INDY NXT SERIES: INDIANAPOLIS GRAND PRIX RACE 2

May 9, 2026

Enzo Fittipaldi

Tymek Kucharczyk

Max Taylor

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon. Wrapping up INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix Race No. 2 today. Won today by Tymek Kucharczyk, who led all 30 laps in the No. 71 HMD Motorsports car. He started fifth. It's his first win of the season, first career win in INDY NXT by Firestone, sixth top 5 of the season as well. He jumps up to second in the championship. Finishes this weekend with a fourth and a win here today.

Max Taylor is second in the 28 Susan G. Komen car. Fourth podium of the season. Finished the weekend with a fifth and second place finish. He's 14 points out of the championship.

Enzo Fittipaldi in the 67 HMD Motorsports car. Started in seventh today. Finished the weekend with a win and a podium here in Race 2. Just 16 points now out of the 2026 INDY NXT by Firestone championship.

Tymek, congratulations. We'll start with you. How does it feel to get a win in this series?

TYMEK KUCHARCZYK: Absolutely amazing. To do it here at IMS is absolutely special. I remember testing here for the first time in November, and my engineer told me, man, we're going to win some races next year if you do this serious.

It's pretty special that it happened here. Obviously I have a lot of Polish fans as well. So a cool experience.

THE MODERATOR: Tell us about that opening lap, getting the lead.

TYMEK KUCHARCZYK: I just braked in my normal spot like I thought, and all of the cars in front appeared to overshoot the corner, and I just made use of that. Didn't expect myself to jump into P-1. I knew I would charge forward and try to maximize what I can on lap 1, lap 2, because these are pretty much the only real opportunities to overtake.

Yeah, it was quite lucky, but at the same time, you have to help your laps. Really grateful to end up in the position where I should, then it was just to manage the race, manage the gap. We had a pretty cool scrap with Max for a couple of laps.

Yeah, at the end it was just trying to maintain the gap, trying to maintain the pace.

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations. Max, finished the weekend with a fifth and a second, so a couple of top 5s coming out of the IMS Road Course. From your perspective, what happened there in the opening lap on turn 1?

MAX TAYLOR: I think I broke too late. Maybe I broke a bit early and then let off the brake. Yeah, I messed it up. Something to analyze and look over.

I tried a few runs at Tymek. We had some good -- I mean, really hard, but I'd say fair racing. Yeah, I just kept the pressure on. It's very difficult to pass after first few laps even if you have more pace, which I think we did, even with the tire wear and stuff.

I think it goes to show how competitive this series is. These guys are pretty on it, and the championship's close.

Good points this weekend. So a lot to analyze and take back.

THE MODERATOR: This championship is super close among the top four. All are separated by just 16 points. You look at the different winners we've had here so far, it's a crazy tight championship.

Enzo Fittipaldi is a part of that. Finishing the podium sweep, win yesterday, third today. Your thoughts on the podium here at IMS?

ENZO FITTIPALDI: Super happy. We started seventh, and I was able to make, I think, four overtakes there in turn 1 and 2. I think I had a good run because they had run wide, and I think I was on the outside of Taylor, I think it was. Other than that, it was a very good start. I was just super happy with the start.

Coming out in third after lap 1 was very good. Then I knew from that point on it was just about managing because I knew they had started with new tires and I was on used, the qualifying tires. I knew it was going to be a difficult race, and it was. It was super difficult.

Towards the end I had really no more rear tires. Just defending my race into the last laps.

THE MODERATOR: I was going to ask you, you had the 26 and 14 stacked up behind you there. Difficult to manage those guys back there?

ENZO FITTIPALDI: Yeah, it was very difficult. I know I'm good. Race craft-wise, I know I'm very strong, so defending, overtaking, I know I execute very well, and I did my job, I think, very well this race in defending my position because they had more more pace than me.

Lochie was on new tires. I'm not sure about de Tullio. But I was just managing there at the end. I really had no more rear tires.

Yeah, I was very happy with third position there because I think seven or eight laps to go, I had only 14 seconds of Push to Pass, and the guys behind me had like 30 or 40. It's going to be difficult to hold onto third, and I was able to hold onto it, and it was a great fight there at the end. Nice, clean racing.

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations on the podium sweep here at IMS. Any questions?

Q. Tymek, congratulations. Two questions for you. Representing your country Poland here internationally in America, how big is the media following in your country? Is there interest in racing in America, INDY NXT, INDYCAR?

TYMEK KUCHARCZYK: Obviously as the first Pole racing here, it's pretty new. We're off to a fresh start. I have lots of support from Poland back in Poland, and also here in America we have a big, big Polish community in the U.S. It's pretty cool to see all the Polish flags around the truck and to see them cheering for me.

It's an important factor as well for a driver to have, let's say, big back, big following, big fan base. I'm really grateful for that.

It's a cool factor, but at the same time, when you're in a race car, you've just got to focus on racing. We drop everything what's going on with the media stuff and just focus on winning races.

Q. Enzo, for you, you said you were starting the race on used tires. Is there a big difference to new tires? Especially we had rain yesterday in the morning. Could you feel that the car will behave different? Was the grip level different than it was before the rain came down?

