Who has more points to prove on Indy Nxt’s 2025 grid?

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There’s possibly more attention on Indy Nxt this year than ever before in the series’ history, and it has a grid featuring big-name rookies who may face great scrutiny if they play second fiddle to lesser known returnees

IndyCar’s decision to change its domestic broadcaster for 2025 has had a big impact on its primary feeder series, which can now be watched live in more countries than ever before. That alone has made the difference for some drivers in attracting enough sponsorship money to commit to a full season, and has created a lot of anticipation in the paddock about what’s next.

“We’re beyond excited for the 2025 Indy Nxt season and our partnership with Fox,” HMD Motorsports’ president Mike Maurini said to Formula Scout.

“What Fox and the series have accomplished so far has been incredible, and I’m confident it will lead to an action-packed and highly promoted-race season. From their content day to their marketing strategy, we have a real chance to showcase the Indy Nxt drivers as they climb the ladder to the top of North American motorsports.

“Many of our drivers who have raced in Europe have said the promotion and exposure they’re getting with Fox and Indy Nxt is unlike anything they’ve experienced before, which is awesome because this is just the start.”

When the drivers spoke to media, they did mention those points. One of the other topics that was put to everyone on the grid during the pre-season content day was whether the rookies could outdo the returning drivers this season.

Laptimes were not published from testing at Sebring and Laguna Seca, but were available within the paddock so teams knew what their pace was like compared to rivals. Even with some knowledge on who impressed over a lap at those circuits, it did not tell observers too much about 2025’s pecking order. There were some drivers downplaying predictions of title success, as others were (perhaps ambitiously) saying it could take one breakthrough weekend to turn them into a perennial frontrunner.

There are 13 returnees and eight rookies, and all of them very much have a point to prove this year. Here’s the 2025 grid:

The returnees

#23 Caio Collet BRAZIL HMD Motorsports
2024: 3rd in Indy Nxt (1 W, 1 P, 3 FL), 28th in FE   2023: 9th in FIA F3 Championship (1 W, 1 FL)

The goal is the title, having won a race as a rookie last year, but Collet didn’t sound incredibly confident pre-season. He’s putting an onus on getting a huge points haul early on, perhaps expecting others to catch up if he starts the year on top, and had a difficult time at Sebring in pre-season testing. He forsees a lot of pressure and a lot of hard work to be in a winning position from the off, and doesn’t truly see being part of what starts as a nine-car HMD line-up as an advantage.

“Together with my engineer we really need to be able to filter what information is good and what’s bad,” he explained.

“During the weekend you don’t really have time to analyse everything, so to focus on ourselves is the main thing and to compare against last year. We have a lot of data from the previous years, I think we are a strong team and together with my engineer we can focus on what we need to do in our car, in our crew.”

#17 Callum Hedge NEW ZEALAND Abel Motorsports
2024: 4th in Indy Nxt, 18th in FRegional Oceania   2023: FRegional Americas champion (13 W, 5 P, 10 FL), 2nd in FRegional Oceania (3 W, 4 P, 3 FL)

There was only one podium in Hedge’s rookie season, and it came early on so was not a reflection of his progress over the year. In fact, he admitted to “not really performing the best on most weekends” so could only see coming fourth in the points as a positive. Illustrating his undelivered potential, he was on average the 10th fastest driver on one-lap pace in 2024.

Hedge had dominated Formula Regional Americas as a newcomer to American racing and won a sportscar title in 2023, and his rate of learning was also very impressive last year but he has left the behemoth of HMD for a smaller outfit where he expects to be team leader and will likely settle for nothing less.

“To move over to Abel and fit myself into an environment that suits my driving and personality a bit more and look at 2024 as a whole and see where I went and what I did wrong and what we did wrong as a team, and then being able to unpiece that and apply that in 2025 is going to be huge.”

#27 Salvador de Alba MEXICO Andretti Global
2024: 5th in Indy Nxt   2023: 3rd in USFP2000 (1 W, 2 FL)   2022: 8th in USFP2000 (2 W, 1 P, 2 FL)

Even slower than Hedge over a lap on average last year, de Alba was however a rookie who made the podium twice on ovals (following up on his Freedom 90 victory in USF Pro 2000) and beat many experienced drivers to fifth in the points. He ended the year one behind Hedge, and was driving one of the two cars co-run by Andretti Global and Cape Motorsports.

Now he’s been ‘promoted’ into Andretti’s main line-up, de Alba has “a lot more expectations” and particularly after a productive pre-season where he’s feeling the benefit of more viewpoints when finetuning his car. The 25-year-old reckons a more competitive package will bring more out of him, and knows he needs to improve on extracting pace straight away from new tyres and the fact he only had one top-five finish away from an oval in 2024.

#29 James Roe Jr IRELAND Andretti Global
2024: 6th in Indy Nxt (1 P)   2023: 7th in Indy Nxt   2022: 12th in Indy Nxt   2021: 7th in USFP2000 (1 W, 1 P)

Three podiums from 39 races is Roe’s Indy Nxt record so far, but he is handling the pressure different to others.

