Photo: Gavin Baker Photography
Juncos Hollinger Racing has called up Matthew Brabham to drive in this weekend’s Indy Nxt race at Iowa Speedway after the team parted ways with Matteo Nannini.
The American-Australian son of former IndyCar racer Geoff Brabham first raced in Indy Nxt in 2014, taking one win with Andretti Autosport. He was then promoted into its Formula E line-up for two races before stepping back down to Indy Nxt.
His budget dried up after two rounds of the 2015 season, and Brabham then moved to Stadium Super Trucks where he is now a three-time champion. In 2016 he made two IndyCar starts with Team Murray, and in ’17 cameoed in Australian Supercars.
In an attempt to put himself back on the map for IndyCar, Brabham reunited with Andretti in 2022 to do the full Indy Nxt season. He came third in the standings with two wins, but could not find a 2023 IndyCar seat so returned to Stadium Super Trucks.
“I’m really grateful and excited to represent Juncos Hollinger Racing this weekend in Iowa,” said the 29-year-old. “Thank you to Ricardo Juncos and Brad Hollinger for the opportunity.
“It’s going to be challenging, having missed the Indy Nxt testing and races this year. However, my confidence is high as I was definitely the guy to beat on all the ovals last year.
“There are a few tricks to Iowa that I hope I can capitalise on again. The new Firestone tyres will change things up a little and there are a lot of unknowns, but we will do our best to make sure we have a great run at Iowa. It’s a great feeling to be back.”
Before Indy Nxt, Brabham broke records in USF Pro 2000 as he claimed the 2013 title with 13 wins from 16 races. He graduated to that series off the back of winning the USF2000 title as a rookie too.
“We came back to Indy Nxt with the purpose of making our IndyCar fortunes even better as the two series are intrinsically linked,” said team principal Ricardo Juncos.
“But there are such limited testing opportunities in Indy Nxt with the Firestone tyres, so it’s crucial for us to be at every single race and to be as strong as possible in our first year back. We want to keep developing our whole racing programme to be a top team in 2024.
“Combining the technology and the simulation technology we have in our IndyCar team with our Indy Nxt programme is really important and to have Matthew with us this weekend is an amazing opportunity. He will be a massive support to what we’re trying to achieve.”
He confirmed that Brabham’s outing will be a one-off, leaving the team in search of a second driver to partner Rasmus Lindh for the last five rounds of the season.