2026 Indy NXT

2026 Indy NXT

The 2026 Firestone Indy NXT Series is the 40th season of the Indy NXT open wheel auto racing series and the 24th sanctioned by IndyCar, acting as the primary support series for the IndyCar Series. This is the fourth year of the championship running under the Indy NXT moniker following its acquisition by Penske Entertainment, the owner of the IndyCar Series, in 2022.

Teams and drivers

2026 Indy NXT

All teams use Dallara IL-15 cars with an AER produced Mazda sourced 2.0 litre engine and Firestone tires. The following drivers and teams compete in the series.

Team	No.	Drivers	Status	Round(s)
Abel Motorsports	12	Max Garcia	R	All
48	Jordan Missig		All
57	Colin Kaminsky		All
Abel Motorsports with Force Indy	99	Myles Rowe		All
Andretti Global	26	Lochie Hughes		All
27	Sebastian Murray		All
28	Max Taylor		All
29	Josh Pierson		All
A. J. Foyt Racing	4	Nicholas Monteiro	R	All
14	Alessandro de Tullio	R	All
Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR	20	Matteo Nannini		All
21	Nikita Johnson	R	All
Chip Ganassi Racing	8	James Roe		All
9	Bryce Aron		All
10	Niels Koolen		All
11	Carson Etter	R	All
Cusick Morgan Motorsports	15	Nicolas Stati	R	All
68	Juan Manuel Correa		All
HMD Motorsports	17	Salvador de Alba		All
45	Jack Beeton	R	All
67	Enzo Fittipaldi	R	All
71	Tymek Kucharczyk	R	All
Juncos Hollinger Racing	75	Alexander Koreiba	R	All
76	Ricardo Escotto		All
Icon	Status
R	Eligible for Rookie of the Year
RY	Rookie of the Year

Team changes

• On August 27, 2025, IndyCar team Cusick Motorsports announced it would enter two cars in the Indy NXT series in a technical partnership with HMD Motorsports that would also see the latter team scale back its Indy NXT program to four cars. On September 5, 2025, Cusick Motorsports announced it had rebranded to Cusick Morgan Motorsports after its team director Billy Morgan. • On September 8, 2025, Juncos Hollinger Racing announced its return to the Indy NXT series. The team had previously competed in the series until the 2024 season, when it had elected to temporarily step back from competing in Indy NXT to focus on its IndyCar efforts. • On October 21, 2025, IndyCar team A. J. Foyt Racing announced it would enter two cars in Indy NXT in a strategic alliance with HMD Motorsports. • On October 24, IndyCar team Ed Carpenter Racing announced it would enter two cars in Indy NXT in a partnership with Cape Motorsports, who ended its association with Andretti Global.

Driver changes

• On September 15, 2025, Abel Motorsports announced that 2025 USF Pro 2000 champion Max Garcia would graduate to Indy NXT with the team, driving the No. 12 entry for the 2026 season. • On September 22, 2025, Cape Motorsports announced Nikita Johnson would join the team for his full-time debut in the 2026 season after previously competing in two rounds with HMD Motorsports in (/wiki/2025IndyNXT). • On September 23, 2025, Andretti Global confirmed that reigning champion Dennis Hauger would move up to the IndyCar series with Dale Coyne Racing. • On September 30, 2025, Andretti Global announced that Sebastian Murray would move over from Andretti Cape Indy NXT to the main Andretti team for his second Indy NXT season. • On October 14, 2025, Andretti Global announced their third driver in Max Taylor, who joined the team for his full-season debut after entering six events in 2025 driving for HMD Motorsports. • On October 15, 2025, Cusick Morgan Motorsports announced that their first Indy NXT driver would be Nicolas Stati, who graduates from the Formula Regional Americas Championship. • On October 21, 2025, Abel Motorsports announced that Colin Kaminsky would drive for the team in 2026 on his Indy NXT return after last competing in the series in 2023. • On October 21, 2025, Andretti Global announced Josh Pierson as the final driver in its lineup, who moved over from HMD Motorsports for his fourth Indy NXT season. • On October 24, 2025, Cusick Morgan Motorsports announced that Juan Manuel Correa would drive for the team in his full-time series debut. • On October 29, 2025, HMD Motorsports announced the first driver of their four-car lineup: Jack Beeton made his Indy NXT debut after previously competing in the Formula Regional European Championship. • On October 30, 2025, HMD Motorsport announced that former Formula 2 driver Enzo Fittipaldi would join the team on his Indy NXT debut in 2026. • On November 5, 2025, A. J. Foyt Racing announced the first driver of the team's Indy NXT lineup in USF Pro 2000 graduate Alessandro de Tullio. • On November 6, 2025, A. J. Foyt Racing confirmed reports that it had signed 2025 Indy NXT runner-up Caio Collet to drive the team's No. 4 IndyCar entry. • On November 14, 2025, A. J. Foyt Racing announced the second driver of their Indy NXT lineup would be Nicholas Monteiro, stepping up from USF Pro 2000, where he came tenth in 2025. • On December 17, 2025, Chip Ganassi Racing announced their expanded four-car lineup: returnees Bryce Aron and Niels Koolen were joined by James Roe, who moved over from Andretti Global for his fifth Indy NXT campaign, and Carson Etter, who stepped up from USF Pro 2000 after finishing the 2025 season in 17th with Exclusive Autosport. • On January 13, 2026, Juncos Hollinger Racing announced the first driver of the team's Indy NXT lineup in Ricardo Escotto, who returned to the series after being released by Andretti Cape halfway through 2025. Escotto had previously made his Indy NXT debut with Juncos for a part-time program in 2024. • On January 14, 2026, HMD Motorsports announced that reigning Euroformula Open Champion Tymek Kucharczyk would join them for the 2026 season. • On January 15, 2026, HMD Motorsports announced that Salvador de Alba would move over from Andretti Global for his third year in the series, taking the final spot in their lineup. • On January 31, 2026, Cape Motorsports announced their second driver in Matteo Nannini, who rejoined Indy NXT after last competing there in 2023 driving for Juncos Hollinger Racing. • On February 19, 2026, Juncos Hollinger Racing announced the final driver of the 2026 grid in LMP3 driver and Indy NXT debutant Alexander Koreiba.

