Sebastian Murray Excels at Chris Griffis Memorial Test

Sebastian Murray (pictured) laid down the first marker for the 2026 INDY NXT by Firestone season, leading the Chris Griffis Memorial Test on Oct. 27 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

Murray was quickest among 24 drivers turning laps on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile circuit, stopping the clocks at 1 minute, 14.5035 seconds in the No. 27 Andretti Global car. Murray, from Scotland, finished 13th in the series standings in 2025 as a rookie for Andretti Cape INDY NXT before moving to the Andretti team after this season for 2026.

“Great day at IMS,” Murray said. “We finished P1, so obviously thrilled. The team was amazing today, and we learned a lot and improved a lot. We were obviously very fast all day, so massive thank you to the team.”

The quick lap by Murray was the highlight of a strong performance for Andretti Global, whose drivers seized the top three spots on the time chart. Andretti Global drivers also have won the last two championships in the INDYCAR development series.

Series veterans and Andretti newcomers Max Taylor and Josh Pierson ended up second and third, respectively. Taylor’s best lap was 1:14.6366 in the No. 28 car, while Pierson ended up at 1:14.6674 in the No. 29 machine. Taylor was quickest overall in the morning session at 1:15.0926.

Nikita Johnson was fourth overall and the quickest rookie at the test, turning a best lap of 1:14.8849 in the No. 21 Cape Motorsports car. USF2000 and USF Pro 2000 series runner-up Johnson made three INDY NXT starts early in the 2025 season but will be eligible for Rookie of the Year honors in 2026.

AJ Foyt Racing marked a successful return to the INDYCAR development series with USF Pro 2000 veteran and INDY NXT rookie Alessandro de Tullio rounding out the top five at 1:15.0406.

The annual open test is named in memory of Chris Griffis, the team manager of Schmidt Peterson Motorsports who passed away suddenly in September 2011. Twenty-four drivers – three more than the burgeoning 21 cars that ran most of the 2025 season – combined to turn 1,728 laps over the two sessions of the test day.

The 2026 INDY NXT by Firestone season starts Saturday, March 1 on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida.

Combined Results of Practice Test Sessions

Rank	Car	Driver Name	Session	Time	Speed	Laps
1	27	Murray, Sebastian	Test Session 2	1m14.5035s	117.852	86
2	28	Taylor, Max	Test Session 2	1m14.6366s	117.642	78
3	29	Pierson, Josh	Test Session 2	1m14.6674s	117.593	100
4	21	Johnson, Nikita (R)	Test Session 2	1m14.8849s	117.252	69
5	14	de Tullio, Alessandro (R)	Test Session 2	1m15.0406s	117.009	62
6	26	Hughes, Lochie	Test Session 2	1m15.0835s	116.942	58
7	99	Rowe, Myles	Test Session 2	1m15.0847s	116.940	76
8	9	Aron, Bryce	Test Session 2	1m15.1936s	116.771	61
9	71	Kucharczyk, Tymek (R)	Test Session 2	1m15.1956s	116.767	70
10	68	Correa, Juan Manuel	Test Session 2	1m15.3144s	116.583	81
11	67	Fittipaldi, Enzo (R)	Test Session 2	1m15.3246s	116.567	67
12	17	Martins, Victor (R)	Test Session 2	1m15.4684s	116.345	65
13	57	Kaminsky, Colin	Test Session 2	1m15.5322s	116.247	96
14	12	Garcia, Max (R)	Test Session 2	1m15.5402s	116.235	73
15	10	Koolen, Niels	Test Session 2	1m15.5642s	116.198	57
16	45	Beeton, Jack (R)	Test Session 2	1m15.5876s	116.162	68
17	20	Elkin, Ariel (R)	Test Session 2	1m15.6055s	116.134	89
18	4	Monteiro, Nicholas (R)	Test Session 2	1m15.7210s	115.957	75
19	15	Stati, Nicholas (R)	Test Session 2	1m15.7465s	115.918	74
20	48	Missig, Jordan	Test Session 2	1m15.7989s	115.838	99
21	75	Golan, Brady (R)	Test Session 2	1m16.0877s	115.398	72
22	8	Smith, Tommy	Test Session 2	1m16.2757s	115.114	64
23	76	Koreiba, Alexander (R)	Test Session 2	1m16.5104s	114.761	66
24	11	Etter, Carson (R) (R) Rookie	Test Session 2	1m19.9431s	109.833	22