Hughes puts in near-perfect drive for first Indy Nxt victory at Indianapolis

Photo: Joe Skibinski

Andretti Global’s Lochie Hughes converted pole position into his first Indy Nxt win in race one of the double-header on Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course.

One rival for victory exited contention at the race’s first corner, as team-mate Dennis Hauger took the outside line into turn one but had contact as Abel Motorsports-run duo Myles Rowe and Callum Hedge cars tried to squeeze by on the inside.

A quick-thinking opening of the steering enabled Hauger to avoid a major clash and he headed to the escape road. It sent him to the back of the pack, but he was able to recover to eighth and keep the points lead.

HMD Motorsports’ Caio Collet profited most from the opening corner melee, climbing to second place. However, it did not take long for Hughes to build a gap over him as Collet distanced himself from Rowe in third.

The gaps were reduced to nothing after 11 laps when Chip Ganassi Racing’s Niels Koolen ran into the back of HMD’s debutant Juan Manuel Correa at turn one, causing a caution period. Marshals assisted in getting Koolen started again, but Correa’s car was too badly damaged to continue.

Hughes got the jump on Collet at the restart, and the situation at the top of the order continued as it had been before the interruption.

The top two were once again given breathing room by a tight battle for third. Hedge and Salvador de Alba had been close behind their stablemate Rowe (whose car is co-entered by Force Indy), and Hedge took turns attacking Rowe and defending against de Alba. On the restart, de Alba passed Hedge but then repeated his team-mate’s issue of having to defend as much as he tried to pressure Rowe. 

A late caution period provided a different opportunity, and was caused by Andretti’s James Roe spinning out of the final corner and then swinging down to the inside where he struck the rear-left of Nikita Johnson’s car as it went by and removed one of the HMD driver’s wheels.

Roe had slipped back to eighth after the first caution, and was being pursued by the hard-charging Hauger. The onset of their battle forced Roe’s error, and Hauger was one of several who avoided Roe’s car as it went across the track.

Racing resumed with three laps remaining. The battle for third continued, as Hughes and Collet once again broke away. Tapping the wall exiting the final corner was Hughes’ only mistake en route to victory.

Collet was able to keep in touch with Hughes, but could not challenge him and finished 0.7299 seconds behind for his best result since last June. Rowe claimed his first podium in third, and Hedge held off de Alba for fourth.

Josh Pierson took sixth, just ahead of HMD team-mate Liam Sceats. Jack William Miller and Evagoras Papasavvas completed the top 10, with Miller proving particularly tricky for Hauger to navigate past and leading to him using his push-to-pass boost more often than anyone else.

Race results (35 laps)