Enzo Fittipaldi snatched the Indy NXT Detroit Grand Prix win on a caution‑filled, timed finale, turning a damaged HMD Motorsports car into a race‑ending leader.
Race dynamics and early chaos
At the alternate start, Alessandro de Tullio of AJ Foyt Racing was caught by a locked‑up Lochie Hughes, prompting a multi‑car incident that sent the field into the first yellow. Tymek Kucharczyk, who had qualified third, navigated the chaos and inherited the lead ahead of JM Correa and Fittipaldi.
Follow‑up penalties reshaped the order: Hughes received a 30‑second stop‑and‑hold for contact, Correa was hit with a drive‑through for an alleged avoidable collision, and Taylor was also penalised for jumping the restart. These sanctions dropped the affected drivers deep into the pack.
Mid‑race battles and the emergence of a frontrunner
By lap 9, Kucharczyk had built a 3.26‑second advantage over the field, but the margin narrowed to 1.5 seconds as Myles Rowe of Abel Motorsports surged through Turn 3, challenging the leader’s rear wing. Rowe’s momentum placed him within four‑tenths of the lead at lap 22.
A debris‑induced caution on lap 26 bunched the cars once more, setting up a decisive restart on lap 29. Rowe attempted an inside dive at Turn 3, both drivers ran wide, and Fittipaldi seized the moment, slipping through the opened gap to claim first place.
Final laps under caution
A second yellow on lap 31 followed Niels Koolen’s contact with the Turn 8 tire barrier, prompting officials to convert the event into a timed race. With just over ten minutes remaining, the field restarted on lap 34; Fittipaldi, despite a dangling front wing, held a 0.7‑second lead over Rowe and a 1.3‑second edge over Kucharczyk.
Max Taylor, who had climbed from 22nd to eighth, collided with the Turn 1 wall in the closing minutes, triggering a final caution that froze the results.
Podium finishers and championship implications
Rowe settled for second, while Kucharczyk completed the podium in third. Max Garcia rallied from 13th to fourth, and Seb Murray secured fifth for Andretti Global. The points table now shows Fittipaldi atop the championship with 266 points, seven ahead of Nikita Johnson, eight ahead of Kucharczyk, and a larger gap to Max Taylor and Lochie Hughes.
Looking ahead
Fittipaldi’s victory, earned on a compromised front nose and wing, underscores his ability to adapt under pressure and positions him as the driver to beat in the remaining Indy NXT rounds.
"