Photo: Chris Jones
Andretti Global will continue to co-run a car in Indy Nxt with Cape Motorsports next year, and it will be driven by Ricardo Escotto.
Cape had a long history in USF2000, two rungs below Indy Nxt on IndyCar’s support ladder, before joining the second-tier of single-seaters last year as a two-car entry. A podium and two other top-five finishes were the team’s best results.
For 2024 it continued with two cars, but raced in partnership with Andretti. Results improved, and Salvador de Alba claimed two podiums en route to fifth in the standings. He moves into Andretti’s own line-up for 2025, and fellow Mexican racer Escotto replaces him after competing part-time with Juncos Hollinger Racing this season. Two 13ths were his best results.
“I’m super excited to be with Andretti Cape in 2025. I’ve only worked with the team for a short amount of time, but after getting to do the test with them in Indianapolis, I feel like we already work together really well,” said Escotto.
“This is a great career opportunity for me to be able to race in Indy Nxt, so I’m looking forward to working hard with the team and getting some good results next season.”
The 19-year-old came 22nd in Spanish Formula 4 two years ago, then spent two seasons a step below Indy Nxt in USF Pro 2000. As a rooke he came 13th in the standings with one win, and in his sophomore campaign he made the podium twice and improved to ninth in the points table. He also recently made a Euroformula cameo.
“We are extremely happy to have Ricardo in our line-up for the 2025 season,” Cape’s president Dominic Cape said.
“We had the opportunity to evaluate him while we were at the Chris Griffis test last week, and he immediately fit in with everyone on the team. Ricardo had excellent feedback and performed really well. We are all looking forward to working with him.”
Andretti’s president J-F Thormann added: “After a successful first season for our technical partnership with Cape Motorsports, we’re looking forward to bringing Ricardo into the mix as we continue to grow the Andretti Cape Indy Nxt programme. Ricardo was strong in USFP2000 the last two seasons and after getting a few Indy Nxt starts under his belt last season, the natural next step was for him to move up to Indy Nxt full-time.”