Five-time IndyCar Series champion Alex Palou stepped into unfamiliar territory on Friday, but the end result looked remarkably familiar.
Climbing into an Indy NXT car for the very first time, Palou paced a 22-car field at the annual Chris Griffis Memorial Test on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. Driving the #11 Chip Ganassi Racing entry on an overcast, chilly day in Central Indiana, Palou posted the day's fastest lap at 1 minute, 14.5050 seconds around the 2.439-mile, 14-turn layout. The test honors the memory of Chris Griffis, the former Schmidt Peterson Motorsports team manager who passed away suddenly in September 2011.
For Palou, setting the top time came as a genuine surprise given his complete lack of prior experience in the machinery.
“Feels strange, but it feels good,” Palou said. “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.”
The Leading Contenders
Tymek Kucharczyk, driving the #71 HMD Motorsports machine, finished second on the charts with a lap of 1m14.8209s. The Polish driver enjoyed a standout rookie campaign, finishing third in the championship standings this past season with two victories – including a win on this road course on May 9 and a season-finale triumph on Sept. 6 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
Max Taylor rounded out the top three in the #28 Andretti Global entry with a time of 1m14.8453s. Kucharczyk and Taylor were the highest-finishing drivers from the 2026 championship standings to participate in Friday's test, with Taylor having finished fourth last season in the same ride.
Max Garcia, who became the second-youngest winner in Indy NXT history with his Aug. 30 victory at the Milwaukee Mile, finished fourth with a lap of 1m14.9443s while testing for HMD Motorsports after competing for Abel Motorsports during his rookie season. Jack Beeton rounded out the top five with a lap of 1m14.9577s, having competed for HMD Motorsports this past season while testing the #29 Andretti Global entry.
A Unique Learning Experience
When Chip Ganassi Racing floated the idea of an Indy NXT test run during the 2026 season, Palou didn't hesitate to jump at the opportunity.
“I love driving cars, any kind of car,” Palou said. “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, 100 percent.”
One of Palou’s key points of reference was teammate Alessandro de Tullio, whose progress he had followed throughout the 2026 season. De Tullio recorded two wins and eight poles during his rookie season with AJ Foyt Racing, and Friday marked his first day testing with Chip Ganassi Racing, where he finished sixth quickest with a lap of 1m15.0009s.
“I think we have an incredible reference in our team with de Tullio,” Palou said. “He's been so fast all year, and I've been following him a lot.”
The 22 cars combined to complete 1,573 laps during the test session.
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