2026 Indy NXT Road America | Practice results

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The only practice at rounds 9 and 10 of the 2026 Indy NXT season at Road America is complete, view the full results here.

The Indy NXT field had just one practice session to prepare for a busy doubleheader weekend at Road America, putting added emphasis on every lap turned Friday afternoon. Fresh off a dominant victory at Gateway, Myles Rowe arrived with momentum, but the field had two races to respond on one of North America’s most demanding road courses. With championship contenders looking to establish early pace, the lone practice session offered the first glimpse at who could challenge for victories this weekend.

Lochie Hughes set the first representative benchmark of the session with a 1:54.298, putting early pace on the board at Road America. With the 2025 qualifying fast time sitting at a 1:52.330, there is still plenty of speed left to find as the field began working through its lone practice session of the weekend. Hughes will be hoping to carry that early speed into a stronger race weekend after starting from pole at Gateway but finishing sixth.

Matteo Nannini quickly lowered the benchmark in his Cape Motorsports entry, putting down a 1:53.655 to move to the top of the order.

Incidents

With 35 minutes remaining, Seb Murray had the first notable incident of the session at the exit of Turn 6. The Andretty man was able to keep the car out of the wall, allowing the session to remain green.

Niels Koolen also had a spin-and-continue moments later at the exit of Turn 8, continuing a busy opening portion of Indy NXT’s lone Road America practice.

Max Garcia entered the weekend with plenty of Road America success already behind him. During his championship-winning USF Pro 2000 season last year, Garcia claimed all three poles at the Wisconsin circuit, showing clear one-lap speed around the 4.014-mile road course. After a rough start to his rookie Indy NXT campaign, Garcia had shown stronger form in the last two races, but with 30 minutes remaining in practice, he sat 17th as he continued searching for pace.

With 25 minutes remaining, Nannini had a big slide exiting Turn 8 but was able to continue without bringing out a stoppage. Moments later, Nikita Johnson moved to the top of the timing sheets with a 1:53.365, becoming the next driver to lower the benchmark as the session continued to build toward its final runs.

Alessandro de Tullio also remained in the mix near the front, sitting fourth with a 1:54.279. The AJ Foyt Racing driver entered the weekend looking to continue his impressive qualifying form and chase a sixth pole of the season at Road America.

Changes at the top

With 18 minutes remaining, Josh Pierson moved his Andretti Global car to the top of the timing sheets with a 1:53.320. His teammate Hughes responded shortly after, jumping back up to second and landing just two-hundredths of a second off Pierson’s benchmark.

Hughes, Pierson, Nikita Johnson, Max Taylor and Nannini traded positions inside the top five for several minutes as the session entered its final stretch. Taylor eventually topped them all, jumping to the top of the timing sheets with a 1:53.141.

With seven minutes remaining, Nicolas Stati had one of the biggest moments of the session coming past Turn 13, launching over the curbing with all four wheels briefly in the air.

The order remained unchanged through the final 10 minutes, leaving Andretti Global to complete a 1-2-3 at the top of the timing sheets. Cape Motorsports followed closely behind in fourth and fifth, giving both teams a strong foundation heading into qualifying for the Road America doubleheader.