both had been in the top six at the time of the second red flag stoppage, but could not keep up with the rate of improvement made by others at the end.

Free practice 1 results