The 2026 Indy NXT by Firestone was the 40th season of Indy NXT by Firestone, the second-highest class of American open-wheel car racing, and the 24th season sanctioned by IndyCar. This was 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.
The championship was contested over 17 races, beginning in St. Petersburg on March 1 and ending in Laguna Seca on September 6. It was won by Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR driver Nikita Johnson, who in doing so also became Rookie of the Year.
Teams and drivers The following teams and drivers competed in the 2026 Indy NXT by Firestone. All teams competed with Dallara IL-15 chassis, inline four-cylinder engines developed by Advanced Engine Research, and tires supplied by Firestone. Team Driver Abel Motorsports 12 Max Garcia All 48 Jordan Missig 1–13 Jacob Abel14–17 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 All 14 Alessandro de Tullio All Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR 20 Matteo Nannini All 21 Nikita Johnson All Chip Ganassi Racing 8 James Roe All 9 Bryce Aron All 10 Niels Koolen All 11 Carson Etter All Cusick Morgan Motorsports 15 Nicolas Stati 1–7, 9–17 Yuven Sundaramoorthy 8 68 Juan Manuel Correa All HMD Motorsports 17 Salvador de Alba 1–13, 15 Bart Harrison 14, 16–17 45 Jack Beeton All 67 Enzo Fittipaldi All 71 Tymek Kucharczyk All Juncos Hollinger Racing 75 Alexander Koreiba All 76 Ricardo Escotto 1–10 Nolan Allaer 11–12, 14, 16–17 Source: Key Symbol Meaning Eligible for Rookie of the YearRookie of the Year
Team changes
NTT IndyCar Series team Cusick Motorsports entered two cars in Indy NXT in a technical partnership with HMD Motorsports, which had downsized to four cars. In recognition of the changes made to Cusick Motorsports by team director Billy Morgan, the team was renamed to Cusick Morgan Motorsports. Cape Motorsports ended their multi-year collaboration with Andretti Global in favor of an alliance with Ed Carpenter Racing (ECR) and became known as Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR. Following a sabbatical year to focus on their IndyCar Series program, Juncos Hollinger Racing returned to Indy NXT. A. J. Foyt Racing reentered the series for the first time since 2004 in a strategic alliance with HMD Motorsports. 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 2025. 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 graduated 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.
Mid-season changes
One June 1, 2026, Cusick Morgan Motorsports announced that Yuven Sundaramoorthy would replace Nicolas Stati, who was unavailable due to prior commitments, at the WWTR round. On June 29, 2026, Ricardo Escotto announced he would race in FIA Formula 3, ending his Indy NXT campaign after the first ten rounds. Juncos Hollinger Racing announced his replacement for Mid-Ohio, Portland and Laguna Seca would be Nolan Allaer, who came 16th in 2025 driving for HMD Motorsports. This meant that for the rounds at Nashville and Milwaukee, the No. 76 car would remain vacant. On August 4, 2026, HMD Motorsports confirmed Eurocup-3 driver Bart Harrison would pilot the No. 17 car for Portland and the Laguna Seca double-header, replacing Salvador de Alba. On August 5, 2026, Jordan Missig and Abel Motorsports announced that Missig would end his season early after costs of damage sustained at Nashville were too high. For the remainder of the season, 2024 Indy NXT runner-up and IndyCar driver Jacob Abel would return to pilot the No. 48 car.
