Photo: Penske Entertainment / Joe Skibinski

Nikita Johnson used a first corner move to take a lead he would not give up in Indy Nxt’s season-opening race in St. Petersburg.

The 18-year-old claimed his and Cape Motorsports’ maiden victory in the championship, and it was a winning start for his team’s partnership with Ed Carpenter Racing.

There was drama pre-race as radio trouble meant Chip Ganassi Racing’s Niels Koolen did not leave the pits with the rest of the field. He was able to make it out in time to join the race start, when Andretti Global’s poleman Max Taylor led the field up to racing speeds.

He covered the inside line going into the opening corner, while fellow front row starter Johnson went to the outside and had taken the lead before even reaching the apex of turn one.

The field navigated the first braking zones without issue, and HMD Motorsports’ Tymek Kucharczyk overtook Andretti’s Seb Murray and Lochie Hughes for third. Later in the lap, HMD’s Jack Beeton spun then AJ Foyt Racing’s Alessandro de Tullio drove into the rear of Andretti’s Josh Pierson, which led to a caution period.

Racing resumed on lap four of a scheduled 45, and Abel Motorsports with Force Indy’s Myles Rowe had to hold off Pierson for sixth into turn one.

Two laps later there was another caution-triggering event as Ganassi’s Carson Etter broke his front wing then drove over the top of it and into the barriers exiting turn eight.

The next restart was on lap 10, and Taylor tried reclaiming the lead around the outside of turn one but there was not enough room for him to stay alongside into turn one. Murray fought Kucharczyk twice during the lap, but could not maintain his challenge.

Everyone was setting personal best laptimes, and Taylor was mostly able to match Johnson’s pace until the next caution period when Foyt’s Nicholas Monteiro crashing out exiting turn nine on lap 17.

Murray looked to Kucharczyk’s outside approaching turn one on the lap 21 restart, and Koolen got alongside team-mate James Roe Jr on the twisty stretch between turns two and three. They rubbed wheels, then crashed, and racing was neutralised once more.

Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Alexander Koreiba and Cape’s Matteo Nannini were deemed to have violated the rules of the restart and sent to the back for the next one on lap 26. This time it took two laps for Johnson to make a 0.9-second gap, with Kucharczyk a further 0.9s back, but Taylor reduced it to 0.7s as the race became a timed encounter that would mean a 42-lap distance.

Taylor set a new fastest lap on lap 33, getting within 0.45s of Johnson, but the leader responded and had a 0.86s margin after lap 35 as he lowered his own pace. The pair continued pushing, and Johnson took the fastest lap next time by. He was now 0.971s ahead, and while Taylor did respond by lowering his own pace, both did on lap 38 and Johnson broke a second clear with another fastest lap. The debuting Kucharczyk, engineered by Tim Neff, was now 4.43s behind.

Taylor reclaimed the fastest lap on the next tour, and saving up his push-to-pass for a late-race attack. But Johnson had used it sparingly too, so as both hit the button over the final two laps it meant Johnson was still able to win by 0.699s.

Kucharczyk fell a further second behind, with Murray close behind but never attacking, and Hughes finished fifth. A lot further back was Rowe, who had continued to hold off Pierson, and HMD’s Salvador de Alba finished eighth after passing Abel’s Max Garcia on lap 26 (having conceded a place to him in a forceful turn one move on lap 11) then overtaking Cusick Morgan Motorsports’ Juan Manuel Correa on lap 31.

Beeton recovered to 11th, and Bryce Aron was Ganassi’s top driver in 18th.

Race results (42 laps)

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Photo: James Black

Indy Nxt race-winner Matteo Nannini will make a comeback to the championship this year with Cape Motorsports powered by Ed Carpenter Racing.

When Nannini was last on the grid in 2023, aged 19, he only contested the first half of the season with Juncos Hollinger Racing and his sole top-10 finish was victory with fastest lap from pole position on Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course. He came 19th in the standings.

Now 22 and owning his own team, Nannini has committed to contesting the full 2026 season with Cape as it begins its alliance with IndyCar team ECR. He recently tested with Cape at Sebring.

