2026 Indy NXT Indy GP | Qualifying results

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2026 Indy NXT Indy GP qualifying begins after a tight opening practice session on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, with the field now set to decide the grid for Race 1 of the weekend doubleheader.

The session follows a close morning practice session, which was topped by Max Taylor ahead of Nikita Johnson, Tymek Kucharczyk, Lochie Hughes and Enzo Fittipaldi. With the top four separated by just 0.06s in practice, qualifying was expected to come down to small margins across both groups.

Each qualifying group receives 10 minutes of track time, with the first red flag stopping the clock. A driver’s fastest overall lap sets their position for Race 1, while their second-fastest lap sets their position for Race 2.

Group 1

Group 1 opened with Alessandro De Tullio setting the early benchmark at a 1:15.0846, immediately putting pressure on the rest of the field to respond. Lochie Hughes emerged as his closest challenger, moving into second with a 1:15.2203, while Nikita Johnson followed in third.

Sebastian Murray and Ricardo Escotto completed the top five for Race 1 qualifying, with Jack Beeton, Bryce Aron, Myles Rowe, Nicolas Stati and JM Correa rounding out the top 10.

De Tullio’s second-fastest lap also put him at the top of the Group 1 Race 2 order with a 1:15.3190. Johnson came close to taking that spot away, finishing just 0.0072s behind on second-fastest laps.

Correa continued to improve throughout the session after missing Practice 1 earlier in the day, finishing 10th in the Group 1 Race 1 order and eighth in the Group 1 Race 2 order.

de Tullio
Hughes
Johnson
Murray
Escotto
Beeton
Aron
Rowe
Stati
Correa
Monteiro
Koreiba

Group 2

Group 2 got underway with Max Taylor setting the early benchmark at a 1:16.0573. Josh Pierson sat just 0.0220s behind, while Jordan Missig, Tymek Kucharczyk and Niels Koolen completed the early top five.

Taylor soon lowered the Group 2 benchmark to a 1:15.1509, bringing himself within 0.0663s of A. De Tullio’s Group 1-leading time. Pierson remained his closest challenger, while Matteo Nannini, Kucharczyk and Enzo Fittipaldi moved into the top five as the session developed.

However, Taylor could not beat De Tullio’s 1:15.0846, meaning Group 1 will take the odd-numbered grid spots, while Group 2 will fill the even-numbered positions. It switches around for the second contest on Saturday.