Lochie Hughes Breaks Through for First INDY NXT Victory at IMS
Rookie Lochie Hughes led all 35 laps of the Indianapolis Grand Prix Race 1 to earn his first career INDY NXT by Firestone victory on Friday on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
2024 USF Pro 2000 champion Hughes, from Australia, drove his No. 26 McGinley Clinic/USF Pro Championship car fielded by Andretti Global to victory by .7229 of a second over the No. 76 HMD Motorsports car of veteran Caio Collet.
SEE: Race Results
'This is an awesome weekend so far,' Hughes said. 'I can't thank the whole team enough. It's been a tough jump to this series. It's a big step from what I was in, so I've been playing catch-up for a while.
'It's nice to finally get a win, especially around here. What a day. My parents are here, as well, this weekend, and they're not usually here, so I think it's the first time they'll see me win in a long time because they don't come over (to America) much. Pretty cool.'
Veteran Myles Rowe finished a career-best third in the No. 99 Abel/Force Indy machine. Callum Hedge (No. 17 Abel Motorsports) and Salvador de Alba (No. 27 Grupo Indi of Andretti Global) rounded out the top five.
Hughes started from the pole and opened a 1.6813-second lead before a caution on Lap 10 when Juan Manuel Correa and Niels Koolen went off course in Turn 1. Hughes then led the field to green on the Lap 12 restart and quickly built a 2.3395-second advantage by the halfway mark on Lap 18. His lead blossomed to 2.6693 seconds before teammate James Roe crashed in Turn 14 on Lap 29, collecting 16-year-old Nikita Johnson and triggering the second and final caution of the race.
Hughes kept the lead on a restart, this time on Lap 31, and held off Collet for victory. Andretti Global has won 12 of the last 14 INDY NXT by Firestone races, dating back to Race 2 of last year's Indianapolis race weekend.
'I was pretty annoyed when I kept seeing the yellow come out,' Hughes said. 'I was just trying to get a good jump off the last corner there and brake late into (Turn) 1 and make sure I don't get passed.'
Hughes pulled to within three points of series leader and Andretti Global teammate Dennis Hauger with the victory. Hauger, who won the first two races of the season, finished eighth in the No. 28 Rental Group car.
Hauger started second but had contact with Hedge in Turn 1 on the opening lap, forcing his car off track. He returned to the racetrack last in the 21-car field. He steadily climbed through the day and was in 13th at the first caution and eighth by the second yellow.
Race 2 of the doubleheader, another 35-lap contest, starts at 1 p.m. ET Saturday on FS1, the FOX Sports app and the INDYCAR Radio Network. Hughes and Hauger once again will share the front row, with Hughes on the pole.
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