Nikita Johnson steals win after leaders crash in Saturday's INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Alabama
- Jeffrey Hrunka
- 22 hours ago
- 3 min read
Updated: 5 hours ago
Jeffrey Hrunka - INDYCAR Contributor
Nikita Johnson was three seconds back from the lead with nine laps to go. All it took was lap traffic to change the complexion of the race, as Max Taylor utilized the traffic to catch and pass leader Alessandro de Tullio, but an advantageous move by both drivers in turn 16 gave Johnson the victory.
"It's great to win again. I can't thank the team enough for everything they've done,” Johnson said. “When I saw those lapped cars, I knew something was going to happen, some type of chaos. Yeah, it happened. I was thankful to get through it because I was passing one of the lapped cars at the same time while they're both on either end of the track."
After earning pole position in both races, Alessandro de Tullio, driver of the A.J. Foyt Racing No.14, led the opening 26 laps off the start ahead of Max Taylor, driver of the Andretti Global No.28, who remained on his gearbox until they caught the lap traffic.
Once Tullio caught the Chip Ganassi Racing duo of James Roe, driver of the No. 8 and Carson Etter, driver of the No. 11, who were battling for 24th, he stagnated, which allowed Taylor to catch and take a lunge. The back-and-forth battle through the second half of the lap ended in contact from Taylor into Tullio in Turn 16.
A stop-and-go penalty for avoidable contact for Taylor, combined with Tullio going a lap down as a result of the contact, paved the way for Johnson to take the lead and hold it on the forthcoming restart.
With the win, rookie Nikita Johnson, driver of the Cape Motorsports No.21, took over the points lead. He's now 28 points ahead of Tymek Kucharczyk, driver of the HMD Motorsports No. 71, and 29 points ahead of former championship-leader Max Taylor, driver of the Andretti Global No.28.
HMD Motorsports rookies Enzo Fittipaldi, driver of the No.67 and Tymek Kucharczyk, driver of the No.71, rounded out the podium places. The results marked the second consecutive podium for Fittipaldi and the third-straight third-place finish for Kucharczyk this season.
"All of these guys have done post-season testing, it's their third or fourth year driving INDY NXT. I [just] came here. Yesterday was my first-ever outing," Kucharczyk said. "It's just more about putting everything together, but if we're able to start so strongly with a triple P3 finish, I think it just shows that we'll get there. We'll get the win or higher places [and] pole positions."
Aside from the incident between Taylor and Tullio, there was only one other full-course yellow on the racetrack, brought out because of contact between Cusick, Morgan Motorsports driver JM Correa and Andretti Global drivers Josh Pierson and Seb Murray. Pierson was a bystander in the incident, as Murray clipped his rear wheel, tearing off his right rear wheel and leaving him stranded in turn six after Murray made contact with Correa in turn five.
INDY NXT SERIES Firestone Grand Prix of Alabama Results (Race 1):
Nikita Johnson #21 (R) - (WINNER)
Enzo Fittipaldi #67 (R) -0.769s
Tymek Kucharczyk #71 (R) -1.136s
Max Garcia #12 (R) -3.095s
Myles Rowe #99 -4.144s
Jordan Missig #48 -4.625s
Ricardo Escotto #76 -7.091s
Bryce Aron #9 -7.936s
Jack Beeton #45 -8.379s
Nicolas Stati #15 -9.805s
JM Correa #68 -10.518s
Lochie Hughes #26 -12.412s
Alexander Koreiba #75 -13.983s
Nicholas Monteiro #4 -13.982s
Matteo Nannini #20 -14.898s
Colin Kaminsky #57 -15.36s
Neils Koolen #10 (R) 19.437s
Salvador de Alba #17 -19.614s
Max Taylor #28 -1:08.709s
Alessandro de Tullio #14 -1 lap down
Carson Etter #11 -1 lap down
Seb Murray #27 -1 lap down
James Roe #8 -1 lap down
Josh Pierson #29 -35 laps down (DNF)
Tullio and Taylor will have another shot at the win, as the INDY NXT SERIES returns to action on Sunday, March 29, for the second race of its doubleheader at Barber Motorsports Park for the Firestone Grand Prix of Alabama on FS1 at 11:00 am EST.
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