Indy nxt by firestone is charging into 2026 with serious momentum, projected to field 24 full-time entries as North America's premier development series expands its footprint. Last season proved to be a massive turning point, marking the championship's debut year on Fox Sports and delivering an average audience more than five times larger than in 2024, with 13 of 14 races airing live on FS1. That new era also brought the deepest fields since 2009 alongside nine on-track passing records across five different tracks.
At the sharp end of the grid, the championship battle is wide open. Three of last year's top five finishers have graduated to the ntt IndyCar series—including champion Dennis Hauger and runner-up Caio Collet—leaving sophomore Lochie Hughes and third-year driver Myles Rowe to lead the returning contenders. Hughes claimed four victories last season, including triumphs on ovals at World Wide Technology Raceway and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, plus another win on the ims road course. Now, Hughes is aiming to deliver Andretti Global its eighth indy nxt title and third consecutive crown, leading a lineup that pairs veterans with rookie Max Taylor, sophomore Seb Murray in the No. 27 entry, and Josh Pierson in the No. 29 entry.
Rowe is equally hungry, targeting a maiden championship for abel motorsports after finishing a career-best fourth in points last year. Rowe took wins at Iowa Speedway and the Nashville Superspeedway finale, and he is joined by rookie Max Garcia alongside veterans Jordan Missig and Colin Kaminsky. Meanwhile, HMD Motorsports is looking to bounce back from an uncharacteristically uneven 2025 campaign. To recapture past glory, the team is shrinking its core operation from eight cars to four while supporting two additional two-car teams through technical alliances. HMD's lineup boasts major international talent, including 17-year-old Australian Jack Beeton and 24-year-old Enzo Fittipaldi—grandson of two-time Formula One World Champion and two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Emerson Fittipaldi—who brings F2 victories from 2023 and 2024 into the mix.
A stacked rookie class features prominent American teenagers ready to make noise. Nikita Johnson, 17, steps up with Cape Motorsports powered by Ed Carpenter Racing, while 18-year-old Taylor and 16-year-old Garcia round out the teenage charge. Garcia enters with back-to-back titles in usf2000 and usf pro 2000, chasing a third consecutive championship. The paddock is also swelling with the return of major ntt IndyCar series teams. Ed Carpenter Racing and AJ Foyt Racing are back on the developmental ladder through new technical partnerships with Cape Motorsports and HMD Motorsports, respectively. Juncos Hollinger Racing returns with a two-car effort, new entrant Cusick Morgan Motorsports debuts in collaboration with HMD Motorsports, and Chip Ganassi Racing expands from two to four cars.
All of this firepower will battle across a grueling 17-race schedule—the most since 2021—with every round running alongside ntt IndyCar series event weekends. The action kicks off for the 16th time on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida on Sunday, March 1. From there, the series tackles the inaugural Java House Grand Prix of Arlington on the new 14-turn, 2.73-mile streets of Arlington circuit on Sunday, March 15. Five doubleheader weekends highlight the calendar, featuring stops at Barber Motorsports Park, Road America, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, before concluding at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca for the 15th time in series history.
Fans won't miss a second of the action. For the second consecutive season, every single race will broadcast live on Fox Sports via FS1 or FS2, alongside live television coverage for all practice and qualifying sessions.
