Alessandro de Tullio turned 20 on the Saturday of the Road America weekend. He celebrated with a double pole position for the Indy NXT doubleheder, following it up with third place in Race 1.
Race 2 looked set to be the highlight of the weekend after he crossed the line first. The result was later overturnen, when officials found a tire mix-up between his car and his teammates.
Speaking in an exclusive interview to Pit Debrief, de Tullio discussed his approach to the circuit and the fine line between outright pace and results. He also spoke about what it means to represent Argentina, and about carrying forward the historic No. 14 for a team steeped in IndyCar history.
A track that rewards precision
Road America has a reputation in the paddock. De Tullio was no exception in rating it highly ahead of his first weekend there in an Indy NXT car.
“There’s a lot of opportunity, especially in lap time. It’s such a long lap that you can gain a lot, but you can also lose a lot throughout the lap. There’s a lot of spots that are inviting for braking zones that you want to get the most out of, but it’s easy to overdrive, so having good balance is really important.”
Before turning a lap in the car at the circuit, de Tullio was already looking ahead to the extra performance of his previous USF Pro machinery.
“We have a lot more power and a lot more downforce compared to what I drove last year in Pro, so it should be even more fun to drive around this place now, because we’re going to be going at higher speeds, and having more downforce for the high-speed corners should be pretty fun.“
Balancing outright pace with track position
De Tullio had already shown strong one-lap speed through the first half of the season heading into the weekend. Road America’s doubleheader format added another layer to think about.
“That’s the most important thing for qualifying, especially being a doubleheader, you need two good laps. It’s important to not overdrive, because you can lose a lot, especially if you make a mistake on a corner that leads onto a long straight.
“There’s not many push laps, especially with the deg that you usually experience around here, so it’s usually two to four laps to get it done, and you need two good laps this weekend. It’s just not overdriving, I think, that’s key, and having good track position.”
Speed alone had not always translated into results for de Tullio earlier in the season. When asked how he separates the two, he admitted the immediate aftermath is rarely the moment for a clear-headed assessment.
“In the moment you don’t really evaluate anything, you’re just really mad. But once you analyse a little bit and look at the weekend as a whole, I think we’ve been one of the strongest, if not the strongest, at some weekends in terms of outright pace and speed, so that’s a huge positive to take into the second half.
“There’s things that happened that were not really in our control, so there’s no point to look back at that, because I’m not going to gain anything by banging my head on a wall thinking about it. I think we just take the positives and keep pushing, and hopefully the luck turns around a little bit.”
Racing for Argentina
De Tullio’s father is Argentinian. The driver has built a passionate following in the South American country over the course of the season.
“It means a lot, it’s really special. It’s really nice to see. The Argentinian fans are all super passionate. Once they have someone that they follow in a sport, they really hook on and support all the way, so it’s really nice to see all the messages, all the support, all the people saying that they’re watching on Fox or watching Disney Plus over there in Argentina. It’s really, really nice.”
Building something new under a historic name
AJ Foyt Racing returned to Indy NXT this season in partnership with HMD Motorsports. By the time he spoke to Pit Debrief, de Tullio had already been part of some of the program’s earliest milestones. His win at Barber was the team’s first in the series since 2003 following their return to it.
“It’s really cool, especially after we got the first win for them after a long time, it was something really special for me to be a part of for such a historic team, historic name. Also being able to take part, especially at the Indy 500 that I was there with the team, and was able to be in some of the debriefs and be on the timings and see how they work, was also super cool.”
That history extends to the number on his car. De Tullio drives the No. 14, a number synonymous with AJ Foyt’s IndyCar program and current driver Santino Ferrucci.
“I always keep the focus on my weekend, I don’t drive around thinking about the 14, but sometimes I do see the fans walking around, and they’re obviously more for the IndyCar side, because it’s iconic in IndyCar with the 14 jersey for Ferrucci.
“But it’s still pretty cool, it’s still an iconic number that we have as well in Indy NXT with Foyt, so it’s really cool to have that number on my car.”
Seven teammates through HMD
The AJ Foyt and HMD Motorsports partnership gives de Tullio access to data from a much larger stable of cars. The wider alliance includes HMD’s own four-car line-up, Cusick Morgan Motorsport’s two-car line-up, plus de Tullio’s AJ Foyt Racing teammate Nicholas Monteiro. A standalone entry would not offer the same benchmark.
“It’s obviously pretty cool, but it’s good. I think it’s helpful, we have fast drivers, so it’s good to push myself more, to essentially beat them, and you really need to give it everything and analyse, because there’s a lot of drivers under this programme. As a whole, they’re really quick, so it just pushes you to be better.”
Lessons from a former team boss
Before joining AJ Foyt Racing, de Tullio raced for Turn 3 Motorsport. The team is owned by former Indy Lights and Irish driver Peter Dempsey. Asked what he took from his time there, de Tullio pointed to a period of his career that needed rebuilding from the ground up.
“I basically had to relearn how to drive a car with Peter, because I did my first season in cars in 2022, then went back to karting, and jumped straight back into Pro. I learned a lot with Peter.
“We had a really good relationship on how to work and have fun at the same time, enjoy the weekend, but at the same time be professional and push in a race weekend. He taught me a lot about the basics, how to be fast. It’s pretty cool to see him racing at that top level now. It’s amazing.”
He also spent time coaching Turn 3 Motorsport drivers at their oval race at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park. It is an experience he says changed the way he sees racing entirely.
“And then I had an oval race after. I think that was good because I was able to see things about what we’re racing from the outside perspective. When you’re in the car, everything happens really fast.
“When you’re outside and you’re actually teaching someone, you see everything in a different way. It’s slower, and you think more, so it helps you think more once you get in the car. I was supposed to coach here at Road America as well, since Peter wasn’t doing it, which would have been awesome, but I couldn’t make it.”
More than the results
De Tullio wants everyone following the series who are just discovering his career to look beyond the championship table.
“I’d say I’m a pretty aggressive driver, even though you haven’t been able to see much of it, because I started at the front a few times and didn’t really get the chance to race. But in Arlington, I got pretty much thrown back to last, and I had to carve up through the field. That was a pretty cool race, even though the results didn’t show it, because we started first and finished eighth. Coming back from last on a new street course to 11th was nice.
“We had the same thing at Indy, I fell back to the pack in race one, and in just a few laps before the red flag, I had to be aggressive and push my way forward.”
That attitude also carries outside the car. When asked what he is competitive about away from racing, de Tullio’s answer was simple.
“Everything I do. Every sport, everything that involves winning. I’m competitive.”
That competitiveness will be needed as the second half of the Indy NXT season continues. The challenge now is converting speed into the results de Tullio believes are possible. He sits P6 in points with four races to go, with a whopping seven poles to his name so far.