Schedule

2026 Indy NXT

Icon	Legend
O	Oval/Speedway
R	Road course
S	Street circuit

Rd.	Date	Race name	Track	Location
1	March 1	Indy NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg	S  Streets of St. Petersburg	St. Petersburg, Florida
2	March 15	Indy NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Arlington	S  Streets of Arlington	Arlington, Texas
3	March 28	Indy NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Alabama	R  Barber Motorsports Park	Birmingham, Alabama
4	March 29
5	May 8	Indy NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Indianapolis	R  Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course	Speedway, Indiana
6	May 9
7	May 31	Indy NXT by Firestone Detroit Grand Prix	S  Streets of Detroit	Detroit, Michigan
8	June 7	Indy NXT by Firestone at World Wide Technology Raceway	O  World Wide Technology Raceway	Madison, Illinois
9	June 20	Indy NXT by Firestone Grand Prix at Road America	R  Road America	Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
10	June 21
11	July 4	Indy NXT by Firestone Grand Prix at Mid-Ohio	R  Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course	Lexington, Ohio
12	July 5
13	July 19	Indy NXT by Firestone Music City Grand Prix	O  Nashville Superspeedway	Lebanon, Tennessee
14	August 9	Indy NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Portland	R  Portland International Raceway	Portland, Oregon
15	August 30	Indy NXT by Firestone at the Milwaukee Mile	O  Milwaukee Mile	West Allis, Wisconsin
16	September 5	Indy NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey	R  WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca	Monterey, California
17	September 6

Calendar changes

• Indy NXT saw the debut of the Grand Prix of Arlington, Indy NXT's first race in the state of Texas since it held two races at Circuit of the Americas in (/wiki/2019IndyLights). • Barber Motorsports Park, Road America, Mid-Ohio and Laguna Seca will hold double-headers for the first time since (/wiki/2021IndyLights). • The Nashville round will no longer be the season finale and will instead be round 13, held on July 19, while the Monterey round will move from mid-July to the season finale, held on September 5 and 6. • Indy NXT will not return to Iowa Speedway.

Race results

2026 Indy NXT

Rd.	Track	Pole position	Fastest lap	Most laps led	Race winner
Driver	Team
1	Streets of St. Petersburg	Max Taylor	Max Taylor	Nikita Johnson	Nikita Johnson	Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR
2	Streets of Arlington	Alessandro de Tullio	Max Taylor	Enzo Fittipaldi	Max Taylor	Andretti Global
3	Barber Motorsports Park	Alessandro de Tullio	Alessandro de Tullio	Alessandro de Tullio	Nikita Johnson	Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR
4	Alessandro de Tullio	Enzo Fittipaldi	Alessandro de Tullio	Alessandro de Tullio	A. J. Foyt Racing
5	Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course
6
7	Streets of Detroit
8	World Wide Technology Raceway
9	Road America
10
11	Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
12
13	Nashville Superspeedway
14	Portland International Raceway
15	Milwaukee Mile
16	WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca
17

