Silly season in INDY NXT by Firestone continues to ramp up, with several drivers signing contracts to compete in 2026.

The grid is projected to increase to 24 entries, continuing a trend of growing field sizes since the series’ 2023 rebrand. This era has produced the largest fields since 2009.

The 14-race 2025 season averaged 19.4 starters.

Next season, several new teams will be on the grid: Juncos Hollinger Racing, AJ Foyt Racing and Ed Carpenter Racing.

JHR will be a stand-alone team while AJ Foyt Racing has aligned with HMD Motorsports. ECR has partnered with Cape Motorsports.

Cusick Morgan Motorsports is a brand-new team, fielding two cars, also in a joint effort with HMD. Chip Ganassi Racing expands from two cars to four.

As the 2026 INDY NXT season approaches, more announcements are expected in the coming weeks as teams finalize their lineups. With new drivers, team expansions and technical alliances shaping the paddock, the 2026 season promises to deliver one of the most competitive and diverse fields in recent memory.

Here’s a breakdown of what’s been confirmed so far, along with what’s to come.

HMD Motorsports (Jack Beeton, Enzo Fittipaldi, two seats open)

Jack Beeton was the first driver named to the team on Oct. 29. Beeton, 17, from Australia, comes to the series after competing for Prema Racing in the Formula Regional European Championship. He also finished second in points in the Italian F4 Championship and won the Formula 4 South East Asia title.

Enzo Fittipaldi was named on Oct. 30 to join Beeton with the team. Fittipaldi is an Italian F4 champion and FRECA runner-up with the Ferrari Driver Academy. He later advanced to Formula 3 and Formula 2, earning two victories and 13 podiums in F2 as part of the Red Bull Junior Team, with which he remains affiliated as a Red Bull athlete.

In 2025, Fittipaldi broadened his experience, racing in the European Le Mans Series with CLX Motorsport and taking part in NTT INDYCAR SERIES tests with McLaren and Formula E sessions with Jaguar.

Cusick Morgan Motorsports (Nicolas Stati, Juan Manuel Correa)

On Aug. 27, Cusick Morgan Motorsports announced a new two-car effort for 2026, in partnership with HMD Motorsports. The team, established in 2021, previously entered cars in the Indianapolis 500 in 2024 and 2025 in collaboration with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing.

Nicolas Stati was announced Oct. 15 as one of the two drivers. Stati, 16, has competed in the Formula Regional Oceania Championship, Formula Regional Americas, GB3 Championship, F4 U.S. Championship, F4 U.A.E. Championship and F4 Australian Championship, among others. In 2024, he finished second in the F4 U.S. Championship, falling just 4.5 points short of the title. Stati also was second in the F4 Australian Championship that year.

Juan Manuel Correa was announced on Oct. 24 as his teammate. The American-Ecuadorian driver made nine starts in the INDYCAR development series in 2025 with HMD Motorsports, with a best finish of third on the streets of Detroit. Correa, 26, brings extensive experience in Formula 3, Formula 2 and IMSA to the new Cusick Morgan team.

AJ Foyt Racing (No. 4 Nicholas Monteiro, No. 14, Alessandro De Tullio)

AJ Foyt Racing extends its program into the INDY NXT by Firestone. The team will field a two-car effort backed by a strategic alliance with HMD Motorsports.

Allesandro De Tullio was the first driver named on Nov. 5.

In 2025, Italian-American De Tullio, 19, completed his first full season in the USF Pro 2000 Championship, finishing fourth in the overall standings. The previous year, De Tullio made six starts in the same series while also capturing SKUSA Winter Series titles in both X30 Pro Senior and KA Senior classes. His background also includes a full season of competition in USF Juniors.

Nicholas Monteiro (photo, above) was named as his teammate on Nov. 14. The Brazilian-American, Monterio, 20, made his INDY NXT debut with HMD Motorsports on Aug. 10 in the Grand Prix of Portland. He raced in USF Pro 2000 from 2023-25.

