Photo: Penske Entertainment / James Black
Chip Ganassi Racing has signed Alessandro de Tullio to be part of its IndyCar and Indy Nxt squads next year.
The 20-year-old American-born Argentinian will fulfill the reserve driver role at 12 IndyCar events, all on road and street courses.
In Indy Nxt he will be race for Ganassi alongside Carson Etter, who has been retained for a second season. Two of the team’s seats are unfilled.
“I’m very excited to be joining Chip Ganassi Racing,” said de Tullio. “It’s another step in my career, and joining the most successful team in IndyCar is something that’s very special.
“I’m looking forward to adding to that success in the Indy Nxt programme, doing my best to learn as much as possible and help as much as possible as the reserve driver in IndyCar. I also have to thank my partners that have helped me get to this stage, and I’m excited to see what we can do together at [Ganassi].”
De Tullio has four years of single-seater experience under his belt, starting with a USF Juniors campaign in 2022 in which he won five races en route to fourth in the standings.
He returned to karting after that and did not race cars again until the second half of 2024 when he joined the grid of IndyCar’s third-tier support series USF Pro 2000. From three rounds there was a best finish of fourth, and de Tullio committed to a full-time USFP2000 campaign last year.
There were three victories and a second place in the first five races of the 2025 season, but one podium in the next 10 races dropped him out of title contention and despite a win and a runner-up finish in the last three races he came fourth in the points table.
His graduation to Indy Nxt this year came with AJ Foyt Racing, another of IndyCar’s most successful teams, and once again he had a lot of success but only finished sixth in the standings.
De Tullio qualified on pole for four of his first five races, converting one into victory, and from his next four poles he earned another win and a podium. Nobody qualified as strongly, and he led more laps than anyone else.
“We’re excited to welcome Alessandro to Chip Ganassi Racing for the 2027 season,” said the team’s manager Taylor Kiel. “Our goal is to give him and his teammates the support and resources to compete for wins and the Indy Nxt championship. Pairing that programme with an IndyCar reserve driver role gives him a valuable opportunity to learn from our drivers and engineers, contribute to the team in a variety of ways and build his experience as a driver.”
Etter came 22nd in Indy Nxt this year as a rookie, with 13th place his best race result. On his way up the single-seater ladder he was 12th in USF Juniors, 16th in USF2000 and then 17th in USFP2000. On his last start in that championship he finished sixth, his sole top-10 result.