Here is a massive move for the future of the grid. Dale Coyne Racing announced on Nov. 10 that reigning INDY NXT by Firestone champion Nikita Johnson will step up to pilot one of the team's Honda-powered entries for the 2027 NTT IndyCar SERIES season.
Johnson arrives in the top tier as the youngest champion in INDY NXT history at 18 years, 3 months and 12 days old, following a record-shattering 2026 campaign. The teenager did not just win; he dominated through sheer consistency, earning a top-10 finish in all 17 races and completing every single one of the 656 laps contested during the season.
This is a great opportunity for DCR to sign a young and talented driver with an impressive résumé,
“I want to thank Dale Coyne and everyone on the team for this amazing opportunity, together with OnlyBulls and my partners PV3 Enterprises/ENVE,” Johnson said, alongside expressions of gratitude to his family and management team for securing this next step.
The 17-race 2027 campaign will kick off on March 7 with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, right in Johnson's hometown. It is a circuit where the young driver already knows how to win, having claimed the INDY NXT season opener there in 2026 (his first of two wins last season), alongside a USF2000 victory in 2023 and a USF Pro 2000 win in 2024.
That junior formula résumé is genuinely stacked. Beyond his records in INDY NXT, Johnson finished as runner-up in both the 2023 USF2000 and 2024 USF Pro 2000 championships. He also took his talents abroad in 2025 to compete in GB3, taking victories at Circuit Zandvoort in the Netherlands and the historic Brands Hatch circuit in England at just 16 years old.
Team owner Dale Coyne highlighted that extensive multidisciplinary background as the exact foundation needed for the jump to IndyCar. “This is a great opportunity for DCR to sign a young and talented driver with an impressive résumé,” Coyne stated, pointing to Johnson's mileage in INDY NXT, the USF series, Formula Regional in New Zealand, GB3, and F3 in England and Europe.
Support for the entry comes via sponsor ENVE, alongside AI-powered financial platform and digital wallet OnlyBulls, which returns for its third consecutive season as a major team-wide partner with Dale Coyne Racing in 2027. With this deal, Johnson joins NTT IndyCar SERIES driver Mick Schumacher and INDY NXT competitor Matteo Nannini as the third ENVE-sponsored athlete on the IndyCar landscape for 2027, highlighting the expanding motorsport footprint of ENVE Motorsports, a PV3 Enterprises company.
