Photo: Travis Hinkle
Max Taylor will soon debut in USFP2000 and Indy Nxt in an ambitious dual programme on IndyCar’s support bill. Steve Whitfield caught up with the American about his rapid rise after starting out in karting in 2020
The 17-year-old from Connecticut is the latest protege from Dan Mitchell’s Velocity Racing Development stable. Having driven for the team on the Road to Indy ladder for the past two seasons, Mitchell is in no doubt of Taylor’s potential, revealing to Formula Scout previously that he believes he is going to be “a real star”.
Alongside a full campaign in USF Pro 2000 this year with VRD, Taylor will also contest five Indy Nxt rounds with HMD Motorsports. Competing on two steps of the single-seater ladder simultaneously is something that he is already familiar with. In 2024, he was a multiple-time race-winner in both USF2000 and USF Juniors, and became champion in the latter.
“It is a challenge mentally and physically,” Taylor reveals. “A lot of the races are on the same weekend, so it is difficult to jump back and forth. I’ve always just been able to adapt, learn quickly and take in information, so that definitely has helped me massively.”
Taylor was a relatively late starter in motorsport. He first drove a kart in 2020, but soon started making progress and competed regionally and then nationally in his homeland the following year.
“I always loved cars but we were never really a motorsport family,” he explains. “We didn’t know much about it, but I just got into it. I was pretty independent with it, just reaching out to what this go-karting thing was, and what racing is, and I learned and progressed pretty quickly. I just got better and better.”
Transitioning into the national karting scene full-time in 2022, Taylor came third in the USA Pro Tour for X30 Junior karts, also finished third in the USA SuperNationals final for KA100 Junior kart, and was IAME USA Grand National runner-up.
Photo: Gavin Baker Photography
“I always remember them,” he reflects on his time in karting. “I always wish I had more time in a go-kart because I feel like there was so much I missed. I definitely jumped into it pretty late but I was able to just learn fast and take in everything that everybody was telling me. I was on the right teams, with the right people. That helped me out. I loved karting, I’ll always love it.”
Taylor’s swift karting success led him switching to single-seaters by 2023, with VRD’s programmes in the USA and in the UK through GB3 proving to be an appealing opportunity.
“Because I jumped in karting late, after two years or so we started to look at what we could do in race cars to see if this was actually a career possibility. VRD was one of the teams that stood out, partially because of the GB3 programme, where it just opened more doors. They’ve been amazing to me, I couldn’t ask for anything different from them. Dan has been great.”
His rookie single-seater campaign included mistakes and inconsistencies, but he was also able to show plenty of potential. It began with YACademy’s two-round Winter Series in the USF Juniors class, taking sixth on his car racing debut and then following it up with a maiden victory during round one at Sebring. He took another win at Homestead-Miami Speedway, and was runner-up in the standings.
That marked the first races for USF Juniors’ car, and in the championship it was designed for Taylor came sixth. He took a win at Road America, a circuit he already had experience of from a United States Formula 4 cameo and his part-time USF2000 campaign. It was the location of his best result in that championship, as he finished sixth in what was his fourth race there.
Taylor returned to USF Juniors and USF2000 in 2024, putting his experience to good use. He took the USF Juniors title with a race to spare, winning three races and not finishing lower than eighth. Despite winning four times in USF2000, he had to settle for third in the standings behind Pabst Racing’s Max Garcia and Sam Corry.
Photo: Gavin Baker Photography
“It was a stellar year, for sure,” he reflects on 2024. “I learned so much in 2023 through all my mistakes and then applied it last year. I won one championship, almost won another, but it’s all thanks to the VRD team, they were awesome the whole year.
“They put an amazing programme together in both series, so I had a race-winning car every time I went out there so that helped massively. It was a really good challenge and I’m really happy that I did [both series].”
His strongest weekend of the year came at Mid-Ohio, taking one victory in USF Juniors and a double triumph in USF2000 to become the first driver to win in both series on the same day. His charge to victory in USF2000’s first race of the weekend was also his first experience of racing in wet conditions.
“Mid-Ohio was when everything kind of fell into place,” Taylor points out. “It wasn’t that I figured out anything new that race weekend, it was just everything fitted into place – I was good, the team was good and I had a bit of luck. It was a really good weekend but, still, there were two races that I didn’t win. So there’s definitely more [to achieve] every time I go out on the track.
