Callum Hedge will continue his Indy NXT education with Abel Motorsports, moving across from HMD Motorsports, where the New Zealander placed fourth in the championship as a rookie. Hedge joins the returning Yuven Sundaramoorthy and fellow ex-HMD …
Callum Hedge will continue his Indy NXT education with Abel Motorsports, moving across from HMD Motorsports, where the New Zealander placed fourth in the championship as a rookie.
Hedge joins the returning Yuven Sundaramoorthy and fellow ex-HMD driver Myles Rowe as Abel expands its roster.
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“I feel incredibly pleased to be joining Abel Motorsports in Indy NXT for 2025,” Hedge said. “2024 was a great season for me, and I really feel like I learned a lot about not only the Indy NXT car but the series as a whole. That should make 2025 a bit smoother, only having to focus on extracting the most out of the car as possible.
“Our goal in 2025 is simple: contend for the Indy NXT by Firestone championship. 2024 was a time for learning and growing, but now joining Abel Motorsports I feel really confident about our chances of being a winner in 2025 and continuing the great lineage of Kiwis in the IndyCar system.”
Team owner Bill Abel is pleased to welcome Hedge, who comes to the program with support from Tasman Motorsports and other businesses entities from New Zealand.
“I had the opportunity to meet Callum for the first time in 2023 over in New Zealand and was impressed with his skill behind the wheel of a race car, and from that point on always kept tabs on him to watch his progression and see where his career was taking him.
“Callum’s first season in Indy NXT was great, he really showed some flashes of brilliance, and I think bringing that into what we have going on at Abel Motorsports will be a great match. There is no reason that Callum can’t compete for podiums, wins, and ultimately the 2025 championship.”
MiguelMa García will drive Juncos Hollinger Racing’s No.75 entry for the 2025 Indy NXT season. The Paraguayan competed in the 2023 Italian GT Championship with the Lamborghini-backed Imperiale Racing, where he secured two podium finishes in his …
MiguelMa García will drive Juncos Hollinger Racing’s No.75 entry for the 2025 Indy NXT season.
The Paraguayan competed in the 2023 Italian GT Championship with the Lamborghini-backed Imperiale Racing, where he secured two podium finishes in his debut year of GT3 racing.
“We are excited to welcome MiguelMa as our new driver for the 2025 Indy NXT season,” said Ricardo Juncos, co-owner and founder of JHR. “His talent and determination are evident, and we believe he will bring a fresh perspective and energy to our team. MiguelMa is the first team member of Paraguayan nationality, allowing us to continue strengthening ties within the Latin community and increasing cultural diversity in the series.”
García’s racing background includes participation in the Paraguay National Rally Championship in 2021. In 2022, he competed in the TC2000 and Super TC2000 touring car championships in Argentina, achieving one pole position and four podiums in his debut season.
“It is truly a life-changing endeavor and privilege to have the support of India Mena region Paraguay trade and investment desk. Their support is what makes joining Juncos Hollinger Racing for the upcoming 2025 Indy NXT Season and beyond possible,” said Garcia.
“I would like to thank Ricardo Juncos for his trust and belief in me to pull this off. I would also like to thank (co-owner) Brad Hollinger for welcoming me with open arms to JHR. We will work together to make 2025 the greatest year of my career to date.”
Ricardo Escotto is the first driver confirmed by the Andretti Cape Indy NXT team. The 19-year-old from Mexico made five NXT starts last season for Juncos Hollinger Racing with bests result of 13th at Monterey and Milwaukee. “I’m super excited to be …
Ricardo Escotto is the first driver confirmed by the Andretti Cape Indy NXT team. The 19-year-old from Mexico made five NXT starts last season for Juncos Hollinger Racing with bests result of 13th at Monterey and Milwaukee.
“I’m super excited to be with Andretti Cape in 2025,” Escotto said. “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. 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.”
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Cape Motorsports’ Dominic Cape was happy with what he saw from Escotto during the recent all-series test on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
“We are extremely happy to have Ricardo in our lineup for the 2025 season,” Cape said. “We had the opportunity to evaluate him while we were at the Chris Griffis test, 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.”
Escotto, through the technical alliance struck between Cape and Andretti, joins the four Andretti Global NXT drivers in Salvador De Alba, Dennis Hauger, Lochie Hughes, and James Roe and awaits the confirmation of Andretti Cape’s second driver.
