Don’t tell the principal, but Max Garcia may have earned the right to skip school Monday after his stirring first career INDY NXT by Firestone victory Sunday at the Milwaukee Mile.
Series rookie Garcia earned his first win in his 15th career start in the INDYCAR development series, driving his No. 12 Abel Motorsports machine under the checkered flag .9430 of a second ahead of the No. 68 Cusick Morgan Motorsports car of JM Correa, who also earned a career-best finish.
It’s still uncertain whether Garcia, 17, will be in homeroom Monday morning at Christopher Columbus High School in Miami, where he just started his senior year.
“Unbelievable,” Garcia said. “It’s been such a tough year for all of us at Abel. We knew we had a good oval package. We knew we set the car up more for the race, and we knew in practice we could move through cars. It was all about timing it right and then getting through everyone.
“I’m trying to convince my mom not to let me go to school. Surely, this is something to celebrate. A day off would be nice, right?”
Rookie Jack Beeton continued his strong second half of the season by finishing third in the No. 45 HMD Motorsports machine, earning his third podium result in the last five races.
Andretti Global’s Max Taylor finished fourth in the No. 28 Susan G. Komen entry, while Nikita Johnson rounded out the top five in the No. 21 Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR car and took the lead in a sizzling championship fight with two races remaining.