Enzo Fittipaldi leads every lap in Mid-Ohio Indy NXT win

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Enzo Fittipaldi went flag-to-flag from pole to win the opening race of the doubleheader weekend at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

The 24-year-old Brazilian-American led all 35 laps in his #67 HMD Motorsports entry, taking the checkered flag by 1.9003s over teammate Tymek Kucharczyk at the 2.258-mile, 13-turn natural-terrain road course. It marks Fittipaldi’s third win of the season. 

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Additionally, it was a 1-4 sweep by HMD Motorsports with Jack Beeton and Salvador de Alba ending up third and fourth, respectively. 

“It was absolutely amazing,” Fittipaldi said. “We had a great drive out there. Just super happy. The car was super quick. It’s a one, two, three, four for HMD, that’s absolutely amazing, and so happy for them. They deserve it. They’re an amazing team to work with and just super happy about the race today.”

The championship picture shifted once more following the 11th of 17 rounds, with Kucharczyk taking the overall lead (384 points), with Fittipaldi moving into second (-7), and Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR’s Nikita Johnson, who came in as the leader, falling to third (-8) after finishing seventh in the race.  


The Race

Fittipaldi, on pole for the first time in his Indy NXT career, led the field from the alternate start as the field followed in line. 

The following lap, Andretti Global’s Max Taylor was battling with Nikita Johnson for seventh but locked up and went off in Turn 2. Taylor managed to get back on track but fell to last.   

The caution came out on Lap 5 after Nicolas Stati (Cusick Morgan Motorsports) stopped at the exit of Turn 2; he was able to get rolling again without assistance. 

Fittipaldi led the field to the restart on Lap 7, while Kucharczyk pulled off an outside pass in Turn 4 around front-row starter Beeton and moved into second. 

By Lap 10, Fittipaldi held a 1.1s lead over Kucharczyk. The driver on the move was Taylor, who already moved up to 15th after his earlier incident. 

Nolan Allaer (Juncos Hollinger Racing), making his first appearance of the season, brought out the second caution of the day after being stopped in the grass in Turn 6 on Lap 12. He reported having “no drive” over the radio. 

The third restart came on Lap 14, with Fittipaldi getting a good jump over Kucharczyk. The top 10 began to spread out, but there was a half-spin in Turn 2 by James Roe (Chip Ganassi Racing) following contact with Nicholas Monteiro (AJ Foyt Racing). Both drivers continued on and the race remained under green-flag conditions. 

Fittipaldi’s lead held at 1.3s over Kucharczyk by Lap 18. Fittipaldi’s lead widened to 1.7s three laps later. However, it would be wiped out after JM Correa (Cusick Morgan Motorsports) ended up stuck off course in Turn 12, momentarily, before getting back going but not before the caution returned. 

The restart with 11 laps to go saw another clean jump by Fittipaldi. 

Shortly after the restart, both Myles Rowe and Taylor continued to make their push forward, with the two drivers jumping up to 10th and 11th, respectively. 

On Lap 28, Fittipaldi held a 1.48s lead, while Rowe climbed up to ninth after starting 23rd. Taylor broke back into the final spot of the top 10. 

With four laps to go, Fittipaldi’s lead was 1.38s over Kucharczyk, with Beeton a distant third 4.5s back. 

Coming to the white flag, Fittipaldi was fresh off putting down his fastest lap of the race as he continued to have a massive gap back to Kucharczyk. In the end, Fittipaldi was untouchable all the way through the end and reset his fastest lap on the last lap. 

Read Also: Indy NXT race winner, Foyt Racing teammate disqualified for tire violation Dominant De Tullio wins Indy NXT Race 2 in one-lap shootout at Road America Lochie Hughes gives Andretti milestone win in Road America Indy NXT race Myles Rowe charges from last to first for historic Indy NXT win at WWTR

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