Jamie Chadwick is aiming for an IndyCar drive in 2025 over a return to the Indy NXT series following her test at Barber three weeks ago. The Andretti driver got behind the wheel an IndyCar for the first time at the end of September, running on one …
Jamie Chadwick is aiming for an IndyCar drive in 2025 over a return to the Indy NXT series following her test at Barber three weeks ago.
The Andretti driver got behind the wheel an IndyCar for the first time at the end of September, running on one of the most physically demanding circuits to test her potential. At the time Chadwick said she would need “an honest discussion” with the team and herself to work out if it was the right time to try and step up into IndyCar, and the 26-year-old has now made that call.
“I think the decision in my head’s firmed up,” Chadwick told RACER. “I think the toss-up was whether to stay in Indy NXT for a third year or look to try and move up. And really, what the test has shown me is yes, there are things to work on, yes, I wasn’t winning a championship necessarily in Indy NXT, but I feel like the learning that I had in Indy NXT is now kind of reached its limit, and really I want to make that step up now.
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“The capability I felt like I had in the car, and everything that I did on the day felt like it was something that I can go into a good race program.
“So in that sense, it’s firmed up what I want to do. Whether that’s something that is possible and plausible is another factor, but definitely from a personal point of view, I feel like it helped me make that decision.”
The decision has been made all the more tricky due to the fact that Andretti doesn’t have a vacancy in IndyCar, and the charter system has had a limiting impact on part-time deals, meaning Chadwick will have to look for one of the few full-time options elsewhere. Having had time to reflect on the test, however, she maintains that the performance difference between Indy NXT and IndyCar is not an overly daunting challenge.
“Barber is one of the best tracks we go to. So I actually got to feel the IndyCar in kind of its full glory, but also one of the most physical tracks,” she said. “So I think a really good test for both me and the team, in many ways. The step actually didn’t feel massive at all from Indy NXT, I feel like it prepares you very well for that jump up. It didn’t really feel like a massive step up.
“You’ve just got a bigger team around you, it’s more refined, and there’s a lot of better things about it, which was cool. It was super-physical. So definitely, if that’s looking like the future, I need to work on that. But I think it gave me a good idea of what the positives and potential weaknesses were, which is exactly what what we wanted from it.”
Chadwick remains part of the Williams Formula 1 set-up, and admitted she would still like to get behind the wheel of an F1 car, but is not looking at IndyCar as a way of trying to open doors on the F1 grid.
“I definitely feel a little bit older than than I did a few years ago! So it is hard,” she said. “When you look at the young drivers coming in now and how competitive Formula 1 is, there’s an element of realism that needs to come in, and that’s partly why this pathway has taken me down the IndyCar route.
“I don’t want to give up on single-seater racing yet. I really want to get to the highest level I can get to. I strongly believe IndyCar is that, and the affiliation of with Williams is fantastic to stay aligned with the Formula 1 side.
“I’d love to have the chance to drive a Formula 1 car at some point in my career. So never say never, but at the same time I think my focus is predominantly on going to IndyCar now.”
So far, so good for Myles Rowe and ABEL Motorsports. Rowe led the Chris Griffis Memorial Test for Indy NXT drivers on October 18 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with the team he has joined for the 2025 season, ABEL Motorsports. Rowe’s top time …
So far, so good for Myles Rowe and ABEL Motorsports.
Rowe led the Chris Griffis Memorial Test for Indy NXT drivers on October 18 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with the team he has joined for the 2025 season, ABEL Motorsports. Rowe’s top time was 1m15.1848s in the No. 99 ABEL Motorsports with Force Indy car, turned during the afternoon session on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course.
“Taking it step by step,” Rowe said. “I’m doing what I’m supposed to do. We’re on the right path. We’re getting somewhere.”
2023 USF Pro 2000 champion Rowe joined the ABEL team for the 2025 season after racing for HMD Motorsports in his first season of the IndyCar development series in 2024. He placed 11th in the standings, recording two top-five finishes.
Series newcomer Dennis Hauger made an strong debut by ending up second at 1m15.3285s in the No. 28 Andretti Global car. FIA Formula 3 champion and FIA Formula 2 race winner Hauger, from Norway, led the morning session at 1m15.6896s.
Another Andretti Global and series newcomer, 2024 USF Pro 2000 champion Lochie Hughes, was third overall at 1m15.3736s in the No. 26 machine. Series veteran Callum Hedge was fourth at 1m15.4443s in the No. 17 ABEL Motorsports car.
