Brabham replaces Nannini for Iowa Indy NXT

Indy NXT veteran Matthew Brabham will replace Matteo Nannini at Juncos Hollinger Racing for this weekend’s race at Iowa Speedway. The one-off opportunity for Brabham comes after JHR split with Nannini – a winner for the team earlier this year – and …

Indy NXT veteran Matthew Brabham will replace Matteo Nannini at Juncos Hollinger Racing for this weekend’s race at Iowa Speedway. The one-off opportunity for Brabham comes after JHR split with Nannini — a winner for the team earlier this year — and places the 29-year-old in the seat at a track where he ran up front for Andretti Autosport in 2022.

“I’m really grateful and excited to represent Juncos Hollinger Racing this weekend in Iowa,” he said. “Thank you to Ricardo [Juncos] and Brad [Hollinger] for the opportunity. It’s going to be challenging, having missed the Indy NXT testing and races this year. However, my confidence is high as I was definitely the guy to beat on all the ovals last year.

“There are a few tricks to Iowa that I hope I can capitalize on again. The new Firestone tires will change things up a little and there are a lot of unknowns, but we will do our best to make sure we have a great run at Iowa. It’s a great feeling to be back!”

Juncos will name the driver of the No. 75 entry for the other rounds after Iowa, and wants to use the car as a tool to improve its ability to catch and outrun NXT’s bigger teams.

“This is a one-off race in Iowa but I think Matthew’s presence gives us a mega opportunity for our development as we look to be the team we want to be next season,” Juncos said.