Milwaukee Mile
I wanted to close out our last oval race strong and take a chance on pushing our limits.
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Career-best oval result. Highest Andretti Global finisher of the weekend. Winner: Max Garcia, Abel Motorsports, his first career INDY NXT victory | |||||||||||||||
The INDY NXT by Firestone series returned to oval racing on August 30 for a 90-lap race at the historic Milwaukee Mile. A grid penalty for a competitor bumped Taylor up a spot, so the No. 28 Susan G. Komen car lined up fifth, one better than qualifying, on a track where he improved eleven positions on his starting spot from a year ago. Teammate Josh Pierson took a record breaking pole and led every lap of the opening stint, building a lead of more than two seconds before the race's first caution finally broke a 53 lap green flag run. Taylor made a pass at the green flag to move into fourth, dropped back to sixth just before the midpoint, and then used a string of late restarts, four in the last 37 laps, to fight his way back forward. The race was turned upside down on Lap 54 when Pierson lost the rear exiting Turn 4 while leading and crashed into the barrier, ending his day. Seventeen year old Max Garcia inherited the lead from ninth on the grid and never gave it back, surviving four restarts in the closing laps to take his first career INDY NXT victory by less than a second over JM Correa, with Jack Beeton completing the podium in third. Taylor crossed the line fourth, his career-best result on an oval, and the highest finisher of the weekend for Andretti Global after both Lochie Hughes and Seb Murray were caught up in incidents of their own. Hughes spun and clipped the wall on Lap 69 while working back through traffic, recovering to finish 14th, while Murray came home 11th after late contact cost him a shot at the top ten. At the front of the standings, Nikita Johnson drove from 15th to fifth to take over the championship lead heading into the season finale. | |||||||||||||||
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Max's Takeaways
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Championship Standings
77 points behind the lead with one doubleheader remaining. The 2026 championship comes down to Laguna Seca. | |||||||||||||||
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To Our Sponsors and Partners Milwaukee was a tough one to watch from the seat. No one had any grip out there, and I spent most of the day just managing what the car had rather than attacking. Fourth is my best oval finish yet, and I'm proud of that, but it stings a little watching Josh lead almost the whole race and lose it with four laps in his hand. That's racing, and that's also exactly why I don't take a single lap for granted. There is a lot happening off the track right now too. At Laguna Seca I get to bring Drive for the Cure to the finale alongside Fresno Acura and DealerWorks, the 14th year they have put together the Pink car, and I could not be more excited to share this year's livery with everyone at the track. If you are there, come sign the car and grab some limited edition gear while it lasts. We also just launched the new website and merch store this week. Thank you for sticking with this program over the years, it was time to give you a way to rep the No. 28 off the track too, and proceeds go toward the cause we race for. The championship comes down to Laguna Seca now, September 5 and 6, two races, everything on the line. Thank you to every sponsor and partner who makes this possible. We are coming. Max Taylor | |||||||||||||||
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