Photo credit: Travis Hinkle | Penske Entertainment

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Coming fresh off of a USF Pro 2000 title, Andretti’s Lochie Hughes had the chance to continue his illustrious history of great finishes on the Streets of St. Petersburg on Sunday morning, and he sure did.

Hughes finished second in his first career Indy NXT race, only behind teammate Dennis Hauger. While it was Hauger’s first race at the track, Hughes has a long and successful history at the circuit.

In five races between his time in USF2000, USF Pro 2000, and now Indy NXT, Hughes has never finished off the podium. Not once. His second-place finish was his fourth finish of second or better at a track which he has dominated at throughout the course of his career.

Hughes joked that the “balls to the wall” nature of being on a street circuit was one of the reasons he enjoys racing on them, and commented on how fun the atmosphere surrounding them was.

“So far over here in the U.S., I’ve loved the street courses,” Hughes said. “You can’t test here and, yeah, it’s just really nice here.”

The race marks his first for Andretti after being a part of a Turn 3 Motorsport team where he took a confident lead early in the season in the USF Pro 2000 points table following his strong performance in 2024 at this very track, only to not look back for the rest of the year.

However, today was the lengthiest race Hughes had undergone in his whole career. While USF2000 and USF Pro 2000 races will often last for 20-25 laps around the circuit, the 45-lap Indy NXT race presented the Australian a new challenge.

As the season progresses, it’s something Hughes looks forward to continuing to adapt to.

“Just to be racing for that long was a big learning curve,” Hughes said. “Feeling what the tires do for that long and these big cars are very different in the way you drive them.”