Kucharczyk wins finale, Johnson takes Indy NXT title

Tymek Kucharczyk got his revenge, and Nikita Johnson got the crown Sunday in the Indy NXT by Firestone season finale.

Kucharczyk ran away to victory in the second race of the Grand Prix of Monterey doubleheader in the No. 71 HMD Motorsports car one day after his title hopes in the IndyCar development series were ended when he was hit and spun by a rival on the first lap.

“Really proud of the work,” Kucharczyk said. “Everyone on the team did amazing. Big congrats to Nikita. What can I say? ‘What if’ if yesterday didn’t happen? But nevertheless, really proud of today. We maximized what we had.”

Johnson dodged a first-lap incident in today’s 30-lap race and cruised to a distant second place in the No. 21 Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR machine to clinch the season championship and an IndyCar Series career enhancement package. The Floridian becomes the youngest champion in series history at 18 years, 3 months and 12 days old.

He finished 29 points ahead of season runner-up Enzo Fittipaldi in the No. 67 HMD Motorsports entry to clinch the first Indy NXT championship for longtime junior open-wheel team Cape Motorsports, owned by brothers Dominic and Nicholas Cape.

Johnson's second place was enough to secure him the title. Travis Hinkle/Penske Entertainment

“It’s amazing,” Johnson said. “It’s good to finally show my emotions. I think a lot of people thought I was passionless, but I’m just emotionless when I drive, right? I just go out there and do the work. I’m happy that the work is done now, and I can finally go celebrate.”

Lochie Hughes rounded out the podium finishers on a sun-splashed California morning in the No. 26 Andretti Global entry.

Jacob Abel finished fourth in the No. 48 Abel Motorsports car, while Fittipaldi rounded out the top five.

For the second straight day, a first-lap incident was the major flashpoint of the race.

On Saturday, contact from Myles Rowe in the No. 99 Abel Motorsports with Force Indy machine sent Kucharczyk into a spin and to the bottom of the field on the first lap. He recovered to finish 10th, but his title hopes were over after entering the weekend third, 29 points behind leader Johnson.

In this race, Saturday winner Josh Pierson said he had an apparent mechanical malfunction while starting second that caused his No. 29 Starchive Andretti car to sputter on an upshift just past the flag stand. That hesitation led to contact from behind from the No. 12 Abel Motorsports machine of Milwaukee winner Max Garcia. Pierson’s car spun and collected the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing entry of Niels Koolen, and both cars careened into the gravel and were out of the race.

Johnson, who started fifth, avoided the melee that triggered the only caution period of the race and powered to second place for the only restart. Pole sitter Kucharczyk left no doubt about his intent on the restart on lap 5, pulling away immediately. The Polish rookie then inexorably drove away from the field, building a lead of nearly four seconds by lap 11, 5s by lap 15 and 7.3s by lap 24.

Kucharczyk then cruised to his second victory of his first season of racing in North America, as he also won in May on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. He ended up third in points, 34 behind champion Johnson, after leading all 30 laps today.

“I was pushing every lap,” Kucharczyk said. “I left nothing on the table. I’m really proud. It was an amazing year.”

After the restart, Johnson faced some pressure from Hughes. But Johnson managed the gap and showed the composed driving style that helped him earn nine podium finishes and top-10 results in all 17 races this season. He also was the only driver to complete all 656 laps this season.

“I’m happy that we got it done, and I can’t thank the Cape boys enough,” Johnson said. “They’ve always been in my corner the whole time. My whole family, everybody that supports us back home.”

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