The addition of an INDY NXT by Firestone program marks AJ Foyt Racing’s second foray into the developmental ranks. In 2002, A.J. Foyt IV won the first INDY NXT by Firestone championship. Ed Carpenter drove for the team in 2003 and won the Freedom 100, the Series’ inaugural race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

ABEL Motorsports (No. 12 Max Garcia, No. 48 Jordan Missig, No. 99 Myles Rowe, Collin Kaminsky)

Myles Rowe returns for a third full-time season in the series, his second with ABEL Motorsports and should be among the championship favorites. That move was announced on Sept. 5.

Rowe, 25, continues driving the Force Indy No. 99 after earning his first two career victories in the INDYCAR development series in that car in 2025. Rowe amassed an impressive nine top-five finishes, five podium finishes and oval victories at Iowa Speedway and Nashville Superspeedway in his first season with ABEL Motorsports in 2025. He became the first Black driver to win in the series with his Iowa victory. Georgia native Rowe climbed to INDY NXT in 2024 with HMD Motorsports after winning the 2023 USF Pro 2000 championship.

Max Garia, 16, joins ABEL after winning consecutive championships in the USF2000 Championship in 2024 and USF Pro 2000 Championship in 2025. He was named on Sept. 15 for that ride.

Jordan Missig was named on Oct. 8 to return to his second full-time season with the team. Missig scored six top-10 finishes and finished ninth in points last season.

Collin Kaminsky was announced Oct. 21 to round out of the four-car outfit. Kaminsky returns to ABEL Motorsports after spending 2024 competing in the Porsche Carrera Cup North America series and 2025 launching a new business.

Illinois native Kaminsky, 26, made his INDY NXT debut in 2023, producing three top-10 finishes in a limited schedule of eight races.

Andretti Global (No. 26 Lochie Hughes, No. 27 Seb Murray, No. 28 Max Taylor, No. 29 Josh Pierson)

Andretti Global aims for its eighth INDY NXT championship, including a third straight after winning in 2024 and 2025 with Louis Foster and Dennis Hauger, respectively, both of whom graduated to the NTT INDYCAR SERIES.

Can Lochie Hughes follow suit? The 2024 USF Pro 2000 champion returns for a second season.

He is joined by Seb Murray, who was announced on Sept. 30 to replace Salvador de Alba in the No. 27 entry. Murray (photo, above) earned two top-10 finishes as an INDY NXT rookie with Andretti Cape INDY NXT in 2025, with a best result of fifth at the second race of the doubleheader at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. He was fastest in the Chris Griffis Memorial Test on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course on Oct. 27.

Andretti Global added Max Taylor, naming him on Oct. 14 as the driver of the No. 28 entry. The 2025 season saw the 18-year-old New Jersey resident compete full-time in the USF Pro 2000 Championship and make six INDY NXT starts. Taylor completed his rookie USF Pro 2000 season with one win, four podiums, nine top-five finishes and 13 top-10 finishes in 18 races. The American driver also gained valuable experience while competing in a partial INDY NXT season this year, collecting one top-five finish and four top-10 finishes. Most recently, Taylor competed in the Donington Park Grand Prix, the penultimate race of the 2025 GB3 Championship, where he scored top-10 finishes in every race of the tripleheader weekend.

Taylor made his open-wheel racing debut in 2023 when he competed in the USF Juniors Championship, rounding out his rookie season with one win, three podiums and six top fives, finishing sixth in the Championship that year. During this time, he also competed in partial seasons in the USF2000 Championship (11 starts) and the Formula 4 United States Championship (three starts), where he scored four top 10s in USF2000 and had a best race finish of sixth place in Formula 4.

Josh Pierson was named to the fourth seat on Oct. 21, replacing James Roe in the No. 29 entry.

Pierson,19, from Portland, Oregon, has competed in the INDYCAR development series for the last three seasons, making his debut in 2023. This year was his most successful season in INDY NXT, as he collected two podium finishes and 11 top-10 results, finishing sixth in the series standings with HMD Motorsports.

Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR (Nikita Johnson, one seat open)

Ed Carpenter Racing announced on Oct. 24 a partnership with Cape Motorsports to join the INDY NXT field in 2026. Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR will field two entries in INDY NXT, the developmental series of INDYCAR.

