INDY NXT SERIES: GRAND PRIX OF ARLINGTON

March 15, 2026

Enzo Fittipaldi

Tymek Kucharczyk

Max Taylor

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Max Taylor is the champion today. First win of the season. Second podium in two races. Enzo Fittipaldi also joins us. First podium in INDY NXT for Enzo. Also joining us Tymek Kucharczyk, second straight third-place finish for Tymek.

Max, your thoughts on kind of a chaotic win, but one I know you are pleased to get here.

MAX TAYLOR: No, definitely a chaotic race. A lot of fun out there. This track makes for really good racing. It was fun making some moves out there, biding my time when I knew I needed to. Let these guys race a bit, just being patient. I took my opportunity when I made the pass on Tymek and then the pass on Enzo. I was able to really show my pace then.

THE MODERATOR: Your thoughts as all the scrapping was going on.

MAX TAYLOR: Yeah, no, I knew it was going to be a bit of a chaotic race going into it since it was shortened. I was sort of being patient, letting these guys race, saving my push to pass. When I saw the opportunity, I was able to take it on both of them.

Yeah, I mean, we missed the setup yesterday in qualifying, but we definitely didn't miss it today. It was a really, really good race.

THE MODERATOR: Enzo, your thoughts. I'm sure maybe a little disappointment finishing second. But not the 17th you had in St. Pete.

ENZO FITTIPALDI: Yeah, it was a very interesting race for us. I mean, a lot of overtaking. I think I was leading most of the race. Yeah, I was definitely I think just struggling a lot in turn 10. They would gain a lot on me there.

I think that's something that we need to work on with our setup and stuff, especially our car over the bumps. We need to make a step forward there, which I'm sure we will.

Yeah, I think our pace today was all right. Definitely Max was the fastest on track. I think that safety car at the end definitely didn't help us. I just didn't feel as quick after the safety car. Just felt like I had a bit less grip out there. Definitely was not great for us, the safety car.

Yeah, still at the end it was a good race. Finished P2. I think now we have good momentum going into Barber.

THE MODERATOR: Tymek, second straight podium to start 2026. Your thoughts on getting it done, the scrap you were involved in.

TYMEK KUCHARCZYK: Yeah, interesting race. You can see by my face I'm very happy (smiling).

I'm very disappointed, I'm frustrated. I'm not here to come in third. We had a chance to win this race and I blew it.

It's racing at the end of the day. I had fun inside the car. I think the track and car combination allows you to overtake, to battle. I think we gave some emotions to the fans this race. That was fun.

But yeah, at the end of the day quite a bit difficult race for me. We had so much more pace than Enzo. Yeah, we didn't maximize it. A bit unhappy.

THE MODERATOR: We'll open it up for questions.

Q. Max, talk about the comfort level in trying to pull off a pass like that.

MAX TAYLOR: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I was saving some of my push to pass. I was good into turn 10. I was able to get really close to Enzo. Yeah, going into turn 12, I think he made a little mistake. I was a bit caught off guard by it as well. We were probably pretty close to contact there. It was really close racing.

He made the small mistake. I was able to capitalize on it. It's so much fun racing these cars around a street circuit here. It was really fun to make the move there.

Yeah, I think the battling we had was super strong out there. I think it was nice fighting. I really enjoy that, close racing.

I had some really good battles with Tymek. I think, yeah, if he had a lot more pace, he could have been able to get past me, but I don't think that was the case. We had a good overtake out of 12. I was able to I think catch him off guard there when he went for a lunge. That was pretty fun.

As well with Max, he had a bit more pace than us, so it was difficult to keep him behind. He capitalized very well on a mistake into turn 12 that I made, slight lockup on the front right. He got past us.

I think he deserved the win. He was definitely much quicker today.

Q. Tymek, the pass that Max did on turn 14, did it surprise you?

TYMEK KUCHARCZYK: It was late. I think Max could tell how close it was to contact with Enzo in that last corner. It was a fair move. If I was his place, I would do exactly the same thing. No, it was fair and square. He was late. We're not here to be sat behind another driver and wait for them to crash into the wall.

Q. Did it surprise you at all?

TYMEK KUCHARCZYK: Not really, no. I knew, like, Enzo was pretty close. I didn't really want to risk going inside too early. But at the same time I thought Max was quite a bit back. He probably used push to pass, as well, to close the gap.

Yeah, I think it surprised me more the fact that the speed we carried into the corner was quite high. I had couple of gear issues, and I kept missing gears, so on, so I couldn't put first gear.

But no, it was fair and square. I should have expect that move. But the pass was good, yeah.

Q. Max, talk us through your mentality this race, it being shortened. That pass you made on Tymek, how you actually managed to get it executed.

MAX TAYLOR: Yeah, I mean, that was definitely probably the move of my career. It was quite a late send. Squeezed me a little bit, got me onto the dirt. It was a good move. I knew I had to commit. At some point I had to overtake him. I just had the opportunity there. I sent it, you know?

Q. Enzo, obviously St. Pete was particularly tough. This weekend more competitive. How have you found the adaptation to INDY NXT?

ENZO FITTIPALDI: I think I adapted super quickly with the car. St. Pete was unfortunate. I think we would have been up there. Just, yeah, silly mistake. It happens. That cost us the race weekend there.

Yeah, happy to come here and bounce back, have a great qualifying yesterday, super close to pole. I think if the red flag didn't come out yesterday, our session would have been definitely quicker.

But yeah, happy overall to bounce back so quickly from a difficult weekend at St. Pete.

Q. Tymek, it's a strong start with a couple of podiums. Clearly you feel dissatisfied. How do you feel going into the coming races you can make that jump?

TYMEK KUCHARCZYK: I just (indiscernible) really. The team has done an amazing job this weekend. The car was pretty much spot on for most of the weekend. We should have made a little bit more adjustment in the quallie.

All in all the car felt good. Also during the race I felt pretty strong. So it's just about putting everything together.

As I said, St. Pete, I was pretty much in my comfort zone. I finished third over there. I finished third. Yeah, I was much closer to the limit. I was feeling confident in the car. I just feel like I should have done better job this weekend.

Well, that's a good lesson for the next weekends because I know my potential is really high. I know the team really supports me. I'll aim for just a little bit more, hopefully get that top spot.

Q. Tymek, given the huge challenge you have moving to the U.S. and changing the series, is there a part of you that still is happy about the fact that you can be twice on the podium and actually feel there was so much more on the table?

TYMEK KUCHARCZYK: Yeah, absolutely. I'm happy to prove the fact that wherever I go, whatever series I go in, I'm able to fight at the front. Another race weekend and a top-three finish. I can be proud of that obviously.

I'm a racer. I want to win. Winning is the only thing that interests me. So yeah, that's why I'm unsatisfied with today's result. P3 is great for an average driver, but I don't feel myself as an average driver. Yeah, just got to bring it on for the next weekend and do better job.

Q. Do you feel there is already a realistic potential to aim for the title in your first season?

TYMEK KUCHARCZYK: Let's see. I don't really want to think about it now. I know I got to focus race weekend by race weekend. If I do a good enough job, then yeah, we'll have a chance. We have speed, we have potential. But it's not something I should be really worry about at round two.

Let's see. Yeah, I just go race by race. Anything can happen. The championship is long. You have to be consistent.

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations, guys. We'll see you at Barber Motorsports Park.