St. Petersburg, FL (March 4, 2026) – The opening round of the 2026 INDY NXT by Firestone season has come and gone and proved to be a challenging weekend for the four-car armada of Abel Motorsports.
Finishing in the sixth position after starting seventh, Myles Rowe had a productive day but just didn’t have the outright pace to mix it up with the top runners.
“As always St. Pete was a great event, and the fan turnout just continues to impress at this race,” exclaimed Myles Rowe.
“I’m happy with our strong points weekend, we obviously would like to be higher up in the race results, but we know our mission is a year long battle for the championship. It was good to get back into race rhythm with the 99 crew, and I’m excited to take this momentum on to Arlington next week.” Said Rowe.
Sixteen-year-old Florida native, Max Garcia, made his official debut in the INDY NXT series with his run to 12th place, and was glad to complete all 42 laps of competition.
“I’m very happy to have completed every lap of the race, we may not have ended up where we need to be but I will take those laps of experience whenever I can get them,” said Garcia.
Balancing the pressures of being a high-school student while also competing as a full-time INDY NXT driver is a challenge that Garcia is used to and thrives in.
“I’m going to head back to Miami and go to school during our week off to make up some tests, but really all of my teachers at Christopher Columbus High School are great and super understanding of my “job” and always do what they can to work with me on assignments.”
Fighting adversity right at the command to fire engines, series veteran Jordan Missig knew better than to give up and kept his head down to move from the 24th position at the drop of the green flag all the way up to 14th. Missig was relocated to the tail of the field after having to pit on the pace lap to change steering wheels.
“We didn’t have the start to the race that we had hoped for or planned for, but a weird issue with our steering wheel meant I had to come down the pit lane on the pace lap to swap out for my backup steering wheel forcing us to start 24th on the grid. We had an amazing car, and that showed with us driving back up through the field to 14th, so just proud of the ‘no give up’ attitude on the No. 48 car,” said Jordan Missig.
“The car all weekend was solid, and each session we just kept fine tuning and making it better and I really think that showed in the race with how we were able to carve our way back up to 14th. I’m really excited to see what we can accomplish at Arlington.” Said Missig.
While his 15th place finish isn’t reflective of the effort that Colin Kaminsky and his crew put in, completing every lap was beneficial as Kaminsky gets back in the swing of INDY NXT competition.
“My first race back in INDY NXT is complete. I’m disappointed with our on-track result given my experience around here, but I intend to use that to fuel our efforts for where we need to be as a team,” said Kaminsky.
“That being said, finishing every lap this weekend was crucial for me and we accomplished that. Achieving this refreshed my understanding of what will be required to run at the front and I’m confident that we can do that as early as next week’s race in Arlington. The No. 57 crew and the entire Abel Motorsports team worked as hard as we could to figure out the car as the weekend went on and I’m proud of our combined effort. It’s a long season ahead and we will get better every week.” Exclaimed Kaminsky.
The championship rolls on to the highly anticipated inaugural, Grand Prix of Arlington on March 15th. The weekend kicks off on Friday March 13th with practice one, followed by practice two and qualifying on Saturday March 14th. Live coverage of the INDY NXT Grand Prix of Arlington begins at 10:00am ET on FOX Sports 1. Keep up to date with all things Abel Motorsports by following the team on social media, @abelmotorsports, or by visiting www.abelmotorsports.com
About Abel Motorsports: Abel Motorsports Team Principal Bill Abel began racing motocross in 1972, earning numerous championship titles as he continued the family motorsports tradition. In 2015, Abel Motorsports was launched starting in the USF2000 series and building their way up the junior open-wheel ladder. Abel Motorsports was able to capture the inaugural Formula Regional Americas Championship with driver Kyle Kirkwood.
Today, Abel Motorsports is a leading force in the INDY NXT by Firestone Championship, the official development series of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, where the team operates as a multi-car organization focused on the future. 2024 was a breakout season for Abel Motorsports scoring three wins, three pole positions, and 12 podiums on their way to second in the entrant championship.
Always looking towards the future, Abel Motorsports made their foray into the NTT INDYCAR SERIES in 2023 as the team entered the 107th running of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing, the Indianapolis 500 with driver RC Enerson.