Nikita Johnson was named in one of its two planned entries on Sept. 23. This is the first full season in the INDYCAR development series for Florida native Johnson, 17, who made three INDY NXT starts in 2025 with HMD Motorsports. Johnson finished second in the USF Pro 2000 championship in 2024 and second in the USF2000 championship in 2023.

In advance of his full-season USF Pro 2000 effort in 2024, Johnson jumped to the series at the end of the 2023 season and triumphed at Circuit of the Americas to become the youngest race winner in USF Pro 2000 history, at age 15.

The second seat remains open.

Chip Ganassi Racing (all four seats open)

CGR rejoined INDY NXT in 2025 for the first time since 2007, fielding Niels Koolen full-time and splitting the second seat between Jonathan Browne and Bryce Aron. The team will expand to four full-time entries in 2026. All seats are currently unfilled for a team still searching for its first series victory.

Juncos Hollinger Racing (both seats open)

After pausing its INDY NXT program in early 2025, Juncos Hollinger Racing announced its return to INDY NXT on Sept. 8 with a two-car effort. Both rides remain open.

The team earned two INDY NXT championships, in 2015 and 2017. The team also recorded 18 wins, 18 pole positions and 51 podium finishes in INDY NXT competition between 2015 and 2021.

What’s Happening?

23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports have settled their antitrust lawsuit filed against NASCAR, bringing this long-running saga to an end 434 days after it began.

UPDATE: 11:15 AM EST

Following the the finalization of paperwork, the antitrust lawsuit is over, with Jeff Gluck of The Athletic reporting that Judge Bell was optimistic about the terms of the agreement, saying, “This is going to be great for the entity NASCAR, the industry NASCAR, the teams, the drivers, and as you have so often said yourselves, ultimately the fans.”

Per multiple reports following Judge Bell’s review of the settlement, both the plaintiffs and defendants, including 23XI Racing co-owners Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin, NASCAR Chairman and CEO Jim France, and members of each side’s legal teams, are interacting with each other cordially. Specifically, several accounts claim that Hamlin and France hugged during this time.

The terms of the agreement in full are unknown, though NASCAR and the teams agreed that the teams will once again receive their six combined charters, and, per a press release from all parties, NASCAR will supply the teams with “a form of ‘evergreen’ charters, subject to mutual agreement.”

On the courthouse steps, Jordan, an NBA legend who somewhat played the face of the teams during this trial, said that cooler heads prevailed, with the sides realizing they needed to settle for the betterment of the sport, which led to the settlement of this lawsuit.

“In all honesty when you get to the finish line sometimes you have to think, not just for yourself, but you got to think about the sport as a whole, and I think both parties got to that point, and we realized that we could have an opportunity to settle this and we dove in and we actually did it.” — Michael Jordan

NASCAR reached a settlement Thursday of the bruising antitrust lawsuit filed against the stock car series by two of its race teams, including one co-owned by NBA great Michael Jordan.

“Today’s a good day,” Jordan said as he waited in the gallery for attorneys to announce the deal. Details were not immediately released.

The settlement came on the ninth day of the trial before U.S. District Judge Kenneth Bell, who set aside motions hearing for an hour-long sidebar. Jeffrey Kessler, attorney for 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, emerged from a conference room at the end of the hour to inform a court clerk “we’re ready.” Kessler then led Jordan and 23XI co-owner Denny Hamlin, as well as Front Row owner Bob Jenkins, to another room for more talks.

“I’m pleased to say that the parties have positively settled this matter in a way that will benefit the industry going forward,” plaintiffs’ attorney Jeffrey Kessler said, according to The Athletic.

23XI and Front Row filed their lawsuit last year after refusing to sign agreements on the new charter offers NASCAR presented in September 2024. Teams had until end of day to sign the 112-page document, which guarantees access to top-level Cup Series races and a revenue stream, and 13 of 15 organizations reluctantly agreed. Jordan and Jenkins sued instead and raced most of the 2025 season uncharted.

Both teams said a loss in the case would have put them out of business.

Bell told the jury that sometmes parties at trial have to see how the evidence unfolds to come to the wisdom of a settlement.

“I wish we could’ve done this a few months ago,” Bell said in court. “I believe this is great for NASCAR. Great for the future of NASCAR. Great for the entity of NASCAR. Great for the teams and ultimately great for the fans.”

