INDY NXT by Firestone has more than a month between its last event, a doubleheader on March 27-29 at Barber Motorsports Park, and the next event, a twinbill May 8-9 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

So, teams are taking advantage of the gap to test, with three group tests this month on ovals. The first took place April 2 at Nashville Superspeedway, with another April 14-15 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and another April 22 at World Wide Technology Raceway.

It’s time for some itemized deductions from the session on the egg-shaped, 1.25-mile oval just across the Mississippi River from St. Louis.

Rowe Rules Again on Oval

It’s safe to say Myles Rowe is the master of ovals among this year’s INDY NXT by Firestone field. The results back it up.

Rowe (photo, top) earned his first two victories in the INDYCAR development series last season on ovals at Iowa and Nashville, winning 50 percent of the four circle-track races last season. He also led the group test April 2 at Nashville and proved his oval credentials yet again April 22 by pacing the WWTR test.

His best lap at WWTR was 162.636 mph in the No. 99 Abel Motorsports with Force Indy car, edging Lochie Hughes, second at 162.076 in the No. 26 Andretti Global machine.

“Satisfied with the result,” Rowe said. “Just looking forward to continuing that kind of progress when we get to the race weekend. We just need to get the same positive attributes throughout a weekend we have with our oval car when we’re in our road course car.”

There are three oval races on the 2026 schedule, and it’s not a stretch to suggest Rowe could sweep them. Wins or podium finishes at WWTR (June 7), Nashville (July 19) and the Milwaukee Mile (Aug. 30) could help Rowe reverse a sluggish start to his third season in the series.

Rowe entered 2026 as a championship favorite after placing fourth in last year’s standings. But he has struggled in the first four races, with a best finish of fifth in the first race of the Barber doubleheader. He fell to ninth in the standings after retiring from the second race at Barber in 23rd place.

Lochie Hughes

Hughes Comes Forward

Like Rowe, Lochie Hughes is another series veteran dealing with a tough start to the season who hopes a strong performance at this test can boost the rest of his season.

Hughes (photo, above) finished third in the standings as a rookie in 2025 and was the top returning driver this year after champion Dennis Hauger and runner-up Caio Collet earned seats in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES for this season.

But Hughes’ season has been challenging, with a best finish of fifth, twice. His Barber weekend was a nightmare, with results of 12th and 16th dropping him to seventh in the standings.

It’s not surprising, though, that Hughes was fast at WWTR. He earned his second career INDY NXT win there last June, cruising to victory by 4.3521 seconds, with Rowe finishing second. That strength continued at this test, as his runner-up speed of 162.076 was just behind Rowe’s 162.636 and nearly 1 mph faster than his closest pursuer, rookie Alessandro de Tullio, third at 161.082 in the No. 14 AJ Foyt Racing machine.

Hughes might be the happiest driver in the INDY NXT paddock to see WWTR this June.

Tricky Track Bites Hard

WWTR is arguably the most challenging of the three ovals on the schedule this season due to its asymmetrical shape, with the radius of Turns 1 and 2 much tighter than in Turns 3 and 4. That odd-ball shape leads to setup compromises, as what’s needed to be fast in the first two corners differs from that in the last two.

That challenge can cause cars to step up unexpectedly, with the usual carbon fiber-crunching results.

Four drivers made contact with the walls April 22 at Gateway: Niels Koolen (No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing), JM Correa (No. 68 Cusick Morgan Motorsports), Salvador de Alba (No. 17 HMD Motorsports) and Max Taylor (No. 28 Andretti Global). None of the drivers were hurt.

Tymek Kucharczyk

Ovals Could Shake Standings

Three of the top five drivers in the standings, leader Nikita Johnson, second-place Taylor and fourth-place Enzo Fittipaldi all were outside the top 10 of the speed charts.

Taylor was 11th at 160.227 in the No. 28 Susan G. Komen car, Johnson 12th at 160.105 in the No. 21 Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR machine and Fittipaldi 16th out of 22 cars at 159.887 in the No. 67 HMD Motorsports entry.

The only two drivers in the top five in points in the same vicinity on the speed charts were rookies de Tullio and Tymek Kucharczyk. De Tullio was third at 161.082 in the No. 14 AJ Foyt Racing car, while Kucharczyk (photo, above) ended up fourth at 160.935 in the No. 71 HMD Motorsports entry.

There are three races on the schedule before the first oval race of the season June 7 at WWTR, so anything can happen to shuffle the standings. But there are a handful of drivers looking to climb the standings who were fast today at WWTR and are likely licking their chops to return.

Up Next

The series continues its break until the next race Friday, May 8 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. It’s the second of five doubleheader events this season for INDY NXT by Firestone, as the second race will take place Saturday, May 9 on the 14-turn, 2.439 mile road course.