Photo: Gavin Baker Photography
Michael d’Orlando has secured his place on the 2024 Indy Nxt grid just two days before track action begins for the season in St. Petersburg.
The 22-year-old will race for Andretti Cape, a tie-up between the Andretti Global and Cape Motorsports teams, and has been signed provisionally for the whole season.
He steps up from USF Pro 2000, where he came fourth in the standings with four wins and six poles last year as a rookie. Before that he spent four years in USF2000, three of them with Cape, and after taking one win en route to fourth in the 2020 standings he was 2021 championship runner-up with three victories and then 2022 champion with a further four wins.
“I’m extremely excited to be racing in the Indy Nxt series in St. Petersburg this weekend with Andretti Cape,” said d’Orlando. “Although there is still a lot of uncertainty around the remainder of the 2024 season, I’m very thankful for all the work that Rising Star Racing, Priority Technology Holdings and the Andretti Cape team have put in to make this event happen for me.
“I know that everyone involved will continue to work together collectively to generate enough support to enable me to run the full season. Being able to work with Cape Motorsports, now with the additional support through their Andretti Global alliance, will be very helpful in our efforts to be competitive.”
D’Orlando will be team-mate to fellow USFP2000 graduate and NASCAR champion Salvador de Alba.
“We’re all excited to have Michael back on our team for the season opener in St. Pete,” said Cape’s co-owners Nicholas and Dominic Cape. “Michael spent three years with us in USF2000, culminating in a championship in 2022, so we know what he is looking for. I think our guys will all work really well together, and we are all very motivated this year.”
Should d’Orlando have the funding to stay on the Indy Nxt grid, it will make for a record-breaking season for the series as for the first time ever it has 21 full-time entries.