Photo: Matt Fraver / Penske Entertainment
Indy Nxt teams were testing at Sebring this week, and for many drivers it was a crucial two days of learning the Dallara IL-15 car.
On track through Wednesday and Thursday were Abel Motorsports (with their additional Force Indy-partnered car for Myles Rowe), Andretti Global, Andretti Cape, the returning Chip Ganassi Racing and HMD Motorsports. Absent from proceedings were Juncos Hollinger Racing and Miller Vinatieri Racing, the latter which has done some private running in the off-season.
While it was organised under the supervision of the championship, it was considered an ‘open test’ rather than an offical timed test that is part of the championship’s pre-season schedule.
All signed drivers at the attending teams were on track bar HMD’s Josh Pierson, who is busy competing in Formula Regional Oceania on the other side of the planet. However his #14 car was still present at Sebring.
HMD was also running reigning Euroformula champion Brad Benavides and USF Juniors champion Max Taylor on both days. Benavides, 23, is yet to announce his racing plans for 2025 and has previously competed in single-seaters’ second tier as he did two thirds of the 2023 Formula 2 season and came away with a best finish of 10th place.
Fellow American racer Taylor, still only 17, also came third in USF2000 in 2024 and cameoed in GB3. He has raced exclusively for the Velocity Racing Development team over the past two years, and has already committed to stepping up to USF Pro 200 – the rung below Indy Nxt on IndyCar’s support bill – for 2025.
Abel Motorsports ran its two signed drivers in its main line-up plus Jacob Abel, son of the team owner and the 2024 Indy Nxt runner-up. He won three races last year with the team, and earlier this week was announced as having secured a full-time IndyCar seat with Dale Coyne Racing for this season.
Andretti Cape had a second car on track for Seb Murray, who as a sophomore in both championships came 19th in Formula 4 United Arab Emirates and 18th in GB3 last year.
The last official Indy Nxt test was on Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course in October 2024, and a private test at Barber Motorsports Park contested by Abel and HMD followed later that month.
Being at Sebring was particularly significant for IndyCar behemoth Ganassi, which previously raced in Indy Nxt back in 2007 and ’08 and needs to rack up mileage before the 2025 season begins. It did not contest the IMS test three months ago with its two drivers Jonathan Browne and Niels Koolen.