Photo: James Black
Indy Nxt race-winner Matteo Nannini will make a comeback to the championship this year with Cape Motorsports powered by Ed Carpenter Racing.
When Nannini was last on the grid in 2023, aged 19, he only contested the first half of the season with Juncos Hollinger Racing and his sole top-10 finish was victory with fastest lap from pole position on Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course. He came 19th in the standings.
Now 22 and owning his own team, Nannini has committed to contesting the full 2026 season with Cape as it begins its alliance with IndyCar team ECR. He recently tested with Cape at Sebring.
“I’m very happy to be back in Indy Nxt with Cape by ECR,” said Nannini. “I’m grateful to the team for this great opportunity and for the trust they’ve shown in me. Our first test together was very positive; we worked well as a group and built a strong foundation from the start. I’m looking forward to the season ahead and to enjoying every moment on track.”
During his single-seater career, Nannini won the UAE4 title, came 15th in the Formula Regional European Championship, 14th in the FIA Formula 3 Championship and raced part-time in Formula 2 where he scored one point.
He will be team-mate in Indy Nxt to rookie Nikita Johnson, who did two rounds last year but primarily raced in Formula Regional Oceania, GB3 and then the FIA Formula 3 Championship.
Enve Motorsports, the team co-founded by Matteo Nannini, is competing full-time this year in USF2000 which is two steps below Indy Nxt on the Road to Indy. It is Nannini’s long-term target to get Enve onto the Indy Nxt grid and even more ambitiously top-tier single-seaters by acquiring a charter that would enable it to race in IndyCar.
Juncos is one of IndyCar’s full-time entrants, and that led to it withdrawing from Indy Nxt last year to focus its efforts on its more resource-heavy programme. It should be back on the Indy Nxt grid in 2026, having signed Ricardo Escotto. However it will be without its founder and co-owner Ricardo Juncos’s father Ricardo Arturo Juncos, who recently passed away.