Category: Indy NXT

The long-rumored union between Andretti Global and Cape Motorsports has been confirmed and gives Andretti’s Indy NXT program two additional entries for the upcoming season through its relationship with the Cape brothers.

Mexico’s rapid Salvador de Alba is the first driver to be confirmed in the new Andretti Cape arrangement, which comes on the heels of a strong run to third in last year’s USF Pro 2000 championship where he earned one win and four podiums, and competed in a number of other series.

“Joining Andretti Cape is the biggest step in my career so far, and I’m excited to be part of this team,” de Alba said. “Last year was great for me across NASCAR, Super Copa and USF Pro 2000, so I’m eager to start competing in Indy NXT for the first time. With the help of my sponsors, Michel Jourdain and the Andretti Cape team, we’re pleased to make the jump to Indy NXT, and I plan to work hard to make the most out of this season.”

The two-year deal includes a move to the main Andretti NXT effort in 2025, and sees de Alba paired with a new race engineer in Trevor Green-Smith, who served as an assistant IndyCar race engineer at Dale Coyne Racing, at Andretti Autosport with former driver Alexander Rossi, and more recently, as a performance engineer with the Haas F1 team before the Californian returned to the U.S. and was hired to run de Alba.

“Bringing Salvador onto the Andretti Cape Indy NXT roster this year is an excellent move for us,” said Andretti Global president JF Thormann, the architect of the team’s junior open-wheel programs. “He has a strong resume in a variety of series and recently walked out of 2023 with two driver’s championships, which is an impressive feat that hasn’t gone unnoticed. We think that Salvador’s experience and eagerness will make him a great asset to the Andretti Cape IndyCar NXT team, and we’re looking forward to helping to develop his career and watching him grow through 2025.”

Danial Frost was working on a plan to graduate from Indy NXT to the NTT IndyCar Series in 2024, but he’ll need to wait until at least 2026 before that dream can be realized as national military service beckons for the 22-year-old.

The Singaporean, who won the opening Indy NXT race last season and went on to add two more podiums to claim sixth in the standings, has been aligned with Dale Coyne Racing.

“I’m taking a brief pause from racing to fulfill a compulsory commitment,” Frost announced. “It’s time for me to embark on a new journey in the military, serving my nation in Singapore for the next two years. Some individuals successfully transition back into racing after their military service, while others do not.

“[I] will keep my passion and motivation for motorsports alive in the USA through [a] public relations efforts for our next goal: IndyCar. Until then, I have to put my racing career on hold. Truthfully, it has been disturbing me due to the disruption of my racing career.”

Frost began racing on the American open-wheel ladder in 2018 in USF2000, and moved to Indy Pro 2000 from 2019-2020, where he won three races and finished third in the championship prior to moving to Indy NXT with Andretti Global in 2021. A switch to HMD Motorsports with Dale Coyne Racing in 2022 produced his first NXT victory, and in his return in 2023, a second win was secured.

A strong IndyCar test with Coyne in October of 2022 and the signing of a development contract with the team gave rise to the hope for Frost to land one of Coyne’s two vacant IndyCar seats as the new season draws near, but with his military stint confirmed, the six-year USF Championships and Indy NXT veteran is no longer in play.

The Indy NXT series is getting closer to having its field set with the signing of three more drivers in recent weeks taking the top step of the American junior open-wheel ladder to 15 confirmed entries to date.

Defending back-to-back champions HMD Motorsports have locked in eight drivers so far, with the latest hailing from the Netherlands in Niels Koolen and from Ireland with Jonathan Browne.

Koolen is making a big leap from karting to his first season of racing cars in 2023 in various Formula Regional and F4 machinery to NXT in 2024 with HMD.

“Last year I practiced and tested a lot at various circuits with different cars,” Koolen said. “Starting in the INDY NXT series in March will be an exciting experience as racing in the United States will be different than racing in Europe where we don’t have ovals. The entire HMD Motorsports program is very knowledgeable and experienced, and the team has a lot of drivers so we can compare a lot of data which will help me with unfamiliar circuits. I’m grateful to all the people supporting me.”