ENZO FITTIPALDI: I think there is a big difference. Obviously we decided to use the new tires yesterday, which I think paid off for me. We got the win. We knew it was a compromise. Some drivers decided not to use it and use it in today's race.

I just knew going into this race my expectations weren't as high as they were yesterday. So just basically coming home with a P-3, yeah, I was the best on the used tires there for the race. I think I did a strong job.

There is a bit of difference, I think especially on the first laps. The new tires have a bit of a peak, and then it kind of stabilizes. I think just the last like five, six laps, you just have a bit more tire life, especially on the rear.

With the used tires, I think -- I think de Tullio was also on used tires, and we were struggling quite a lot compared to Lochie, which was charging forward. I had to do quite a lot of adjustments with the bias, with the bars to help. There wasn't much I could do. I was fully maxed out on the bars.

I was just doing my best and defending the best way I could.

Q. Can you win the race with used tires?

ENZO FITTIPALDI: Of course. You can win a race even with wet tires and it's slick. If no one starts the race, you win. You can win any race, you know what I mean? If the two of them would have crashed, then I would have won. It doesn't make that much, just a tire that has like seven or eight more laps.

THE MODERATOR: Wolfgang, on your first question, have you noticed the film crew here from Poland? They're here for Tymek. It shows you how big the sport is certainly in Poland.

Q. Congratulations, everybody. Tymek, just starting off with you. We saw you had quite a big lockup towards the end there. Did you feel anything different after the lockup? Were you nervous you could lose a bit of pace after that? Just tell us what you were thinking and the result after.

TYMEK KUCHARCZYK: I think I hit a bump into T-1, and that's when I had a big lockup pretty much on the initial peak of the brakes. I had quite a lot of vibrations, and my right tire was for sure not as good as my left tire, which made it quite difficult, especially for the last corner coming out on the back straight.

To be fair, yeah, something I had to manage. Luckily for me, I didn't keep locking to stay on. I adjusted the rear bar -- sorry. I adjusted the brake but also the rear a bit. From then on, it was pretty okay. It was just a bit uncomfortable to drive.

I think it was maybe also for like my mind to notice that, okay, I made a mistake. Now I've got to really switch on and lock in and try to do as least mistakes as I can.

Q. We've seen a lot of drivers who move over from Europe to America and find a lot of success on the IMS Road Course. They say it compares more to the tracks in Europe compared to some of the other tracks. Is that something you agree with? If so, why is it so similar to European tracks?

TYMEK KUCHARCZYK: I think that's pretty much true. Pretty much all of the European style tracks we have on the calendar is pretty smooth. The curves are quite low most of the time. The grip level is quite high.

So it is, let's say, a bit more natural for us Europeans to jump in and be on it. At the same time, it's one of the few tracks I go to test last year -- well, pretty much the only track. So coming into this weekend, I knew what to expect. I knew what I have to do to be quick. So that was quite a big help.

Yeah, other than that, let's say the road course, Indy Road Course is just more type of track that is natural to go out and just push to its limits, and you know what to expect. Yeah, that's more European style, I would say.

Q. Max, obviously you lost the lead there at the start, but it seemed like you had a lot of pace, especially the opening few laps. Kind of reflecting on the race, is there anything you think you could have done differently to get a win today, or was it really lost at the start and there's no chance after that?

MAX TAYLOR: Yeah, it's deja vu over and over again. St. Pete, messed up the start, lost the lead, sat in second the whole race with more pace. And qualified P-2 at Barber, sat in second at both the races.

I think our pace is really good. I think, if I was out in front, I would have won the race if I did the start better. It's just going to be the little things that we need to improve on, that I need to improve on.

Big analyzing month for the next few weeks until Detroit, but our pace is really good. I have a lot of confidence in my team. Just need to fix all the little things. These weekends will start to come together a lot more, and we'll be winning a lot more, I think.

Q. Tymek, obviously for you, just congrats on behalf of the whole country here in Poland. Was that the biggest pressure you ever felt inside a racing car given the venue, given the series, given the win you've been waiting for? And how were you dealing with that? Do you actually like to be the one who is being hunted?

TYMEK KUCHARCZYK: I didn't hear quite everything, but I guess it's about the pressure from Max? So I'm just going to answer that. It's pretty obvious that Max was really, really quick from lap 1. We both had new tires. I knew about it. We pretty much cleared the rest of the field. So it was just between both of us.

Yeah, there was obviously quite a bit of a pressure. I knew I had to focus on my exits. So every time it was just about braking line and preparing the exit. Then obviously the Push to Pass is really important for us, and I tried to save it as much as I can.

Yeah, it was quite long of a race for me, but at the same time, I felt like I have pretty much everything under control. The first few laps are obviously a bit tricky with how close you can stay when the tires are still pretty fresh, pretty grippy. Later on it was just about managing my exits, managing my tires. Yeah, just kept the pressure on.

I never felt like after lap 3, lap 4 I was under very big pressure. I just knew exactly what I have to do.

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations, guys, on what was a pretty exciting weekend of racing for INDY NXT by Firestone. We'll see you in a couple weeks on the streets of Detroit.

Again, Tymek Kucharczyk, Max Taylor, Enzo Fittipaldi wrapping up the podium here in Race No. 2.