Myles Rowe Makes History with Last-to-First INDY NXT Win at WWTR

MADISON, Ill. – In a historic drive for the ages, Myles Rowe climbed from 24th and last on the starting grid Sunday to win the INDY NXT by Firestone race at World Wide Technology Raceway. The performance marked the longest climb to victory in the 40-year history of the INDYCAR development series.

Rowe drove his No. 99 Abel Motorsports with Force Indy machine to a 2.2081-second victory over rookie Alessandro de Tullio to claim his first win of the season and his third career victory, all coming on oval tracks. Josh Pierson secured a season-best third-place finish.

“Confidence is key in motorsports,” Rowe said. “The Abel Motorsports Force Indy guys, they really gave me a car today to have that kind of confidence to have a plan and to be able to execute it.”

Rowe was forced to start last after his qualifying times were disallowed on Saturday. He moved into the top 10 by Lap 19 of the 75-lap event, eventually making the decisive pass under Pierson exiting Turn 4 on Lap 47. The race set track records for the series with 229 on-track passes and 183 passes for position.

Rookie Nikita Johnson returned to the top of the championship standings after finishing seventh. He now leads previous leader Enzo Fittipaldi by two points.

INDY NXT at WWTR Race Results

Pos	SP	Car	Driver	Laps	Status	Pts
1	24	99	Myles Rowe	75	Running	53
2	2	14	Alessandro de Tullio (R)	75	Running	40
3	4	29	Josh Pierson	75	Running	36
4	7	10	Niels Koolen	75	Running	32
5	3	28	Max Taylor	75	Running	30
6	1	26	Lochie Hughes	75	Running	30
7	5	21	Nikita Johnson (R)	75	Running	26
8	16	12	Max Garcia (R)	75	Running	24
9	6	71	Tymek Kucharczyk (R)	75	Running	22
10	15	48	Jordan Missig	75	Running	20
11	8	45	Jack Beeton (R)	75	Running	19
12	10	27	Seb Murray	75	Running	18
13	23	67	Enzo Fittipaldi (R)	75	Running	17
14	13	68	JM Correa	75	Running	16
15	19	4	Nicholas Monteiro (R)	75	Running	15
16	22	11	Carson Etter (R)	75	Running	14
17	21	57	Colin Kaminsky	75	Running	13
18	14	8	James Roe	74	Running	12
19	18	76	Ricardo Escotto	74	Running	11
20	17	20	Matteo Nannini	68	Running	10
21	9	15	Yuven Sundaramoorthy	61	Contact	9
22	11	17	Salvador de Alba	60	Contact	8
23	12	9	Bryce Aron	5	Mechanical	7
24	20	75	Alexander Koreiba (R)	4	Contact	6

(R) – Denotes Rookie of the Year candidate.

Box Score: Race Statistics

Leader Summary

Drivers led the following number of laps during the 75-lap race:

• Myles Rowe: 29 laps
• Lochie Hughes: 26 laps
• Josh Pierson: 20 laps

Caution Summary

There were three full-course caution periods totaling 17 laps:

• Laps 5–11: Contact, Car 75 in Turn 4 (7 laps)
• Laps 54–57: Debris (4 laps)
• Laps 61–66: Contact, Cars 15 and 17 in Turn 2 (6 laps)

Penalty Summary

• Car 17: Avoidable Contact (Lap 75) – Pending

Next Event

The INDY NXT by Firestone season transitions to a road course doubleheader at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, with races scheduled for Saturday, June 20, and Sunday, June 21.