Myles Rowe delivered a run for the ages to win the Indy NXT round at World Wide Technology Raceway.
Despite starting 24th (last) in the #99 Abel Motorsports entry, the Georgia native charged through the field and led the final 29 of 75 laps to snatch victory by 2.2081s over Alessandro De Tullio (AJ Foyt Racing). It’s the third career victory for Rowe, who smashed the record for a previous race winner’s starting position (18th).
“Yeah, it’s a chess game out there,” said Rowe, 25. “Confidence is key. Abel Motorsports, the guys really gave me a car to have that kind of confidence, to have a plan and be able to execute it. Yeah, I’m just so thrilled I can give this to them, especially after the disappointment yesterday. … Yeah, this is no doubt really awesome.”
Josh Pierson (Andretti Global) finished third after leading 20 laps, with Niels Koolen (Chip Ganassi Racing) making a late push to take fourth. Pole-sitter Lochie Hughes (Andretti Global) took fifth.
Nikita Johnson (Cape Motorsports by ECR) finished sixth, and took back the championship lead, holding a two-point advantage (285-283) over Enzo Fittipaldi (HMD Motorsports). Tymek Kucharczyk (HMD Motorsports) is third (280 points) after finishing ninth.
The Race
Fittpaldi, the championship leader coming in who was unable to qualify due to a fuel issue, was hit with another issue prior to starting the green flag. He made it back out and ahead of the field to stay on the lead lap. Additionally, Matteo Nannini was sitting on the pit wall but not able to start the race after Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR found an issue on his car.
Meanwhile, Hughes started on pole and managed to get a clean getaway as Pierson surged up from fourth to second.
Rowe, who started last (24th) after a mishap in qualifying, was up to 16th after just four laps. As Rowe went to the inside of Alexander Koreiba in Turn 3, the latter lost the back end of his #75 Juncos Hollinger Racing machine and backed it into the fence and brought out the caution on Lap 5. A gearbox issue left Bryce Aron (Chip Ganassi Racing) stopped at pit exit, which ultimately led to an early retirement.
Hughes led the field to the restart on Lap 13, with Pierson and Taylor falling in second and third. Rowe made it up to 13th by Lap 16, with Fittipaldi running 18th. Rowe broke into the top 10 by Lap 20, with Hughes continuing to pace the field at the front. Rowe moved up to eighth two laps later.
Pierson began putting the pressure on Hughes for the race lead by Lap 23. Rowe surged to fifth by Lap 28, with Pierson able to get around Hughes with an outside pass into Turn 1 to take the race lead. Rowe went up to third by Lap 32. Hughes began to close back on Pierson on Lap 35, with Rowe reeling both in. Rowe made multiple inside looks on Hughes as the leaders caught backmarker traffic.
Rowe went by Hughes on the outside entering Turn 3 as they fought through traffic, taking over second and putting sights on Pierson, who extended a 1s lead. Rowe closed the gap back on Pierson before taking the race lead with an outside pass in Turn 1 by Lap 48.
Rowe built up a 1s lead before the caution returned with 21 laps to go due to debris – which he ran over – in Turn 4.
The restart came with 17 laps to go, with Rowe leading Pierson, while Hughes was under attack – and passed – by Taylor for third. Taylor attempted to pull off a similar move on Pierson, but a caution negated it after Salvador De Alba and Yuven Sundaramoorthy came together at the exit of Turn 2. Sundaramoorthy caught air briefly before coming back down and returning to the pits, while De Alba pounded the inside wall and hobbled after exiting his car.
Rowe brought the field to the restart with eight to go and fended off an inside move from Pierson, who then slid back and was in the clutches of Taylor.
Taylor was stuck on the outside of Pierson as the two battled for the runner-up spot side-by-side, with Rowe slowly gapping the duo. Pierson broke free to secure second, but it was momentary as De Tullio surged from fifth and closed on Pierson.
Rowe’s lead extended to 2s as he took the white flag. He went on to win over De Tullio, with Pierson taking third. Fittipaldi’s heroics saw him finish 13th to salvage his day.
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: motorsport.com