“Before Mid-Ohio I had never done a race in the wet. I’d done dozens of practice and test sessions in the wet, but that was my first race, and I won it. I love driving in the wet, you need a really good feeling in the car.”
Taylor followed up his exploits in the US with his first single-seater starts in Europe last September, driving for VRD’s partner team Arden in GB3 at Donington Park. He immediately impressed with the third quickest time in pre-event testing before ending qualifying in 10th and, during a weekend of mixed weather conditions, scored 11th place finishes in the first two races.
“I was a bit surprised with myself that I was able to adapt and just get right on it pretty quickly and just build up on that, so it was really good,” Taylor says of the cameo. “About a year before I did testing in Europe, so I went to a few tracks with VRD.
Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography
“Beyond that I didn’t have any experience in a car like that. It was a hell of a lot faster [to anything I’d driven before], a lot more power, a lot more downforce, you had to drive it a lot different. There’s a few different techniques and skills that I had to learn but it was a blast, for sure. I didn’t show my full potential but I still got a decent result.”
Taylor was reunited at Donington with friend and fellow VRD protege Nikita Johnson, who has left its stable in 2025 to focus on a full GB3 campaign with Hitech GP. Taylor credits VRD for helping give American drivers opportunities in Europe.
“Before, you would see a few drivers here and there from America do European stuff, but now we have an all-American team. It’s definitely really cool, and it’s showing that the guys in America and the competition in America is extremely strong. It’s kind of proven by me – first week in GB3 and I was top three in the times in testing and top 10 in qualifying, so it definitely shows how strong the field in the US is.
“There’s similarities and differences [compared to the US], but I think in Europe, especially with GB3, it’s extremely cut-throat. If you get comfortable at all you’re falling down the timesheet. You always have to be constantly improving the car, your driving, and it’s so, so tight through the field. I was like three tenths off and I was P6 in one of the practices, it’s incredibly close.”
While his ambitious leap up to Indy Nxt this year shows his priorities remain in the IndyCar support paddock, Taylor is keeping his options open for the future.
“This year the focus is in the US. Right now IndyCar is the more realistic route, but I’m just driving as best as I can, just putting on good performances and just getting in the eyes of big teams. Formula 3 and Formula 2, hopefully that could be a possibility [in the future].
“The USF championships have an amazing programme. We’re going to really great race tracks on the same weekends as IndyCar, so you’re getting all the attention from the teams and the place where you eventually want to be.
Photo: Matt Fraver / Penske Entertainment
“They put on a great series, they have amazing competition. I can’t say too much bad about the series, and it obviously fosters really good talent to be competitive throughout the entire world.”
The addition of the Indy Nxt outings to Taylor’s 2025 schedule was only confirmed in late January, and his debut at Barber Motorsports Park will be the only time where he takes to a track he has raced on further down the ladder. He will gain street circuit experience in Detroit, oval running at Iowa Speedway and the Milwaukee Mile, and will be able to judge his progression from pre-season testing when he races at the fabled Laguna Seca.
CV
Age 17
D/O/B October 1, 2007
Country USA
Car racing
2024: 26th in GB3, 3rd in USF2000 (4 wins, 1 pole, 2 fastest laps), USF Juniors champion (3 wins, 3 poles, 2 fastest laps)
2023: 18th in USF2000, 2nd in YACademy Winter Series (2 wins, 2 fastest laps), 6th in USF Juniors (1 win, 2 fastest laps), 25th in United States F4
Karting
2023: 13th in USA Winter Series – X30 Jr, 18th in USA Winter Series – KA100 Jr
2022: Stars Championship Series champion – KA100 Jr, 2nd in IAME USA Grand National – X30 Jr, 3rd in USA Pro Tour – X30 Jr, 3rd in USA SuperNationals – KA100 Jr, 4th in USA Winter Series – KA100 Jr, 6th in US Pro Kart Series – KA100 Jr, 7th in US Pro Kart Series – KA100 Jr, 8th IAME USA Grand National – KA100 Jr, 12th in USA SuperNationals – X30 Jr, 14th in USA Winter Series – X30 Jr, 24th in USA Pro Tour – KA100 Jr
2021: 16th in USA SuperNationals – KA100 Jr, 24th in USA SuperNationals – X30 Jr, 43rd in USA Pro Tour – X30 Jr, 45th in US Pro Kart Series – X30 Jr