Liam Sceats rounded out the top five at 1m15.5162s in the No. 30 HMD Motorsports car. USF Pro 2000 veteran Sceats has not been named to a car yet for the 2025 Indy NXT season but grabbed attention up and down the IMS pit lane with his performance.
Twenty-two drivers from six teams combined to turn 1,572 laps during the test, named in memory of Chris Griffis, the team manager of Schmidt Peterson Motorsports who passed away suddenly in September 2011.
The 2025 Indy NXT by Firestone season starts Sunday, March 2 on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida.
We didn’t know it while she was working her way up the ranks in off-road and stock car racing, but Hailie Deegan had her eye on IndyCar. The daughter of motocross legend Brian Deegan was focused on the world of roofs and fenders at the time, and …
We didn’t know it while she was working her way up the ranks in off-road and stock car racing, but Hailie Deegan had her eye on IndyCar. The daughter of motocross legend Brian Deegan was focused on the world of roofs and fenders at the time, and thanks to the former SRX series which pitted young drivers like Deegan against some of the biggest names from NASCAR and IndyCar, the 23-year-old from Southern California started to think about open-wheel racing as something more than an entertaining sport to watch from afar.
It took competing in SRX and a disappointing run in the Xfinity Series — which led to a split with her AM Racing team in July — for Deegan to seriously consider diverting her career to IndyCar and its Indy NXT development series. Within a week of the Xfinity exit, she was in Iowa, taking in the short-oval doubleheader featuring IndyCar and Indy NXT. By mid-October, it was official: Deegan was headed to NXT with HMD Motorsports, winners of the 2022 championship with Linus Lundqvist and in 2023 with Christian Rasmussen.
“I’ve always watched IndyCar racing. I paid attention to a lot of open-wheel racing; that’s really the only type of sport I watch,” Deegan told RACER as she prepared to drive an Indy NXT car for the first time on Friday at the Chris Griffis Test at IMS. “I don’t watch any ball sports or anything, my life’s consumed by all forms of racing. I hadn’t spoken to many of past IndyCar legends up until SRX. And talking to them, they explained to me the whole open-wheel world, IndyCar world, and that really sparked my interest in it more. So I definitely was paying more attention to it than I was in the past.
“And then I went to Iowa, got to watch the races there, paying attention to the Indy NXT series. I just loved a lot of traits about it. I’ve loved road course racing for a long time. I grew up karting. I’ve done IMSA races and I just always enjoyed it a lot in the past. On the NASCAR schedule, I would always mark the road course races, like, OK, these are going to be our stronger races. Obviously I did a lot of the NASCAR stuff, which is oval, but still liked the road course stuff. It has always been some of my favorite racing.”
The wealth of data available to a driver and greatest test time helped Deegan make the decision to move to Indy NXT. James Black/Penske Entertainment
The Xfinity-to-NXT move is a new one, and with experience gained in vehicles that are nothing like the low, light and powerful Dallara IL15-AERs that come with knife-edge handling, Deegan’s learning curve in IndyCar’s open-wheel equivalent of the Xfinity Series means she’s effectively starting over.
Undaunted, she’s ready to embark on a multi-year program with HMD that will see her move to Indiana and embed herself with the vast team that’s based on the outskirts of Indianapolis. Deegan’s actions — uprooting herself and diving head-first into NXT with HMD — speak to how seriously she’s taking this new chapter in her life and career.
“Making this decision was not a simple one for me, or a quick one like in the moment, a whim,” she said. “It was definitely very thought out and methodical with the plan of what would it take to be successful in a series like this, in these cars. I definitely am fully committed to doing as much as it takes to be successful in this form of racing. Also, there’s a lot more resources to be successful, whether it’s track time, testing; there’s so much test time that you get before the season actually starts.
“And I think from that side, what really attracted me is all the data that they have, being able to see all of the throttle traces, brake traces; that’s something that I’ve never really had access to before, and that’s why I really fell in love with the IMSA side of things when I did a few races there and felt like I was able to excel at it pretty quick. It was because there was so much data and resources to go off of, which I’ve never had in the past.
“You have all these resources at your fingertips. If you use them, you can be successful. All the successful guys obviously do utilize every bit of that. And also, I think the physical standpoint from it, like seeing drivers super involved in the training and fitness side of things, I love that. With my family coming from the Moto side, the two-wheel world, that is super important, and so it’s always been important to me, but I feel like it hasn’t been valued in the past, and in this racing, it is. If you’re willing to put the work in and commit to it, you can figure it out.”