“I’m very happy to be back in Indy Nxt with Cape by ECR,” said Nannini. “I’m grateful to the team for this great opportunity and for the trust they’ve shown in me. Our first test together was very positive; we worked well as a group and built a strong foundation from the start. I’m looking forward to the season ahead and to enjoying every moment on track.”

During his single-seater career, Nannini won the UAE4 title, came 15th in the Formula Regional European Championship, 14th in the FIA Formula 3 Championship and raced part-time in Formula 2 where he scored one point.

He will be team-mate in Indy Nxt to rookie Nikita Johnson, who did two rounds last year but primarily raced in Formula Regional Oceania, GB3 and then the FIA Formula 3 Championship.

Enve Motorsports, the team co-founded by Matteo Nannini, is competing full-time this year in USF2000 which is two steps below Indy Nxt on the Road to Indy. It is Nannini’s long-term target to get Enve onto the Indy Nxt grid and even more ambitiously top-tier single-seaters by acquiring a charter that would enable it to race in IndyCar.

Juncos is one of IndyCar’s full-time entrants, and that led to it withdrawing from Indy Nxt last year to focus its efforts on its more resource-heavy programme. It should be back on the Indy Nxt grid in 2026, having signed Ricardo Escotto. However it will be without its founder and co-owner Ricardo Juncos’s father Ricardo Arturo Juncos, who recently passed away.

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Photo: IndyCar / Joe Skibinski

Ed Carpenter Racing has become the latest IndyCar team to join the trend of expanding into junior single-seaters.

Andretti Global and Juncos Hollinger Racing has been long-time Indy Nxt entrants, and in 2022 Dale Coyne Racing joined the grid in association with HMD Motorsports. Chip Ganassi Racing arrived this year, and for 2026 there will be the return of AJ Foyt Racing and arrival of Cusick Morgan Motorsports with HMD’s support, and now ECR.

Its venture into Indy Nxt, which began with yesterday’s post-season test, is in partnership with Indiana-based Cape Motorsports which has already signed Nikita Johnson for 2026.

Cape first appeared in Indy Lights by managing RLR Andersen Racing, an alliance between Dan Andersen and IndyCar team Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, through 2007 and ’08. In 2010 it returned in partnership with Wayne Taylor Racing, and across those three campaigns it contributed to one win and three other podiums.

A permanent Indy Nxt return was made in 2023, which has resulted in two more collaborations with IndyCar teams. A technical partnership meant Cape’s two cars were entered as ‘Andretti Cape’ for the last two seasons, and now it takes on its new partner’s IndyCar colours as it uses the ‘Cape Motorsports powered by ECR’ name.

Over the last three years, Cape has claimed three podiums, and put a car in the top five on the grid three times. With ECR it will “collaborate to provide technical support, testing opportunities for emerging drivers and career development for engineers and mechanics”.

As a driver, ECR owner Ed Carpenter came third in Indy Nxt in 2002 and ’03. Now he will get a taste of the series below it on IndyCar’s support bill — USF Pro 2000, USF2000 and the entry-level USF Juniors — as ECR also partners with Jay Howard Driver Development.

“I’m very excited to bring these highly successful programmes together to create a complete development path through the entire open-wheel ladder system,” said Carpenter.

“As ECR continues to grow and work toward becoming a championship-calibre team, this is an important step forward. This partnership should not only strengthen ECR but also Cape Motorsports and JHDD.”

JHDD ran Christian Rasmussen — now an IndyCar race-winner with ECR — to the 2020 USF2000 title and 2021 USFP2000 crown.

Liam McNeilly narrowly missed out on becoming 2024 USF Juniors champion with JHDD, and they were dominating in USF2000 this year before unexpected visa problems ruled McNeilly out of action.

“Partnering with ECR and JHDD is an incredibly exciting step for Cape Motorsports,” said team co-owners Dominic and Nicholas Cape.

