Tymek Kucharczyk (HMD Motorsports) earned his first career Indy NXT win with an outstanding performance during the second race of the doubleheader weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
The 20-year-old Polish driver started from fifth position and seized an opportunistic lead after the frontrunners ran wide into Turn 1 on the opening lap. Despite relentless pressure throughout the 30-lap contest, he maintained the top spot and crossed the finish line 0.6273 seconds ahead of Andretti Global’s Max Taylor on the 2.439-mile, 14-turn circuit. Kucharczyk becomes the first Polish driver to win in IndyCar’s developmental championship.
“What a special day,” Kucharczyk said. “To do it here, going back to November, my first time in an Indy NXT car and now winners here at Indy is just spectacular. So grateful to my sponsors, to my team. Tremendous job. It was a tough race. It was really, really hard to keep Max behind me, who was pushing me for the whole race. Except for any lockup that I made during the race, it was a pretty flawless execution. Yeah, super happy.”
Tymek Kucharczyk, HMD Motorsports, racing at the IMS road course. Photo by: Penske Entertainment
Enzo Fittipaldi (HMD Motorsports) followed up his Race 1 victory with a third-place finish in the second race. Lochie Hughes (Andretti Global) took fourth, while Alessandro De Tullio (AJ Foyt Racing) completed the top five.
After six of 17 races, Nikita Johnson holds an 11-point lead over Kucharczyk (231-220). Taylor sits third (-14), ahead of Fittipaldi (-16) and Hughes (-64).
**The Race**
Pole-sitter Taylor led a three-wide run into Turn 1, but both he, front-row starter De Tullio, and Josh Pierson (Andretti Global), who began third, briefly went off course through the opening corner. Johnson also challenged for the lead but dropped back after being directly behind Taylor. As a result, Kucharczyk moved from fifth into the lead.
Kucharczyk led the first four laps, but Taylor recovered from the Turn 1 incident and pursued the Polish driver. Taylor attempted an outside pass for the lead into Turn 1, making slight contact, but Kucharczyk successfully defended the top spot.
Both Kucharczyk and Taylor built a 1.7-second lead over third-place runner Enzo Fittipaldi.
On Lap 9, Myles Rowe (Abel Motorsport) was running 15th under pressure from Bryce Aron (Chip Ganassi Racing), who had started last after a mechanical issue on pit lane. Rowe overshot Turn 1, locking his front tires in a plume of smoke and heading to the runoff road before reporting “brake failure” over the radio. He ultimately retired from the race.
Kucharczyk extended his lead to 0.7 seconds over Taylor by Lap 10, with Fittipaldi still third, 2 seconds back. On Lap 11, Max Garcia and Jack Beeton collided in Turn 7 when Garcia attempted an inside pass but clipped the curbing and bounced into Beeton while they battled for 17th.
At the halfway point, Kucharczyk held a stout 0.6-second lead over Taylor. Fittipaldi, De Tullio, and Hughes rounded out the top five.
Aron continued his remarkable comeback, climbing to 13th by Lap 18.
Kucharczyk showed signs of pressure with multiple brief lockups while leading, allowing Taylor to close within 0.4 seconds by Lap 20. Fittipaldi remained 2.9 seconds back in third.
With six laps to go, Pierson began pressuring Nikita Johnson (Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR) for sixth. However, Pierson overcharged Turn 7 and went off course, falling well behind Johnson
