Hughes storms through Indy Nxt field to win on Gateway oval

Photo: Joe Skibinski

Lochie Hughes took his second Indy Nxt victory in the first oval race of the season with a late dash to the front.

The Andretti Global driver waited until the final fifth of the 75-lap race before sweeping his way up the order into the lead. He made quick work of traffic and finished more than four seconds clear of Abel Motorsports with Force Indy’s Myles Rowe.

Hughes started fifth and initially slipped backwards, falling behind a multi-car battle for third. Ahead of that, HMD Motorsports’ Caio Collet had snatched the lead from Andretti’s poleman Dennis Hauger and in the opening laps the pair had then distanced themselves from the rest of the field.

Rowe ran in third early on, with Andretti’s Salvador de Alba and HMD’s Josh Pierson close behind. For much of the race that was the closest fight, but Hughes stayed close behind the trio. 

Just after the race’s halfway point, Hughes swept past Pierson. He took the high line to get ahead and immediately closed in on de Alba. It was not long before he picked off his team-mate and then Rowe to make it onto the podium.

Hughes’ charge did not slow down. He continued to take advantage of the high line as he passed Hauger and, on lap 62, moved into the race lead by overtaking Collet.

There was little chance for Collet to try to fight back. The leading trio had come across traffic, which Hughes made quick work of while Collet struggled. By the time he reached the chequered flag, Hughes had a 4.3521-second gap to second.

Rowe attempted to follow Hughes as he moved forward. He found a way down the inside of Hauger to take third and soon passed Collet.

De Alba recovered from a moment late in the race where he almost made contact with the wall to finish fourth. He briefly lost a position to Pierson but fought to get back ahead of Pierson, overtake Hauger too (which meant his championship lead was cut to 19 points by Hughes( then get onto the rear of Collet.

Abel Motorsports’ Callum Hedge was a lonely seventh, and HMD’s Juan Manuel Correa led home team-mate Nolan Allaer and Chip Ganassi Racing’s Niels Koolen as the last drivers not to be lapped.

Race results (75 laps)