Myles Rowe becomes first Black INDY NXT winner at Iowa Speedway
Myles Rowe took his first win in INDY NXT and consequently became the first black winner in the series.
Myles Rowe beat current championship leader, Dennis Haugher, to the line at Iowa Speedway to take his first INDY NXT win and to become the first Black driver to win in the series.
Haugher led majority of the race before he was overtaken by Rowe with 14 laps left in the race.
Once passed, Rowe managed to pull away from Haugher and won by more than a second at the oval.
Speaking to Fox Sports, Rowe said: "I’m super proud to be able to represent and be winning now and be up front.
"It’s super crucial to be able to see somebody that looks like you doing well, someone to look up to. Especially when you're younger, things are a lot bigger and seem a lot more unfeasible, especially motorsports-related.
"We've been working a minute for this. We knew we had the pace and it was just about waiting until the last lap of the race and seeing we could do."
Rowe started fourth after a dramatic Friday saw all sessions cancelled tornados loomed over the track.
Patient during the race, Rowe waited for Haugher to be stuck behind a lapped car before he made the pass.
Rowe explained that his oval knowledge was key to the win: "I knew that with the nature of the track being basically flat, especially starting on new tires, passing at the beginning wasn’t going to be realistic, trying to wrap it around the outside.
"I knew I would have to come to traffic and be a little bit strategic and patient."
Rowe became the first Black driver to win any IndyCar sanctioned race in August 2021 when he won in the USF2000 Series.
During the 2023 USF Pro Series 2000 series, he continued his success and took multiple wins and eventually the title.
Joining HMD Motorsports in 2024, Rowe made the move to Abel Motorsports this season.
While happy about his first win, Rowe is clearly ambitious for more. He continued: "I just want more. Honestly, it's great that this is a first but i'm looking for multiple wins, and then to carry that on to INDYCAR."
"We don't stop here, we're looking for a lot more than this."