Chris Griffiths/Penske Entertainment
Deegan will be surrounded by title-contending NXT veterans and rookies alike at HMD in 2025. Owing to the grand education she’ll undergo at new tracks in a new form of racing, she’s setting expectations that are appropriate for the challenge.
“When it comes to goals for myself, I wrote down my goals by the end of the season, and not one of them had ‘finished in the top five or top 10,’” she said. “My goals are about progression, constantly getting better every single race, building my notebook, things like that. Learning about the technical side of the cars, the setups. Instead of saying, ‘I’m fighting understeer or overseer,’ I want to be able to go and say, ‘Hey, I want to make this change on the car. I think we should go to this or that.’ That’s really where I’m putting my focus and goals. It’s the progression side of things.”
Dennis Hauger’s next move in open-wheel racing will take place in America with Andretti Global in the Indy NXT series. The 21-year-old Norwegian comes to Andretti after winning the 2021 FIA Formula 3 championship and placing inside the top 10 in …
Dennis Hauger’s next move in open-wheel racing will take place in America with Andretti Global in the Indy NXT series. The 21-year-old Norwegian comes to Andretti after winning the 2021 FIA Formula 3 championship and placing inside the top 10 in Formula 2 in 2022 and ’23; he’s currently ninth in the standings with four races left to run.
“I’m really grateful for the opportunity to race with Andretti Global,” Hauger said. “I’m looking forward to starting things up with the team and getting to know everyone. We’re already getting down to work before the season starts with testing, and I’m excited to go out there in an Indy NXT car and get that experience. I can’t wait for the 2025 season — I hope it’s a great one.”
Hauger joins the previously announced Lochie Hughes, Salvador de Alba, and James Roe at Andretti.
“Dennis is a driver who has been on our radar for some time, and we’re excited to see him make the jump into American open-wheel racing,” said team president J-F Thormann. “He’s no stranger to performing in highly competitive development series, so I can’t think of a better next step for him than to join the Indy NXT grid. We think he’s going to be the perfect addition to round out our 2025 Indy NXT driver lineup, and we’re proud to be a part of his Indy NXT debut.”
James Roe will pursue the Indy NXT title one more time with Andretti Global. The Irishman placed sixth in the championship last season, his third in NXT. “James has been a key part of the success our Indy NXT team has had over the past few seasons, …
James Roe will pursue the Indy NXT title one more time with Andretti Global. The Irishman placed sixth in the championship last season, his third in NXT.
“James has been a key part of the success our Indy NXT team has had over the past few seasons, and we’re thankful that he’ll call Andretti Indy NXT his home for the 2025 season,” said team president J-F Thormann. “The step up into Indy NXT can be a difficult one, and James is proving that committing to the development process and being patient does pay off. His consistency and tenacity were on full display in 2024, and we’re all looking forward to watching him continue to progress and succeed as a driver in the upcoming season.”
Roe also hopes to complement his NXT program with outings in IMSA’s WeatherTech SportsCar Championship to further prepare for a desired move up to the NTT IndyCar Series in 2026.
“My partners and I are thrilled to return to Andretti Indy NXT in the No. 29 Topcon Andretti Dallara to race for the 2025 Indy NXT by Firestone championship,” Roe said. “We enjoyed great moments of success together this past season and our 2025 goal is to make Andretti back-to-back Indy NXT champions.”
Alexander Koreiba has made his home in IMSA in recent years, and if the native of Branson, Missouri has his way, he’ll take what he’s learned in prototypes and apply it towards open-wheel racing. The 26-year-old is set to make his Indy NXT debut …
Alexander Koreiba has made his home in IMSA in recent years, and if the native of Branson, Missouri has his way, he’ll take what he’s learned in prototypes and apply it towards open-wheel racing.
The 26-year-old is set to make his Indy NXT debut with Juncos Hollinger Racing on Friday during the Chris Griffis Test on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, which will mark his first outing in something other than LMP3 machinery since he tested in USF Pro 2000 for Jay Howard Driver Development at Barber Motorsports Park in 2021.
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“The reason I got into racing is because I want to race at the Indianapolis 500 and win it,” Koreiba told RACER. “My career turned towards sports cars because that’s where the opportunities took me, but I’m young enough to where I can make the move to Indy NXT and go after my dream of IndyCar.”
