MIAMI GARDENS, FLA. (WSVN) – The next generation of South Florida racing hopefuls participated in testing at Hard Rock Stadium.
The young drivers are the future of IndyCar racing through the Indy NXT Series, where younger drivers race full time within the sport’s development series.
Sixteen-year-old Max Garcia is still a junior at Columbus High School.
“Communicating to my teachers, ‘Look, I’m going to be out from Wednesday to Friday,’ for example, ‘and this is what I’m going to, just let me know what I can do in advance or what I can do while I’m gone,’” said Garcia.
Garcia isn’t the only South Florida kid testing at Hard Rock Stadium with the hope of racing someday in the major IndyCar Series.
Nineteen-year-old Alessandro De Tullio is a student at Miami Dade College.
“A little bit tough, but I do the online stuff, so it’s quite good, I still have time to go to Indianapolis, be with the team, because the team is based in Indianapolis, and as well as travel for the race,” said De Tullio.
Both drivers started at a young age driving go-karts, but what they did on the track then is a lot different now.
Garcia and De Tullio are both rookies in this series, and there is a big learning curve, racing at speeds upwards of 200 miles per hour.
“It’s bigger — it has suspension, a lot more power, bigger tires — it’s just everything’s bigger,” said Garcia.
“A lot of power, a lot of downforce, as where a go-kart is, you know, it’s you’re basically sitting on the ground and no suspension on the thing, no nothing,” said De Tullio. “It’s a little bit more raw, a little bit more fast, fast as in like the sensation.”
When asked whether his classmates have any idea of what they do outside of the classroom, Garcia said they have no clue.
“No, they don’t understand it at all, I think that’s the cool part, because they don’t see me as a race car driver, they just see me as me,” said Garcia.
There’s talk that the Indy Racing League could make a return to South Florida for the first time since 2010 in Homestead. If they do return, they could race at the Homestead-Miami Speedway or use the same track that F1 drivers use at Hard Rock Stadium.
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