All teams felt the previous revenue-sharing agreement was unfair and two-plus years of bitter negotiations led to NASCAR’s final offer, which was described by the teams as “take-it-or-leave it.” The teams believed the new agreement lacked all four of their key demands, most importantly the charters becoming permanent instead of renewable.

The settlement followed eight days of testimony in which the Florida-based France family, the founders and private owners of NASCAR, were shown to be inflexible in making the charters permanent.

“Someone had to step forward and challenge the entity,” Jordan said to the jury. “I sat in those meetings with longtime owners who were brow-beaten for so many years trying to make change. I was a new person, I wasn’t afraid. I felt I could challenge NASCAR as a whole. I felt as far as the sport, it needed to be looked at from a different view.”

When the defense began its case Wednesday it seemed focused more on mitigating damages than proving it did not act anticompetitively.

An economist earlier testified 23XI and Front Row were owed over $300 million in damages.

Parella Motorsports Holdings and SpeedTour have announced the acquisition of Racing America, a premier digital-first motorsports media platform delivering live streaming, original content, and year-round coverage of amateur and stock car-adjacent racing.

The acquisition unites one of the largest live-event portfolios in grassroots motorsports with the industry’s leading digital content and distribution platform – creating the most expansive, fully integrated motorsports media and events network in North America. The combined business will operate under the Racing America brand and will be headquartered in Charlotte, N.C. The combined company’s promotional video is available for viewing here.

Velocity Capital Management, an operationally intensive private equity firm with deep expertise in sports, media and entertainment, acquired the company in December 2023. Under Velocity’s ownership, the company has grown through strategic acquisitions, including MotorsportsReg.com, the industry’s leading registration and fan-engagement platform, and International GT, a classic-car racing series for late-model Porsche and Ferrari vehicles. The Racing America acquisition marks the Company’s third strategic acquisition under Velocity’s ownership. Velocity’s strategic partner, the Texas Permanent School Fund Corporation, was instrumental in originating the opportunity to acquire Racing America through its long-standing relationship with its ownership group and continues to provide both capital and industry insight to accelerate the Company’s growth.

“This acquisition marks a defining moment in our evolution and the next chapter for grassroots racing in this country,” said Lee Giannone, CEO of the newly formed Racing America. “By combining our national live-events platform with Racing America’s digital capabilities, we’re creating the foundation for the future of motorsports – one that connects fans and competitors year-round, expands global reach, and positions Racing America as the definitive home for grassroots and professional racing alike.”

With Racing America’s digital production and streaming capabilities layered onto the company’s nationwide live-event footprint – including the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli, Sportscar Vintage Racing Association, Formula Regional Americas Championship, Formula 4 United States Championship, Ligier Junior Formula Championship, and International GT – the combined organization becomes the industry’s largest single source of live racing, original content, and behind-the-scenes access.

“This marks a new era for Racing America as we expand from a digital media platform into a fully connected motorsports network,” said Colin Smith, president of Racing America. “With Velocity Capital Management’s support, we will broaden our content and technology offerings, stream more live events, and deliver the rich storylines that motorsports fans want to see.”

“Racing America is uniquely positioned to accelerate fan interest and participation in grassroots and amateur motorsports,” said Erin Edwards, partner at Velocity Capital Management. “Our goal is to make grassroots racing accessible to everyone while providing passionate fans with more ways to engage with the sport they already love.”

As part of the transaction, Jeffrey Wolf, Velocity Operating Partner and former media executive at E.W. Scripps and Sony Pictures, will become chairman of the board.

“Transforming the company from an events business into a broader motorsports entertainment platform is central to our growth strategy,” Wolf said. “Today’s fans expect compelling storytelling, premium production, and behind-the-scenes access. With Racing America, we can deliver all of that – and more.”

Following the acquisition, the company will transition to operate exclusively under the Racing America brand. The unified platform will feature:

• Nationwide live racing events
• Best-in-class streaming and digital production
• Original and documentary-style content
• A growing direct-to-consumer subscription offering
• Expanded engagement opportunities for fans, partners, and series competitors

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Racing America’s 2026 season kicks off at Sebring International Raceway on Feb. 26, 2026.