Season report

Opening rounds

The 2026 Indy NXT season began with 24 cars at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, the series' biggest grid since 2009. Cape/ECR's Nikita Johnson topped the first qualifying group, before Andretti's Max Taylor bettered his time in the second group to take pole position. Taylor covered the inside entering turn one at the start of the race, but a move around the outside saw Johnson claim the lead. HMD's Tymek Kucharczyk slotted into third, before a caution was called at the end of the lap. Two more interruptions followed, but the top group remained static throughout. Taylor shadowed Johnson but was unable to deter him from winning as Kucharczyk held off Andretti's Sebastian Murray for third.

Round two of the season saw a new venue for Indy NXT as A. J. Foyt's Alessandro de Tullio took pole position in qualifying around the Streets of Arlington. The race, shortened to 30 minutes after a schedule change, began under yellow after HMD's Jack Beeton made a huge jump start, Abel's Colin Kaminsky heavily collided with the wall and Kucharczyk pushed poleman de Tullio into an escape road. The race restarted with HMD's Enzo Fittipaldi leading Kucharczyk and Taylor. The trio battled for the lead throughout the rest of the race, with Taylor sliding past Kucharczyk before eventually taking the lead after a second caution period. His maiden win saw him take the championship lead by ten points.

Championship standings

2026 Indy NXT

Position	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	11th	12th	13th	14th	15th	16th	17th	18th	19th	20th	21st	22nd	23rd	24th
Points	50	40	35	32	30	28	26	24	22	20	19	18	17	16	15	14	13	12	11	10	9	8	7	6

• The fastest driver in each qualifying session is awarded one additional point. • Every driver who led at least one lap is awarded a bonus point, the driver who led the most laps gets two points.

