Photo: Penske Entertainment / Chris Owens
Andretti Global’s Max Taylor was fastest in a private test for Indy Nxt teams at Barber Motorsports Park earlier this week that attracted 23 drivers.
There were very cold conditions on Monday when the Indy Nxt field took to track, but plenty of running was logged in the afternoon once it was a bit warmer.
According to trackside reports, Taylor set the pace by 0.6561 seconds over team-mate Josh Pierson. Both will join Andretti for 2026 after racing for HMD Motorsports this season, and Taylor will drive the car Dennis Hauger won the 2025 title in.
HMD’s new signing Enzo Fittipaldi was third fastest, less than 0.06s behind Pierson. It was recently announced that Fittipaldi will contest the Daytona 24 Hours sportscar race next year with Pratt Miller Motorsports in the LMP2 prototype class, and will share a car with his older brother Pietro. He races for the team full-time, and is an ex-Formula 1 driver.
Lochie Hughes (Andretti) and Bryce Aron (Chip Ganassi Racing) were next up on the timesheet, the latter yet to confirm what his 2026 racing programme will be.
Completing the top 10 were Myles Rowe (Abel Motorsports with Force Indy), Alessandro de Tullio (AJ Foyt Racing), Juan Manuel Correa (Cusick Morgan Motorsports), Victor Martins (Juncos Hollinger Racing) and Seb Murray (Andretti).
Formula 2 race-winner Martins has done several Indy Nxt tests, with different teams, as he evaluates where to race next year. His third F2 campaign has been his least successful, and he sits 11th in the standings with two rounds to go.
Other unsigned drivers who were testing at Barber included Nicholas Monteiro (Foyt) and Carson Etter (HMD).
Monteiro did one Indy Nxt race this year with HMD and came 10th in USF Pro 2000 on the step below in the Road to Indy, while Etter was 17th in the USFP2000 standings.
Antonio Serravalle, who raced in Indy Nxt back in 2021 and ’22, is currently pursuing a seat in IndyCar according to the Remstar Management firm that oversees his career. The target is to debut on home soil in Canada when IndyCar races in Markham for the first time in August. It is unlikely to become reality since only vacant seat remains on the 2026 grid.
Formula Scout understands that Ganassi, which like Andretti operates with multiple cars in IndyCar and Indy Nxt, will soon be making an announcement about members of its driver development programme.