Pink Wave: The Rise Of Road To Indy Teen Max Taylor

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Firestone Indy NXT rookie Max Taylor’s path up the American open-wheel racing ladder system has been just as meteoric as it is unique and unexpected.

When digging deeper into the 17-year-old Road to Indy prospect’s brief career, you’ll find a Greenwich, Conn., young gun now living in New Jersey who has only been racing at all for the past four years.

That he’s gone from a first-generation motorsports interest to having a shot at reaching the NTT IndyCar Series in the future, all since 2021, is a remarkable story of perseverance and determination.

Taylor started in go-karts at the age of 13 – first introduced to speed at a birthday party in electric indoor machines before quickly sliding over into club racing to fuel his newfound competitive fire.

As he tells it, “I had no idea about the whole world of racing, but I absolutely fell in love with it from my first moment strapping on a helmet. Driving anything fast and the chances to do that created my passion, and it led me to where I am here today.

“I know it’s unorthodox compared to all the kids who get into the sport at four or five years old, but when the opportunity finally opened up for me … I knew I had to see where I could go with it.”

As quickly as Taylor found club racing, he proved more than adept at outrunning the competition.

“I don’t think it was more than six months before he’d beaten everyone around in club karts,” Taylor’s father Mike recalled. “We had someone approach us pretty quickly after that who told us he needed to go racing [in] Nationals, and that was the first step.”

Taylor’s rookie season in national-level karting produced a P1 STARS championship in the KA100 Jr division, as well as third-place finishes in both the SKUSA Pro Tour Championship (X30 Jr) and SKUSA Super Nationals (KA100 Jr).

It was stunning to many, but now it’s less surprising when considering one of Taylor’s first driving coaches when he began racing go-karts was now-NASCAR Xfinity Series sensation Connor Zilisch.

“I met Connor pretty early on in karts, and he showed me so much about how to be adaptable and find speed even though I was so fresh to the racing world,” Taylor reflected. “He’s gone on to stock cars now and I’m really glad to see him having the success he is … but he was an early resource for me, for sure.”

With little left to prove in karts, Taylor advanced into single-seater formula racing in 2023, running double duty between the USF Juniors and USF2000 calendars.

He earned his first USF Juniors victory that year and followed up with a championship-winning season last year, on the strength of three race wins, six additional podium finishes, three poles and two fastest laps. Taylor was fourth in laps led and tied for second in races led, setting three new track records.

Taylor paralleled that success with a four-win USF2000 campaign in 2024 as well, ranking third in the championship and proving to be a force no matter what or how often he was behind the wheel.

That philosophy hasn’t declined at all this season, as Taylor is running the full USF Pro 2000 (formerly Pro Mazda) presented by Continental Tire schedule with VRD Racing in addition to five Indy NXT events with HMD Motorsports – one of the IndyCar feeder series’ top development teams for young drivers.

It’s a chaotic kind of busy, but one that Taylor tipped he relishes given his love for auto racing.

“I’ve been so busy, but I love every minute of it,” he said. “It’s so much fun traveling with my teams, with my family, and being able to be at a racetrack all the time. I love it and I’ve been excited since the moment we announced the two sides of my plans for this year.

“The fact that it’s all come to fruition so far has been something special.”

Taylor made his long-awaited Indy NXT debut earlier this month at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama, displaying impressive speed despite his relative inexperience in the Dallara IL-15 chassis.

He was on pace to battle for the top spot in qualifying with eventual polesitter and race winner Dennis Hauger of Andretti Global, before spinning at turn eight of the 2.38-mile natural road course late in the session and having his top-two lap times deleted as a result.

That placed Taylor 17th on the grid, but the teenager methodically picked his way forward throughout the race, climbing to a seventh-place finish with race pace that could have put him among the top five.

It was a strong showing that had Taylor all smiles afterward.

“HMD truly gave me a race-winning car at Barber, and qualifying was a little gutting, to be honest,” Taylor noted. “I know that I could have sat on pole [position]. I was trading times good enough for P1, and the lap I went off [into the gravel] would have put me up by three tenths [of a second].