“This collaboration brings together three organizations that share the same passion for discovering and shaping young talent. From karting to IndyCar, we’re building a pathway that gives drivers every opportunity to grow, learn and ultimately succeed at the highest level. For us, it’s about more than just racing, it’s about building the next generation of champions.”

ECR has a driver development programme which Indy Nxt racer Josh Pierson is a member of.

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Photo: Andretti Global

Seb Murray will remain in Indy Nxt for a second season next year, as part of Andretti Global’s line-up.

This year he made the surprise step up to Indy Nxt from fourth-tier single-seaters, having previously raced in Britain’s GB3 championship. He made the move with Andretti Cape, a tie-up between Andretti and Cape Motorsports.

In his rookie campaign on IndyCar’s support bill, Murray came 13th in the standings with two top-10 finishes. The second of those was a fifth place at Laguna Seca, his best race result. He missed one round due to concussion.

“I am thrilled and excited to join Andretti Global for my second year in Indy Nxt,” said the 18-year-old Scot.

“I really enjoyed my debut season with Andretti Cape and look forward to building on the knowledge and experience I have gained during the 2025 season. Andretti Global is a proven race-winning team, and I look forward to continuing my development with them in 2026.”

Rob Edwards, who is Andretti’s Indy Nxt team principal but will become chief performance officer of the parent TWG Motorsports company in January while Ron Ruzewski takes over his current role, commented on Murray’s programme.

“Seb made huge strides in his rookie season with Andretti Cape,” he said. “He had limited open-wheel experience before last season, but impressed us all with his approach and maturity, both inside and outside the car. We are excited to have Seb continue to grow with us as part of the Andretti Indy Nxt team and look forward to that first taste of champagne together.”

Murray is Andretti Global’s first confirmed driver for 2026, while Andretti Cape has declared it will enter two cars and one will be driven full-time by Nikita Johnson.

The 17-year-old has plentiful single-seater experience, having been YACademy Winter Series champion and third in USF Juniors in 2022, then 2023 USF2000 runner-up, 2024 USF Pro 2000 runner-up and 11th in GB3 as a part-timer and becoming its youngest ever race winner.

This year he has raced part-time in GB3 again, and currently sits 15th in the points with two podiums. At the start of 2025 he came third in Formula Regional Oceania with one victory, and joined HMD Motorsports for two Indy Nxt rounds. He finished seventh on his third and final start.

Since then he has gained further European experience by racing in the FIA Formula 3 Championship. He debuted with DAMS, then did three rounds with Hitech GP. A 13th place was his best result.

“They have demonstrated the ability to win and to develop young drivers, such as Kyle Kirkwood and Jak Crawford,” the moustacheoed Johnson said of Cape. “I am focused on working with the team to win and advance my career.”

His new team manager Dominic Cape added “Nikita has been gaining great experience in New Zealand and Europe” and “having him compete for Cape Motorsports adds a solid, fast driver to our programme” and “I expect to see Nikita at the front of the field”.

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Photo: Penske Entertainment / Chris Jones

Michael d’Orlando was quickest by a narrow margin in free practice for Indy Nxt’s season finale at Nashville Superspeedway.

The Andretti Cape driver impressed at the concrete oval last year as a part-timer, and came into this weekend with just two weekends of race experience in 2025 and only one on an oval.

It was Lochie Hughes who set the pace early on in the 45-minute morning session, posting a 25.8043s to narrowly lead Andretti Global team-mate Salvador de Alba.

After 11 minutes, Dennis Hauger made it an Andretti 1-2-3 by getting within 0.0113s of Hughes and ahead of de Alba.

HMD Motorsports’ Caio Collet was the next driver to lap sub-26s shortly after, then on his next lap went quickest with a 25.7052s. That put him 0.0956s ahead of de Alba, and nobody else was able to threaten them as yellow flags waved for a minute-and-a-half.

But Collet’s lap got deleted, and the next changes in the top 10 came at the 20-minute mark as d’Orlando improved to fifth and Abel Motorsports’ Jordan Missig went seventh fastest. Hauger then made a marginal gain in third, and Missig umproved again to sixth.

