Max Taylor backed up his preseason performance in the first practice session of the 2026 INDY NXT by Firestone season Friday at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, leading a 1-2-3 sweep for Andretti Global.

Connecticut native Taylor (photo, top), entering his first full season in the INDYCAR development series, topped the 45-minute session with a best lap of 1 minute, 5.0852 seconds in the No. 28 Susan G. Komen entry fielded by Andretti Global. That’s the same machine that Dennis Hauger drove to the INDY NXT championship last season before a promotion to the NTT INDYCAR SERIES season this year.

SEE: Practice Results

Taylor, who made six INDY NXT starts in 2025 amid a full-time effort in USF Pro 2000, led the INDY NXT Group Test last November at Barber Motorsports Park, was second fastest at the Chris Griffis Memorial Test in October on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course and ranked in the top two in all four sessions at a group test last month at Sebring International Raceway.

“A good first session,” Taylor said. “Always loved driving around this place. Missed it. It was a really good session working with team, developing the setup, fixing my driving, as well. A really good start to the weekend, and I’m excited to keep on attacking it.”

Josh Pierson

Series veteran and Andretti newcomer Josh Pierson (photo, above) was a distant second behind Taylor with a best lap of 1:05.5358 in the No. 29 Starchive Andretti entry. Second-year INDY NXT driver Seb Murray completed Andretti Global’s sweep of the top three spots with his best time of 1:05.5368 in the No. 27 Prosperity entry.

Myles Rowe was fourth at 1:05.5845 in the No. 99 Abel Motorsports with Force Indy car. Series rookie Enzo Fittipaldi, the grandson of two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Emerson Fittipaldi, rounded out the top five at 1:05.7017 in the No. 67 HMD Motorsports entry.

The session was slowed by two red flags.

Rookie Jack Beeton backed into the wall in Turn 10 in the No. 45 HMD Motorsports about 15 minutes into the session. The rear of the car was damaged, but Beeton was able to drive to the pits for repairs.

About 20 minutes later, Lochie Hughes nosed into the barrier in Turn 7 in the No. 26 Andretti Global entry. Hughes, the top returning driver this season in the series, drove to the pits without a front wing for a replacement.

Up next is another practice at 8:35 a.m. ET Saturday, followed by qualifying at 3:45 p.m. ET. FS1 will televise practice live, with qualifying on FS2. FOX One, the FOX Sports app and INDYCAR Radio, powered by OnlyBulls also will provide live coverage of both sessions.

The 45-lap race starts at 10 a.m. ET Sunday.