Drivers' championship

<table><thead><tr><th>Pos</th><th>Driver</th><th>STP</th><th>ARL</th><th>BAR</th><th>IMS</th><th>DET</th><th>GAT</th><th>ROA</th><th>MOH</th><th>NSS</th><th>POR</th><th>MIL</th><th>LAG</th><th>Points</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>1</td><td>Nikita Johnson</td><td>1L</td><td>6</td><td>1L</td><td>3</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>168</td></tr><tr><td>2</td><td>Max Taylor</td><td>2</td><td>1L</td><td>19</td><td>2</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>145</td></tr><tr><td>3</td><td>Tymek Kucharczyk</td><td>3</td><td>3</td><td>3</td><td>5</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>135</td></tr><tr><td>4</td><td>Enzo Fittipaldi</td><td>17</td><td>2L</td><td>2</td><td>4</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>129</td></tr><tr><td>5</td><td>Alessandro de Tullio</td><td>10</td><td>11</td><td>20L</td><td>1L</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>108</td></tr><tr><td>6</td><td>Juan Manuel Correa</td><td>9</td><td>4</td><td>11</td><td>8</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>97</td></tr><tr><td>7</td><td>Lochie Hughes</td><td>5</td><td>5</td><td>12</td><td>16</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>92</td></tr><tr><td>8</td><td>Jordan Missig</td><td>14</td><td>10</td><td>6</td><td>6</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>92</td></tr><tr><td>9</td><td>Myles Rowe</td><td>6</td><td>9</td><td>5</td><td>23</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>87</td></tr><tr><td>10</td><td>Sebastian Murray</td><td>4</td><td>7</td><td>22</td><td>10</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>86</td></tr><tr><td>11</td><td>Jack Beeton</td><td>11</td><td>15</td><td>9</td><td>9</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>78</td></tr><tr><td>12</td><td>Bryce Aron</td><td>18</td><td>18</td><td>8</td><td>7</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>74</td></tr><tr><td>13</td><td>Ricardo Escotto</td><td>13</td><td>12</td><td>7</td><td>17</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>74</td></tr><tr><td>14</td><td>Max Garcia</td><td>12</td><td>14</td><td>4</td><td>24</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>72</td></tr><tr><td>15</td><td>Matteo Nannini</td><td>19</td><td>8</td><td>15</td><td>13</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>67</td></tr><tr><td>16</td><td>Salvador de Alba</td><td>8</td><td>20</td><td>18</td><td>11</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>65</td></tr><tr><td>17</td><td>Nicolas Stati</td><td>16</td><td>21</td><td>10</td><td>15</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>58</td></tr><tr><td>18</td><td>Josh Pierson</td><td>7</td><td>23</td><td>24</td><td>14</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>55</td></tr><tr><td>19</td><td>Alexander Koreiba</td><td>20</td><td>16</td><td>13</td><td>22</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>49</td></tr><tr><td>20</td><td>Niels Koolen</td><td>22</td><td>13</td><td>17</td><td>20</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>48</td></tr><tr><td>21</td><td>James Roe</td><td>21</td><td>17</td><td>23</td><td>12</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>47</td></tr><tr><td>22</td><td>Colin Kaminsky</td><td>15</td><td>24</td><td>16</td><td>18</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>47</td></tr><tr><td>23</td><td>Nicholas Monteiro</td><td>23</td><td>22</td><td>14</td><td>19</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>42</td></tr><tr><td>24</td><td>Carson Etter</td><td>24</td><td>19</td><td>21</td><td>21</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>35</td></tr><tr><td>Pos</td><td>Driver</td><td>STP</td><td>ARL</td><td>BAR</td><td>IMS</td><td>DET</td><td>GAT</td><td>ROA</td><td>MOH</td><td>NSS</td><td>POR</td><td>MIL</td><td>LAG</td><td>Points</td></tr><tr><td>Color</td><td>Result</td></tr><tr><td>Gold</td><td>Winner</td></tr><tr><td>Silver</td><td>2nd place</td></tr><tr><td>Bronze</td><td>3rd place</td></tr><tr><td>Green</td><td>4th & 5th place</td></tr><tr><td>Light Blue</td><td>6th–10th place</td></tr><tr><td>Dark Blue</td><td>Finished (Outside Top 10)</td></tr><tr><td>Purple</td><td>Did not finish</td></tr><tr><td>Red</td><td>Did not qualify (DNQ)</td></tr><tr><td>Brown</td><td>Withdrawn (Wth)</td></tr><tr><td>Black</td><td>Disqualified (DSQ)</td></tr><tr><td>White</td><td>Did not start (DNS)</td></tr><tr><td>Blank</td><td>Did not participate (DNP)</td></tr><tr><td>Not competing</td></tr><tr><td>In-line notation</td></tr><tr><td>Bold</td><td>Pole position (1 point)</td></tr><tr><td>Italics</td><td>Ran fastest race lap</td></tr><tr><td>L</td><td>Led a race lap (1 point)</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>Led most race laps (2 points)</td></tr><tr><td>1</td><td>Qualifying cancelled no bonus point awarded</td></tr><tr><td>Rookie</td></tr><tr><td>Rookie of the Year</td></tr></tbody></table>

Entrants' championship

Entrants score points in the same way drivers score points, including bonus points for pole position and laps led.

Pos	Entry	STP	ARL	BAR	IMS	DET	GAT	ROA	MOH	NSS	POR	MIL	LAG	Points
1	#21 Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR	1L	6	1L	3														168
2	#28 Andretti Global	2	1L	19	2														145
3	#71 HMD Motorsports	3	3	3	5														135
4	#67 HMD Motorsports	17	2L	2	4														129
5	#14 A. J. Foyt Racing	10	11	20L	1L														108
6	#68 Cusick Morgan Motorsports	9	4	11	8														97
7	#26 Andretti Global	5	5	12	16														92
8	#48 Abel Motorsports	14	10	6	6														92
9	#99 Abel Motorsports with Force Indy	6	9	5	23														87
10	#27 Andretti Global	4	7	22	10														86
11	#45 HMD Motorsports	11	15	9	9														78
12	#9 Chip Ganassi Racing	18	18	8	7														74
13	#76 Juncos Hollinger Racing	13	12	7	17														74
14	#12 Abel Motorsports	12	14	4	24														72
15	#20 Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR	19	8	15	13														67
16	#17 HMD Motorsports	8	20	18	11														65
17	#15 Cusick Morgan Motorsports	16	21	10	15														58
18	#29 Andretti Global	7	23	24	14														55
19	#75 Juncos Hollinger Racing	20	16	13	22														49
20	#10 Chip Ganassi Racing	22	13	17	20														48
21	#8 Chip Ganassi Racing	21	17	23	12														47
22	#57 Abel Motorsports	15	24	16	18														47
23	#4 A. J. Foyt Racing	23	22	14	19														42
24	#11 Chip Ganassi Racing	24	19	21	21														35
Pos	Entry	STP	ARL	BAR	IMS	DET	GAT	ROA	MOH	NSS	POR	MIL	LAG	Points