Lexington, OH (July 8, 2026) – A weekend of racing action and fireworks for the July Fourth holiday made for an awesome trip to Lexington Ohio and the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The fourth of five double-header weekends on the 2026 INDY NXT by Firestone calendar, Mid-Ohio threw everything at the teams from scorching heat to rain making the variables to manage even greater.
The weekend as a whole for Max Garcia was a positive, as the rookie found himself scoring a pair of top-10 finishes with a best result of seventh in race two. Garcia felt that the progression he and the No. 12 Abel Motorsports team have made is really starting to show dividends.
“This was our most complete weekend so far in this season. Our progression this season has been insane, and putting together two top-10 finishes proves the work is starting to pay off,” said Garcia.
“We still have more work to do, but this is a very good building base. I feel like we’re getting stronger every time we hit the track, and this gives us momentum for the rest of the season.”
After a mechanical gremlin ended qualifying early for Myles Rowe, the Georgia native knew that he would have to be in top form to makeup positions and gain as many points possible across the two races.
“We had some bad luck in Ohio with a mechanical issue ending our qualifying session early, meaning that we had to start from the last row in both races. Fortunately, we had a good car and I was able to make some good charges through the field,” said Rowe.
“I’m looking forward to carrying positive momentum to Nashville and working towards a strong finish.”
Colin Kaminsky didn’t have the weekend that he had hoped for, but the Home Glen Illinois native is continuing to push forward for a good result as the season rolls on.
“Some misfortune and bad execution lead to a tough weekend for the #57 crew. It started with a bad qualifying session where I cost myself a top-15 starting position. That isn’t our target, but it’s important to maximize when you have bad days,” said Kaminsky.
“For race one we noticed an issue as I pulled away from the grid, the steering wheel was off by a sizeable amount which made for a challenging race. We were able to still move up six positions and wound up 17th. In race two we changed setups overnight because we didn’t get a proper read from Saturday’s race, and this proved to be a mistake making for a long race running at the back. 2026 is full of adversity so we’re going to keep showing up and trying our hardest to do something impressive by the end of the year.”
For Missig the weekend started out on the right foot but unfortunately did not lead to the results on Sunday that Missig was working for. Missig was working on his fifth top-10 of the season, but wound up just a few spots shy of that goal in race one finishing 12th.
“Mid-Ohio was a hot one for sure. We had promising pace for good results this weekend, and were able to put up a decent result of 12th in race one,” said Missig.
“Race two, we just had some bad luck. This has been a tricky stretch of the season, and we just need some luck to go our way and get some promising results before the season comes to a close with five races left.”
A weekend off stands between Abel Motorsports and the next race at the Nashville Superspeedway on July 19th as the INDY NXT series heads to their 13th race of the 2026 season. Race day coverage will begin at 1:00pm 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.