Browne lands in NXT after completing two seasons in the USF Championship’s Indy Pro 2000 series where he was a regular presence in the top 10 and stood on the podium on two occasions.

“I spoke to Jonathan a few times throughout the 2023 season,” said HMD GM Mike Maurini. “We recently re-engaged in conversations and finalized plans for the 2024 season rather quickly and just before the Thanksgiving holiday. Jonathan comes with a lot of experience in many forms of motorsports, and I am confident that he will fit in well with our strong driver lineup and provide another powerful piece to our growing puzzle.”

The other driver of interest to confirm his move to NXT is Jack William Miller, son of 1990s Indy Lights Class B champion and former Indy Racing League driver Jack Miller, whose Miller Vinatieri Motorsports squad is taking on the NXT challenge after fielding Miller in Indy Pro 2000.

“To say I am excited is an understatement,” the 20-year-old said. “I did my time in the ladder program, gaining experience along the way, and am ready for the future challenge. While we enter Indy NXT as a single-car program competing against some huge multi-car efforts, there are some positives that we hope we can capitalize on being a smaller program as I head into my rookie season.”

Miller’s father is understandably proud of his son’s progress.

“I raced five seasons in (Indy Lights) when I was younger and to watch my son succeed and move up the ladder is something very special to both myself, and my family,” he said. “His dream, much like mine was, is to compete in the Indy 500 and in IndyCar and the move to Indy NXT makes the dream one more step closer to becoming a reality.”

Oregonian teenager John Pierson will place his full focus on the Indy NXT by Firestone series next year with the defending series champions at HMD Motorsports.

Having split his time between European endurance racing and American junior open-wheel competition in recent years, Pierson is set to return to HMD and contest the complete 14-race calendar in preparation for a desired future move to the NTT IndyCar Series.

“It was a learning year for me,” said Pierson. “I wanted to gain as much experience as possible, and feel like we did just that. With the lack of testing before the 2023 season, we will be in a much better place entering our 2024 campaign.”

The 17-year-old will also continue to function as an Ed Carpenter Racing Junior Driver, where he’ll be embedded with the IndyCar team throughout next season. In the nine races he did with HMD in 2023, Pierson’s top performance came on the Iowa oval where he placed sixth.

“Josh is young and has a bright future ahead of him in 2024,” said HMD Motorsports GM Mike Maurini. “As a team and with his focus on the Indy NXT campaign in 2024, we have made some changes in his program that I think will be beneficial both on and off the track. We are looking forward to helping not only his progress, but success as well.”

A bumper crop of Indy NXT by Firestone teams and drivers will take to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course on Friday to participate in the annual Chris Griffis Memorial test.

Of the 21 entries scheduled to turn laps at the 2.4-mile, 14-turn facility, some have already finalized their 2024 plans including Andretti Global, which will field all four of its full-time drivers, while some other teams like the defending champions at HMD Motorsports have a blend of drivers who are signed and some who are hoping to turn their performances at the test into season-long seats.

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Among the interesting names on the entry list, Abel Motorsports will run three drivers at the test, led by Jacob Abel, and he’ll have his new full-time teammate, Yuven Sundaramoorthy, along with Jonathan Browne.

Bryce Aron will make his official debut for Andretti, and among the cadre of HMD entries, 2023 USF Pro 2000 champion Myles Rowe and 2022 USF2000 champion Michael d’Orlando will resume their friendly rivalry with Rowe set for next season and d’Orlando hoping to find the funding to make the yearlong leap to NXT.

“Definitely needed this test and Rising Star Racing have been super supportive in helping make this test happen for me,” d’Orlando told RACER. “We knew it was important to get to the Chris Griffis test and I can’t wait to show teams what I can do, and hope to build interest to make something happen for myself in Indy NXT.”

Miller Vinatieri Motorsports will make its debut as an NXT entrant with Jack William Miller at the controls, and Juncos Hollinger Racing will sample NXT veteran Antonio Serravalle and Lindsay Brewer. Cape Motorsports, which is rumored to have a new alliance with Andretti, is back with two cars for Jace Denmark and Callum Hedge, and will hit the track from 9am-4pm.