Schedule The 2026 Indy NXT by Firestone schedule was unveiled by IndyCar on September 25, 2025. A total of 17 races were included, the most for the series since 2021. IconLegendOval/SpeedwayRoad courseStreet circuit RoundDateRaceTrackLocation1March 1Indy NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg St. Petersburg Street CircuitSt. Petersburg, Florida2March 15Indy NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Arlington Arlington Street CircuitArlington, Texas3March 28Indy NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Alabama Barber Motorsports ParkBirmingham, Alabama4March 295May 8Indy NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Indianapolis Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road CourseSpeedway, Indiana6May 97May 31Indy NXT by Firestone Detroit Grand Prix Detroit Street CircuitDetroit, Michigan8June 7Indy NXT by Firestone at World Wide Technology Raceway World Wide Technology RacewayMadison, Illinois9June 20Indy NXT by Firestone Grand Prix at Road America Road AmericaElkhart Lake, Wisconsin10June 2111July 4Indy NXT by Firestone Grand Prix at Mid-Ohio Mid-Ohio Sports Car CourseLexington, Ohio12July 513July 19Indy NXT by Firestone Music City Grand Prix Nashville SuperspeedwayLebanon, Tennessee14August 9Indy NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Portland Portland International RacewayPortland, Oregon15August 30Indy NXT by Firestone at the Milwaukee Mile Milwaukee MileWest Allis, Wisconsin16September 5Indy NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey WeatherTech Raceway Laguna SecaMonterey, California17September 6Source:
Schedule changes The only new track added to the schedule was the Arlington Street Circuit, which was the first track in Texas to host an Indy NXT race since the Circuit of the Americas in 2019. The weekends at Barber Motorsports Park, Road America, and the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course became double-headers, while the Laguna Seca double-header returned to its traditional role as the season finale. Iowa Speedway was not part of the schedule.
Background and series news
On September 12, 2024, IndyCar announced that the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company had signed an extension to remain as the series' sole tire supplier until at least the 2030 season. On July 31, 2025, Fox Sports parent company Fox Corporation announced that it had acquired a one-third stake in IndyCar parent company Penske Entertainment. As part of the acquisition, Fox Sports' TV contract was extended to 2030.
On December 11, 2025, IndyCar announced a new three-person independent officiating board for Indycar and Indy NXT, named IndyCar Officiating Inc. Two members – Ray Evernham and Raj Nair – were voted on to the panel by IndyCar team owners, while the third member – Ronan Morgan – was appointed by the FIA. Scot Elkins was later announced as the managing director of officiating.
Race results Rd.TrackPole positionFastest lapMost laps ledRace winnerDriverTeam1Streets of St. Petersburg Max Taylor Max Taylor Nikita Johnson Nikita JohnsonCape Motorsports Powered by ECR2Streets of Arlington Alessandro de Tullio Max Taylor Enzo Fittipaldi Max TaylorAndretti Global3Barber Motorsports Park Alessandro de Tullio Alessandro de Tullio Alessandro de Tullio Nikita JohnsonCape Motorsports Powered by ECR4 Alessandro de Tullio Enzo Fittipaldi Alessandro de Tullio Alessandro de TullioA. J. Foyt Racing5Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course Alessandro de Tullio Alessandro de Tullio Lochie Hughes Enzo FittipaldiHMD Motorsports6 Max Taylor Max Taylor Tymek Kucharczyk Tymek KucharczykHMD Motorsports7Streets of Detroit Alessandro de Tullio Enzo Fittipaldi Tymek Kucharczyk Enzo FittipaldiHMD Motorsports8World Wide Technology Raceway Lochie Hughes Myles Rowe Myles Rowe Myles RoweAbel Motorsports with Force Indy9Road America Alessandro de Tullio Bryce Aron Lochie Hughes Lochie HughesAndretti Global10 Alessandro de Tullio Tymek Kucharczyk Matteo NanniniCape Motorsports Powered by ECR11Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Enzo Fittipaldi Enzo Fittipaldi Enzo Fittipaldi Enzo FittipaldiHMD Motorsports12 Enzo Fittipaldi Enzo Fittipaldi Enzo Fittipaldi Enzo FittipaldiHMD Motorsports13Nashville Superspeedway Matteo Nannini Lochie Hughes Matteo Nannini Matteo NanniniCape Motorsports Powered by ECR14Portland International Raceway Alessandro de Tullio Jacob Abel Alessandro de Tullio Alessandro de TullioA. J. Foyt Racing15Milwaukee Mile Josh Pierson Jack Beeton Josh Pierson Max GarciaAbel Motorsports16WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca Josh Pierson Josh Pierson Josh Pierson Josh PiersonAndretti Global17 Tymek Kucharczyk Tymek Kucharczyk Tymek Kucharczyk Tymek KucharczykHMD Motorsports
Season report
Opening rounds