“That was frustrating, but the race was outstanding being able to pass cars and get as far forward as I did,” he added. “Looking back on it, I wouldn’t have done anything differently. I’m happy to have sent it and known that I could have been up there than to look back on it and never know.”

Taylor’s No. 18 was hard to miss at Barber as well, considering he carried a bright pink livery supporting the Susan G. Komen Foundation for breast cancer research, in partnership with PINK – an exchange traded fund started by his father which donates all its net profits to the Komen Foundation.

“It’s such an honor to carry the pink scheme and know that we’re helping women across the world who are affected [by breast cancer] by raising awareness and donating to the fight for a cure,” Taylor reflected. “They passed a quarter-million [dollars] donated back in October, and it’s a privilege to me to be a small part of helping that cause with the [racing] platform that I have.”

“Everyone is touched by cancer either directly or through friends and family,” added Mike Taylor. “This is a unique opportunity for me: to translate investing skills developed in hedge funds to the long only world; to give back in a meaningful way to an exceptional cause; and to access the resources of Susan G. Komen and Simplify for the benefit of investors. To my knowledge, there’s nothing else like this in the market today and the fact that Max wanted to help … it makes me proud as a father to see that.”

With his first Indy NXT race behind him, Max Taylor gets to look ahead to his next start on the Streets of Detroit, as well as future races at Iowa Speedway, California’s WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, and the Milwaukee (Wis.) Mile later this summer.

It’s a diverse slate meant to prepare Taylor for a hopeful full-time Indy NXT campaign in 2026, but the oval races in particular have his interest piqued, as it’s something he’s only done once before.

“I got to do the Lucas Oil [Indianapolis Raceway Park] race last year in USF2000, but that’s the only time I’ve been on an oval so far in this journey,” Taylor explained. “That’s the whole point of this year, though … is learning as much as I can by doing a street course, some road courses, and a couple of ovals to get myself ready for the future and where I want to ultimately try and get to.

“I’m trying to take everything in as I’m working with the team and learn as much as I can now so that, hopefully, I can be up to speed when it’s time to run for points,” he added. “It’ll be a challenge for sure, but I’m confident it’s one that we’re up for as a group.”

He knows a championship in USF Pro 2000 is the main target, but what are Taylor’s goals for his remaining four Indy NXT weekends this year?

“It’s hard to say,” he admitted. “I like to be a bit more process-oriented, focusing on each session, learning what I can, and doing my job. I know that if I do those things, the results will follow.

“It’s difficult to set a precise goal because of that, but I feel that I’ve shown through my racing so far that the goals we’re capable of setting can be pretty lofty … so we just have to see what the rest of this year holds.”

While nothing is set in stone yet for 2026, Taylor expressed a desire to keep working with HMD Motorsports “as long as they’ll have me,” knowing that he’ll be in a strong environment to grow toward his ultimate goal – a professional future in the NTT IndyCar Series.

Whether that future comes or it doesn’t, Mike Taylor said that his son will have learned something through his racing journey that’s far more valuable than wins, championships, or fast laps.

“Even if he doesn’t get [to IndyCar], he’ll know what excellence looks like and how to identify it in others,” the elder Taylor explained. “It takes excellence – being at your absolute best, on the limit day-in and day-out – to succeed in motorsports, maybe even more so than it does in everyday life.

“Max is having to find that in himself right now, but being able to surround himself with people that embody those same qualities … that’s something that will make his life better whether he’s racing a car on Sundays for a living or he’s doing something completely different down the road.”

And as for Max, the Indy car hopeful said he’s “just enjoying the ride,” considering that just five years ago he could have never imagined being where he is in his life now.

“I couldn’t have believed you if you told me, even a year ago, that I’d be in an Indy NXT car now and charting what it would look like if I make it to IndyCar someday,” he admitted. “A year ago at Barber, I was racing USF Juniors on the same weekend. Competing in Indy NXT wasn’t even a thought then.

“Honestly, looking back, it’s pretty incredible to see how far I’ve come. I hope it’s just the beginning.”

Broadcast coverage of Taylor’s return to Indy NXT competition during the Detroit Grand Prix airs Sunday, June 1 at 10:30 a.m. ET, live on FS1 and the FOX Sports App.

For more information on PINK, including how to benefit the cause, visit simplify.us/pink.