Koreiba was a race winner and runner-up finisher in IMSA’s Prototype Challenge series in 2022, teamed with IndyCar veteran Memo Gidley (main image). He made his WeatherTech SportsCar Championship debut in 2023 driving an LMP3 car and continued with the class this season in HSR.
“I’m absolutely thrilled to join Juncos Hollinger Racing for the Chris Griffis Test,” he said. “After the past several seasons in sports cars, returning to an open-wheel car has been a major goal of mine. This campaign began through conversations with some of my closest driver mentors, most notably my former teammate and IndyCar podium finisher, Memo Gidley.
“Memo’s experience in IndyCar, from battling through adversity to standing on the podium, has been a huge inspiration to me. He’s shown me what it takes to thrive in motorsports, his guidance and influence has been instrumental in my return to open-wheel.”
With Indy NXT budgets falling in a similar range as LMP2, Koreiba wants to get acclimated on Friday and search for the rest of the funding needed to launch himself into IndyCar’s top development series.
“This test is just the beginning,” he said. “I’m pursuing a full-season campaign in the Indy NXT by Firestone series for 2025.”
Hailie Deegan’s next turn in motor racing will take place in the NTT IndyCar Series’ top development category with HMD Motorsports, where the young veteran of off-road and stock car racing will tackle a full season of Indy NXT. The 23-year-old …
Hailie Deegan’s next turn in motor racing will take place in the NTT IndyCar Series’ top development category with HMD Motorsports, where the young veteran of off-road and stock car racing will tackle a full season of Indy NXT.
The 23-year-old daughter of action sports legend Brian Deegan will make her open-wheel debut later this week on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course during the annual Chris Griffis Test on October 18.
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“I am excited about the opportunity and look forward to working with a proven program in HMD Motorsports,” Deegan said. “I have much to learn, but I am ready to go. The team brings a wealth of knowledge for me to pull from, and I look forward to soaking up as much of that as possible before my race debut next March in St. Petersburg.”
Deegan joins championship front-runner Caio Collet, HMD newcomer Bryce Aron, Josh Pierson, and Tommy Smith among the confirmed HMD drivers for 2025.
“Hailie, and especially the Deegan name, are huge in motorsports, and we welcome them to the HMD Motorsports family,” said team president Mike Maurini. “Hailie has already been out to the shop and is taking the move to open-wheel racing seriously. She is looking for a place in the Indianapolis area to be immersed with the team and is already working with her engineer. We want to make sure she and all the other HMD Motorsports drivers are as ready as possible for every on-track session.”
Deegan’s surprise Indy NXT move comes after she recently returned to her off-road roots in Nitrocross. Qnigan/Nitrocross
Deegan’s move to open-wheel racing comes after she recently appeared in the Side-by-Side class of Nitrocross at Utah Motorsports Campus, where she hinted at today’s announcement, saying, “We’re working on stuff, just can’t say a whole lot right now.”
In Utah she competed against her father’s rival Travis Pastrana, as well as Kira and Mika Block, children of the late Ken Block.
“It’s definitely cool,” Deegan told RACER of her brief return to off-road racing. “The Block kids are racing and they’re all great kids. We’re all here having fun, having a blast, and it’s a great time.
“It’s been really cool because I like racing UTVs. Can-Ams are great fun to drive, I drive them all the time at my house, so I haven’t really got away from dirt, but I’d say (I have) the racing side, so it was good to be back.”
Deegan finished the first day of racing in Utah in fourth, but didn’t advance to the eight-car final on the second day, highlighting the highly-competitive nature of the SxS class which as well as the Blocks and Pastrana also includes the likes of rising off-road talents Kainan Baker, Gray Leadbetter, Cash LeCroy, and Mia Chapman.
“The cream always rises to the top. There’s always a fast couple of guys and I think it’s like that in all series,” Deegan said. “There’s always so many different series that I’ve raced and there’s always the really fast guys.
“This one’s pretty competitive too, especially since everyone’s been racing all year and I haven’t been here at all, so everyone’s got it all figured out.”
While Deegan’s next move is now set, a future move to Nitrocross’ premier Group E class, where her father raced four times last season, is almost definitely not on the cards.
“I don’t think so, I’m not into electric stuff so I don’t know if I’d want to do that,” she said of the potential of racing in Nitrocross’ main game. “Plus I’ve never been into rallycross cars, that was always my Dad’s thing. I’ve never taken an interest in it, it’s just not my forte.”
