NXT Gen Notebook: Unlikely rookie Palou leads annual Indy NXT test at IMS
Newly crowned five-time IndyCar champion Álex Palou was the unlikely pace-setter in his first-ever outing in Indy NXT machinery in the annual Chris Griffis Memorial Test this week.
The Spaniard, who secured a four-peat of IndyCar titles this season, deputised in the No.11 Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR) machine for the single-day test on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. Regular driver Carson Etter is recovering from post-season surgery, having suffered a dislocated shoulder and torn labrum in an incident in Detroit in May.
“Feels strange but it feels good,” said Palou, who was a rookie again for one day on Friday. “Feels kind of strange to be a rookie but I’m a rookie. I’ve never been in this car before so I’m a rookie in this series. I think a lot of people think that it’s like other sports where you go down and it’s like you’re so much higher level. Here, it’s tough. I didn’t expect to be first.
“I love driving cars - any kind of car. Obviously it’s a bit different to what I’m used to but you learn so much. These kids are really, really fast in these cars but any track day is good. Obviously I wouldn’t do a race. But test day? One hundred percent.”
Palou paced the 22-car test with a 01:14.5050s quickest lap from 61 laps completed, ousting the first of the NXT regulars, Tymek Kucharczyk for HMD Motorsports, by 0.3159s on the 2.439-mile, 14-turn circuit. Kucharczyk completed the test in the same No.71 car in which he won twice and finished third in last season’s championship as a rookie.
The Polish driver, who took one of his victories on the Indianapolis road course in May, led a quintet of returning drivers, with Max Taylor, Max Garcia, Jack Beeton and Alessandro de Tullio all finishing the day, which started with wet conditions, within 0.18s of Kucharczyk.
Taylor was piloting the same No.28 car that powered him to fourth in the standings in 2026, joined by Beeton, who raced for HMD this year, in the Andretti Global stable in the No.29 machine. Garcia took to the No.6 machine for HMD, having completed his rookie season with Abel Motorsports, while de Tullio switched from AJ Foyt Racing to CGR for the test.
“I think we have an incredible reference in our team with de Tullio,” said Palou of the driver who won twice and took eight poles throughout his rookie 2026 campaign. “He’s been so fast all year and I’ve been following him a lot.”
The lead non-Palou rookie was this year’s USF Pro 2000 vice champion Leonardo Escorpioni for HMD in seventh, with the Brazilian driver having topped an 11-car evaluation test at the same venue last month. HMD’s lineup was completed by 17-year-old seventh-place Pro 2000 finisher Teddy Musella, who finished 20th in the order.
Two-time 2026 NXT race winner for Cape Motorsports powered by ECR, Matteo Nannini, was eighth for Foyt, ahead of test teammate Bart Harrison, who raced three times for Foyt allies HMD late in 2026, in ninth. Foyt fielded four cars for the test, with two-year veteran Seb Murray 12th and new Pro 2000 champion Jack Jeffers in 13th place.
The top 10 was completed by 2026 PREMA Racing FIA Formula 3 driver Jose Garfias, who was joined by Bryce Aron for the championship-winning Cape outfit. Aron, who has completed three seasons of NXT - including the last two with CGR - finished the test in 15th.
The fourth-quickest rookie was three-time F3 race winner and the driver currently seventh in the FIA Formula 2 standings with one victory, Martinius Stenshorne, in 11th for Andretti. G3 Argyros, who won three times and finished third in Pro 2000 points this year, completed Andretti’s lineup and concluded the test in 14th place.
Abel Motorsports’ best-placed driver was Sophia Flörsch, who raced once for HMD in 2025, in 16th place. Their former vice champion Jacob Abel, who surprisingly ended the 2026 season racing back with the NXT team, was 17th. Confirmed 2027 Abel addition from CGR, Niels Koolen, was 19th and former F2 and Super Formula driver Cem Bölükbaşı 21st.
With Aron and Koolen elsewhere, Etter injured and James Roe not participating, CGR fielded this year’s fifth-place Pro 2000 finisher Frankie Mossman and 2026 NXT rookie - from Juncos Hollinger Racing - Alexander Koreiba. The pair finished the test 18th and 22nd.
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