De Alba was usurped by Hauger, who posted a 25.7544s lap that d’Orlando got within 0.019s of half a minute later.

With just under 24 minutes to go Collet reclaimed first place with a 25.7473s, but almost immediately after d’Orlando set a 25.6766s that would not be beaten.

“Feels good to be back,” d’Orlando said after the session. “We’ve got a good starting point for the rest of the weekend.”

He “felt comfortable right from the start” but his pace was more reflective of a focus on familiarisation as he “didn’t get too many laps to do a quali sim” due to running in traffic and also “didn’t get to do the test [here] so I’m not sure what the high line was like at that point”.

Two minutes after the new benchmark was set and as the second half of practice began, Hughes got within 0.0439s of d’Orlando and de Alba came 0.0517s shy of his pace.

Rowe went seventh fastest with 20 minutes left on the clock, and became the eighth driver to break the 26s barrier. Three laps later on a busy track he became d’Orlando’s closest rival, lapping just 0.0363s slower than him.

Trips to the pits became more regular across the field thereon, with Andretti Global’s James Roe Jr in seventh one of only a few to improve.

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Niels Koolen broke into the top 10 with a few minutes to go, but also had several loose moments on the high line in traffic, and Josh Pierson’s successive improvements three minutes from the end put him seventh.

Everyone was pit-bound with two minutes of practice remaining, due to Collet slowing on track and causing yellow flags.

Free practice results

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Photo: Chris Owens

Andretti Global’s Dennis Hauger set the pace in Indy Nxt’s first practice session at Portland on Friday afternoon.

The championship leader’s final lap was his fastest, setting a 1m02.8638s to go almost two thirds of a second clear of the rest of the field.

This weekend’s 19-car entry list is completed by debutant Nicholas Monteiro at HMD Motorsports and series returnee Michael d’Orlando at Andretti Cape.

Formula Regional Oceania podium-finisher Monteiro is a third-year USF Pro 2000 driver and is currently eighth in the standings there, but the 20-year-old Brazilian is missing its races at Portland to enter Indy Nxt.

D’Orlando brings Andretti Cape’s line-up back up to two cars for the last three rounds of 2025. The 23-year-old had the budget to do seven races in 2024 with the team, taking a best finish of fourth, and before that was 2022 USF2000 champion and fourth in USFP2000 in 2023.

Hauger was quickest early on in the 45-minute FP1, with title rival Caio Collet knocking him off top spot. The HMD driver remained there for much of the first half of FP1 before Hauger moved back ahead.

D’Orlando briefly jumped up to first place late on, but laptimes quickly tumbled as drivers put on fresh tyres in the final 10 minutes. Andretti Global’s Lochie Hughes and Abel Motorsports’ Callum Hedge both lowered the pace, but Hauger was back on top by the time the chequered flag fell.

Hughes set his personal best as he took the chequered flag to reduce Hauger’s gap at the top, only for him to improve moments later to end the day quickest by 0.6365 seconds.

It was a relatively clean session which ran green throughout. Hedge had a wide moment early on, running through the dirt at turn four before returning to the track. He continued without issue and ended FP1 in fourth, just behind HMD’s Josh Pierson whose penultimate lap put him third.

Andretti Global’s James Roe Jr also had a wide moment in the latter stages but managed to avoid hitting any barriers.

D’Orlando was fifth fastest on his return, 0.7816s off Hauger’s pace but only 0.1451s shy of second place, with Collet and Abel with Force Indy’s Myles Rowe in sixth and seventh.

Salvador de Alba in eighth was the last driver within a second of his team-mate Hauger.

Free practice results

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Photo: Aaron Skillman

Andretti Global’s Salvador de Alba topped Indy Nxt’s truncated practice session at Iowa Speedway on Friday.

There was due to be 45 minutes of running, but the chequered flag was waved five minutes early during the second yellow flag period of the day.

De Alba jumped to the top of the order in the second half of practice by lapping in 19.4445 seconds at an average speed of 165.517mph. That was 10mph slower than what Indy Nxt drivers were achieving around Iowa a month ago, due to a decision by IndyCar to reduce engine power for this weekend.

