LEBANON, Tenn. (Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025) – A decision made Saturday afternoon paid off with a stirring victory Sunday morning for Myles Rowe.
Rowe earned his second career victory – both coming this year – in the season-ending INDY NXT by Firestone Music City Grand Prix on Sunday at Nashville Superspeedway after starting ninth. It was the deepest starting position for a race winner in the INDYCAR development series since Matheus Leist won from 10th in 2017 on the Iowa Speedway oval.
SEE: Race Results
“It’s amazing,” Rowe said. “It’s been a good season this year with Abel Motorsports, and I can’t thank Force Indy and Abel enough for what they do for me. It’s been a good journey, and I can’t wait to do it again with them next year. Just so happy I could give this to them at the end of the year.”
Rowe drove his No. 99 Abel/Force Indy machine to victory by .4376 of a second over Salvador de Alba in the No. 27 Grupo Indi car of Andretti Global. Season champion Dennis Hauger finished third in the No. 28 Nammo entry, giving Andretti Global two of the three podium positions.
Caio Collet finished fourth in the No. 76 HMD Motorsports car, while Lochie Hughes delivered Andretti Global three of the top five finishers in the No. 26 McGinley Clinic/USF Pro Championship machine.
This was an impound event for the series, in which teams could not change their car setups after qualifying Saturday. So, Rowe and his crew decided to set up their car with more downforce than usual for qualifying, with an eye toward the 65-lap race on the 1.33-mile concrete oval.
The decision paid off.
“We weren’t quite pleased with the qualifying, but we knew the strategy was that we come here to race,” Rowe said. “Starting ninth wasn’t what we wanted, but we knew we could race from there.
“It was just about keeping composure and making all the right moves and making them count. I’m glad we were able to do that. The crew gave me an amazing car to be able to do that.”
Rowe wasted little time climbing through the field, jumping to fourth place by Lap 5. He then prevailed over the next 10 laps in a spirited defense of that position against Michael d’Orlando in the No. 3 Priority/Rising Stars car of Andretti – Cape Motorsport.
Georgia native Rowe then dove under Collet on Lap 25 to take second and set his sights on pole sitter de Alba, who had led every lap from the start of the race.
De Alba led Rowe by .435 of a second on Lap 32 when the only caution flag of the race flew. D’Orlando nudged Callum Hedge’s No. 17 Abel Motorsports car into the SAFER Barrier in Turn 2 during a side-by-side duel for seventh place.
Mexican de Alba rocketed away on the restart on Lap 44, but it didn’t take long for Rowe to catch him and make a decisive move for victory. Rowe looked to the high groove as he trailed de Alba to start Lap 46 and then quickly dove under de Alba in Turn 1 to take a lead he would not surrender.
Rowe then maintained a gap to de Alba ranging from three-tenths to one-half of a second over the final 20 laps and never was threatened.
The sizzling race featured action up and down the 18-car field, resulting in 147 on-track passes, including 81 for position, 56 in the top 10 and 26 in the top five – all INDY NXT by Firestone records for Nashville Superspeedway.
