With Yuven Sundaramoorthy needing to pause his plans to return to Abel Motorsports’ Indy NXT program in 2025, the team has signed Jordan Missig to complete its roster. The Illinois native made five NXT starts with the team last season, earning a …
With Yuven Sundaramoorthy needing to pause his plans to return to Abel Motorsports’ Indy NXT program in 2025, the team has signed Jordan Missig to complete its roster.
The Illinois native made five NXT starts with the team last season, earning a best finish of ninth, while contesting and winning the Radical Cup North America championship in its top class.
“It was great to get my feet wet in 2024 and get to experience an Indy NXT race weekend instead of coming into 2025 completely new,” Missig said. “I got to know the Abel Motorsports team pretty well and am already feeling really comfortable there, but 2025 will provide us that chance to just deepen our chemistry and communication together, which will hopefully translate to speed.”
“I would like to thank Graham Rahal Performance for our 2024 championship and preparing me for a full 2025 Indy NXT campaign with Abel Motorsports. I’m also very excited to have Racing 4 Mental Health on board as we continue to raise awareness for mental health issues across all forms of racing.”
FOX Sports and IndyCar have revealed the television schedule for the 2025 Indy NXT by Firestone season. As part of the new media rights deal between FOX Sports and INDYCAR announced in June, the entire Indy NXT season will be available live on …
FOX Sports and IndyCar have revealed the television schedule for the 2025 Indy NXT by Firestone season. As part of the new media rights deal between FOX Sports and INDYCAR announced in June, the entire Indy NXT season will be available live on television for the first time. Twelve races will appear live on FOX Sports’ FS1 with two airing on FS2.
Additionally, all practice and qualifying sessions for the NTT IndyCar Series’ developmental series will air on a combination of FS1 and FS2. All IndyCar programming also streams live on the FOX Sports app.
Outside the U.S., the INDYCAR LIVE streaming service will continue to provide live coverage of 14 Indy NXT races along with all practice and qualifying sessions.
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“As part of IndyCar’s exceptional partnership with FOX Sports, Indy NXT by Firestone will receive unprecedented exposure,” Penske Entertainment Corp. president and CEO Mark Miles said. “As we have seen, the competition in IndyCar’s developmental series is fierce and intense. A full season of live races on network television via FS1 and FS2 will prove to be a significant showcase for Indy NXT and the drivers vying to advance to the NTT IndyCar Series.”
German junior open-wheel and sports car racer Sophia Floersch will turn her career towards the United States and take part in the 2025 Indy NXT championship with HMD Motorsports. The 24-year-old, who brings FIA Formula 3, DTM, FIA World Endurance …
German junior open-wheel and sports car racer Sophia Floersch will turn her career towards the United States and take part in the 2025 Indy NXT championship with HMD Motorsports.
The 24-year-old, who brings FIA Formula 3, DTM, FIA World Endurance Championship, and European Le Mans Series experience with her to the Indiana-based team, recently completed Indy NXT testing with HMD at Barber Motorsports Park.
“I’m excited about joining HMD Motorsports and coming to the United States to race in the Indy NXT by Firestone Series,” Floersch said. “My aspiration has always been to race with the best of the best. From the beginning of my career, I’ve worked very hard with my team daily towards that goal. I’ve raced in different categories in most of the racing markets in the world. It was only natural for us to try the U.S. now, as it is the biggest racing market worldwide.
“Also, the United States is more open to embracing a female racer, so this makes me very excited and optimistic about the things to come. The sport, the racing, the cars, and the tracks are real and pure. It’s great to be welcomed so positively and friendly. You can feel the real racer energy inside HMD Motorsports. I can hardly wait and will be very happy when it starts in March in St. Pete.”
Floersch joins fellow rookies Hailie Deegan and Tommy Smith at HMD along with Caio Collet, Josh Pierson, Bryce Aron, and Nolan Allaer.
“We are excited to have Sophia confirmed for Indy NXT in 2025,” said HMD team president Mike Maurini. “She has a great team behind her, and we feel she will be able to make waves in North America. With her ultimate goal to advance to the NTT IndyCar Series, we look forward to helping her improve and achieve success in Indy NXT and help try to advance her career to the next level.”
Three months after Levi Jones left his post as Penske Entertainment’s Indy NXT director, the company has found his replacement by reaching back to one of its CART IndyCar Series crew chiefs. Richard Buck, who helmed Penske Racing cars for Rick …
Three months after Levi Jones left his post as Penske Entertainment’s Indy NXT director, the company has found his replacement by reaching back to one of its CART IndyCar Series crew chiefs.
Richard Buck, who helmed Penske Racing cars for Rick Mears, Emerson Fittipaldi, Danny Sullivan, and others before moving onto other teams and went on to become the managing director of NASCAR’s Cup Series in the 2010s, will lead IndyCar’s lone development series.
“I am thrilled to return to my racing roots in IndyCar,” Buck said. “I have always kept my eye on the sport, and the opportunity to be the director of Indy NXT was something I could not pass up. The developmental series is on the rise as it continues to advance talent to the premier open-wheel series in North America.”
Buck’s acquisition comes after a lengthy search that included former IndyCar drivers and current IndyCar team members who were keen to take NXT’s reins. His first day on the job is set for January 6.
“The competition is fierce, and the future is bright for Indy NXT by Firestone,” said IndyCar president Jay Frye. “With his vast motorsports experience, Richard is a tremendous fit for the series’ leadership role, and we are excited to welcome him back into the IndyCar family.”
The first of NXT’s 14-race calendar kicks off on March 2 at St. Petersburg.
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.”