The cause of the second yellow flag period was rain hitting the circuit with 13 minutes left on the clock. Once the shower had passed, there was not enough time for the track to dry and enable any further running to take place.

De Alba had also been the first driver to hit the top of the times, before points-leading team-mate Dennis Hauger moved ahead. Hauger lowered the benchmark in the first 20 minutes, improving to 19.4969s.

A brief yellow flag period caused by Abel Motorsports’ Jordan Missig spinning, and once green flags waved again his Abel stablemate Myles Rowe jumped up the order. He first rose to second place, just behind Hauger, before setting a lap 0.04s quicker than him.

Rowe remained at the top until just before the wet weather came, when de Alba went quickest by 0.0114s. He ended the session second, ahead of Hauger and Andretti Cape’s Ricardo Escotto.

Hauger’s title rivals Lochie Hughes (Andretti Global) and Caio Collet (HMD Motorsports) were fifth and sixth, both within 0.2s of de Alba, and completing a top 10 spread out by less than a third of a second was Neils Koolen (Chip Ganassi Racing), James Roe Jr (Andretti Global), test pacesetter Josh Pierson (HMD) and Callum Hedge (Abel).

Andretti Cape only had one car on track, as Seb Murray was not cleared by IndyCar’s medical team to return to the cockpit.

Murray and Escotto collided in last weekend’s race at Mid-Ohio and it was initially believed that Murray was uninjured. However he actually picked up a concussion, and after heading to Iowa and then being screened by IndyCar’s medical team he was not cleared for a return to the cockpit. The decision was made a few hours before practice began.

Cape Motorsports provided further detail, saying Murray’s symptoms had “worsened throughout the week”.

Free practice results

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Photo: Andretti Global

Seb Murray will make the surprise jump up to Indy Nxt this year with Andretti Cape after testing for the team at Sebring.

The tie-up between Andretti Global and Cape Motorsports which began last year has now completed its two car line-up for 2025, with a further four drivers in Andretti’s main squad. Murray will be team-mate to Ricardo Escotto.

As reported by Formula Scout, Murray was in action with Andretti Cape at Sebring last week in his first taste of Indy Nxt machinery. Laptimes from the test were not published.

“I can’t wait to be racing with Andretti Cape in Indy Nxt this year and would like to thank everybody on the team for giving me this opportunity,” said Murray.

“I’m confident that 2025 is going to be a fun season with lots of new experiences for me, such as competing on ovals for the first time. Testing with Andretti Cape Indy Nxt in Sebring was a nice way to get to know my team=mates, engineer and the #2 crew ahead of the season. I know that Indy Nxt is a big step up, but I am prepared to take on the challenge. I can’t wait to get started.”

The 17-year-old Dubai-based and backed Scot came 19th in Formula 4 United Arab Emirates and 18th in GB3 last year, and in 2023 he raced exclusively in F4 as a single-seater rookie. He came 17th in GB4, with three ninth places from his six races, was a points-free 30th in F4 UAE and also made a Spanish F4 cameo.

“The Andretti Cape program that we launched last year proved to be successful, and I think that this is a great place for Seb to get his start in American open-wheel racing,” Andretti’s head of driver development J-F Thormann said.

“After seeing what he can do in F4 and GB3, we believe that this step to Indy Nxt early in his racing career is going to be an excellent and essential learning experience for him.”

Cape’s president Dominic Cape claimed his side of the team tie-up was “extremely excited” to have Murray in the cockpit.

“Last week’s test in Sebring gave us some insight into working with him, and for his first time in an Indy Nxt car, he was able to adapt and give us some great feedback,” he commented. “The team is eager to work with him the rest of the season and help advance his career to the next level.”

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Photo: Matt Fraver / Penske Entertainment

Indy Nxt teams were testing at Sebring this week, and for many drivers it was a crucial two days of learning the Dallara IL-15 car.

