Photo: Joe Skibinski
Nikita Johnson collected his second Indy Nxt victory after Alessandro de Tullio and Max Taylor collided nine laps from the end of race one at Barber Motorsports Park.
De Tullio led the majority of the race but came under pressure from Taylor in the closing stages. After the pair collided, Johnson managed to weave between them to claim the race lead before the caution was thrown.
Racing resumed for five laps and Johnson held on to take his second win of the year.
The late race caution was the second of the day. The yellow flags were thrown on the opening lap after Josh Pierson was turned into the gravel. Ahead, Juan Manuel Correa had gone into a spin after contact with Seb Murray, who then also made slight contact with Pierson, sending the latter into the gravel.
After four laps behind the pace car, racing resumed on lap five. De Tullio and Taylor managed to quickly build a gap to Johnson behind, while the Cape Motorsports by Ed Carpenter Racing driver was comfortably ahead of the battling Fittipaldi and Tymek Kucharczyk.
Taylor stayed close to de Tullio, but it wasn’t until the final laps that he began to challenge for position. As the pair came up to backmarkers, Taylor managed to get ahead. De Tullio came back at the next corner and was leading the race again when Taylor’s front wheel touched de Tullio’s rear. Both cars were sent into a spin, and both Johnson and the backmarkers behind had to weave between them to avoid further contact.
De Tullio’s rear wheels were in the gravel and he was unable to continue. Taylor rejoined the race towards the back of the top 10, but was given a stop and hold penalty.
Fittipaldi tried to stick with Johnson in the final laps, but Kucharczyk was still on his tail. He managed to hold off his team-mate to score his second consecutive second place, while Kucharcyk scored his third third place of the year.
Max Garcia held off Myles Rowe to take fourth, with Jordan Missig close behind in sixth. Ricardo Escotto made good progress on the opening lap and continued to climb forwards to finish seventh, as Bryce Aron, Jack Beeton and Nicolas Stati completed the top 10.
Race results (35 laps)
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nikita Johnson | Cape by ECR | 47m05.1376s |
| 2 | Enzo Fittipaldi | HMD Motorsports | +0.7687s |
| 3 | Tymek Kucharczyk | HMD Motorsports | +1.1357s |
| 4 | Max Garcia | Abel Motorsports | +3.0952s |
| 5 | Myles Rowe | Abel Motorsports | +4.1444s |
| 6 | Jordan Missig | Abel Motorsports | +4.6248s |
| 7 | Ricardo Escotto | Juncos Hollinger Racing | +7.0911s |
| 8 | Bryce Aron | Chip Ganassi Racing | +7.9362s |
| 9 | Jack Beeton | HMD Motorsports | +8.3785s |
| 10 | Nicolas Stati | Cusick Morgan Motorsports | +9.8045s |
| 11 | Juan Manuel Correa | Cusick Morgan Motorsports | +10.2824s |
| 12 | Lochie Hughes | Andretti Global | +12.4117s |
| 13 | Alexander Koreiba | Juncos Hollinger Racing | +13.2854s |
| 14 | Nicholas Monteiro | AJ Foyt Racing | +13.9824s |
| 15 | Matteo Nannini | Cape by ECR | +14.8981s |
| 16 | Colin Kaminsky | Abel Motorsports | +15.3598s |
| 17 | Niels Koolen | Chip Ganassi Racing | +19.4372s |
| 18 | Salvador de Alba | HMD Motorsports | +19.6142s |
| 19 | Max Taylor | Andretti Global | +1m08.7098s |
| 20 | Alessandro de Tullio | AJ Foyt Racing | +1 lap |
| 21 | Carson Etter | Chip Ganassi Racing | +1 lap |
| 22 | Sebastian Murray | Andretti Global | +1 lap |
| 23 | James Roe | Chip Ganassi Racing | +1 lap |
| Ret | Josh Pierson | Andretti Global | |
| Fastest lap: de Tullio, 1m12.0646s
Championship standings |
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