On track through Wednesday and Thursday were Abel Motorsports (with their additional Force Indy-partnered car for Myles Rowe), Andretti Global, Andretti Cape, the returning Chip Ganassi Racing and HMD Motorsports. Absent from proceedings were Juncos Hollinger Racing and Miller Vinatieri Racing, the latter which has done some private running in the off-season.

While it was organised under the supervision of the championship, it was considered an ‘open test’ rather than an offical timed test that is part of the championship’s pre-season schedule.

All signed drivers at the attending teams were on track bar HMD’s Josh Pierson, who is busy competing in Formula Regional Oceania on the other side of the planet. However his #14 car was still present at Sebring.

HMD was also running reigning Euroformula champion Brad Benavides and USF Juniors champion Max Taylor on both days. Benavides, 23, is yet to announce his racing plans for 2025 and has previously competed in single-seaters’ second tier as he did two thirds of the 2023 Formula 2 season and came away with a best finish of 10th place.

Fellow American racer Taylor, still only 17, also came third in USF2000 in 2024 and cameoed in GB3. He has raced exclusively for the Velocity Racing Development team over the past two years, and has already committed to stepping up to USF Pro 200 – the rung below Indy Nxt on IndyCar’s support bill – for 2025.

Abel Motorsports ran its two signed drivers in its main line-up plus Jacob Abel, son of the team owner and the 2024 Indy Nxt runner-up. He won three races last year with the team, and earlier this week was announced as having secured a full-time IndyCar seat with Dale Coyne Racing for this season.

Andretti Cape had a second car on track for Seb Murray, who as a sophomore in both championships came 19th in Formula 4 United Arab Emirates and 18th in GB3 last year.

The last official Indy Nxt test was on Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course in October 2024, and a private test at Barber Motorsports Park contested by Abel and HMD followed later that month.

Being at Sebring was particularly significant for IndyCar behemoth Ganassi, which previously raced in Indy Nxt back in 2007 and ’08 and needs to rack up mileage before the 2025 season begins. It did not contest the IMS test three months ago with its two drivers Jonathan Browne and Niels Koolen.

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Photo: Chris Jones

Andretti Global will continue to co-run a car in Indy Nxt with Cape Motorsports next year, and it will be driven by Ricardo Escotto.

Cape had a long history in USF2000, two rungs below Indy Nxt on IndyCar’s support ladder, before joining the second-tier of single-seaters last year as a two-car entry. A podium and two other top-five finishes were the team’s best results.

For 2024 it continued with two cars, but raced in partnership with Andretti. Results improved, and Salvador de Alba claimed two podiums en route to fifth in the standings. He moves into Andretti’s own line-up for 2025, and fellow Mexican racer Escotto replaces him after competing part-time with Juncos Hollinger Racing this season. Two 13ths were his best results.

“I’m super excited to be with Andretti Cape in 2025. I’ve only worked with the team for a short amount of time, but after getting to do the test with them in Indianapolis, I feel like we already work together really well,” said Escotto.

“This is a great career opportunity for me to be able to race in Indy Nxt, so I’m looking forward to working hard with the team and getting some good results next season.”

The 19-year-old came 22nd in Spanish Formula 4 two years ago, then spent two seasons a step below Indy Nxt in USF Pro 2000. As a rooke he came 13th in the standings with one win, and in his sophomore campaign he made the podium twice and improved to ninth in the points table. He also recently made a Euroformula cameo.

“We are extremely happy to have Ricardo in our line-up for the 2025 season,” Cape’s president Dominic Cape said.

“We had the opportunity to evaluate him while we were at the Chris Griffis test last week, and he immediately fit in with everyone on the team. Ricardo had excellent feedback and performed really well. We are all looking forward to working with him.”

Andretti’s president J-F Thormann added: “After a successful first season for our technical partnership with Cape Motorsports, we’re looking forward to bringing Ricardo into the mix as we continue to grow the Andretti Cape Indy Nxt programme. Ricardo was strong in USFP2000 the last two seasons and after getting a few Indy Nxt starts under his belt last season, the natural next step was for him to move up to Indy Nxt full-time.”

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