“It’s pretty simple this year. We had our [first] pole last year. Firstly we want more poles, make that plural, and race wins. That’s really what I’m after. And hopefully the two combine, you’re fighting for a championship.”

He thinks a breakthrough is possible, and that qualifying strongly will be the key as he suspects his baseline pace should have been enough to put him third in the championship last year. The 26-year-old has noticed improvements within Andretti (who he has driven for since 2023), and cites experience accumulated from contesting last month’s Daytona 24 Hours that could make him more competitive. Past results contrast with future expectations, but Roe may be right.

#39 Bryce Aron USA HMD Motorsports
2024: 9th in Indy Nxt, 15th in FRegional Oceania (1 W, 1 FL), 26th in USFP2000   2023: 4th in Euroformula (3 W, 1 FL)

Despite being American, Aron learned like a foreigner last year as he arrived in Indy Nxt after several years racing in Britain then race-winning Euroformula and FRegional Oceania campaigns. He got two road course podiums and a fourth place at the Milwaukee Mile, and has now swapped Andretti for HMD. Aron also has experience of top-tier machinery, as he contesyed the Daytona 24H in a Hypercar class prototype sportscar.

“It teaches you how to multitask very well and also use the tools available to you. Luckily in the Indy Nxt series, which I think is quite rare compared to any junior formula series is we still have some tools in the car. Front and rear anti-roll bar adjustments. So being able to multitask well in the GTP car is something that will carry over well into the Indy Nxt car.”

He started off in Indy Nxt by “putting a lot of pressure on myself and really trying to force results, and I think that led to mistakes”. Results improved once he relaxed, and seemed pretty chill this pre-season so he could be a dark horse.

#99 Myles Rowe USA Abel Motorsports w/ Force Indy
2024: 11th in Indy Nxt   2023: USFP2000 champion (5 W, 4 P, 3 FL)   2022: 2nd in USFP2000 (5 W, 2 P, 6 FL)

Talking of chill, Rowe takes one of the coolest out-of-cockpit approaches and applies it in the car to improve himself. His switch from HMD to Abel Motorsports, through backer Force Indy, could have a significant impact on his results. Consistency and communication are two aspects he sees as key for 2025, with no doubts about pace, although he was on average only 14th fastest last year. Although rated highly, Will Power’s protege must prove he can live up to others’ expectations.

#9 Jonathan Browne IRELAND Chip Ganassi Racing
2024: 13th in Indy Nxt   2023: 8th in USFP2000   2022: 12th in USFP2000 (1 P)   2021: 19th in GB3

A heat win at the 2021 Formula Ford Festival is the last time Browne stood on top of the podium, and he has brought himself up to speed in each category he’s raced in since FFord but never reached race-winning peaks. That could change if IndyCar titans Chip Ganassi Racing hit the ground running on their return to Indy Nxt, but based on pre-season comments it sounds like it will be another learning year for Browne after a rookie season which had no non-finishes but peaked with sixth on debut.

#14 Josh Pierson USA HMD Motorsports
2025: 7th in FRegional Oceania (2 FL)   2024: 14th in Indy Nxt   2023: 15th in Indy Nxt   2021: 4th in USF2000

In his 27 months as a junior driver of IndyCar team Ed Carpenter Racing, Pierson has not stunned in single-seaters but has developed finely in sportscar racing. IndyCar remains the aim, rather than adding to his World Endurance Championship wins, but no top-five finishes in 23 Indy Nxt starts begs the question of what a third season with HMD can achieve as another crop of talented drivers join the field. Winning a race or two in sight of IndyCar’s paddock will prove why ECR has faith.

#40 Jack William Miller USA Abel Motorsports w/ Miller Vinatieri Motorsports
2024: 15th in Indy Nxt   2023: 9th in USFP2000 (1 P)   2022: 9th in USFP2000 (2 P, 1 FL)   2021: 11th in USFP2000 (1 FL)

The lowest placed of the full-timers in 2024, Miller should have a big boost this season as his family’s Miller Vinatieri Motorsports team partners with Abel to run him. Initially it was only going to be MVM going alone, which would have made it the only one-car entry on the grid, but now they can learn from the data of three other cars.

Miller, who has never won a race in his single-seater career but claimed four podiums and several poles in USFP2000, is incredibly laid back about what this season could hold. Also, keep an eye on if he’s all-out attack on the streets of Detroit.

“I approach it with the way that I approach everything in life. I’m going to try my best, I’m going to know at the end of it that I gave it all, and I’m going to have a good time.”

#11 Nolan Allaer USA HMD Motorsports
2024: 19th in Indy Nxt   2023: 6th in BRSCC National FF1600, 16th in FFord Festival, SCCA National Runoff – FContinental and Formula F winner

The “humongous” leap Allaer attempted to make in 2024 was crazy, going from wingless FFord cars to the series just below IndyCar, so to get two top-10 finishes was certainly nothing to be ashamed of and there is clearly huge room for growth. He ended his year early, but returned to the grid for the final race at Nashville Superspeedway for some critical oval experience.

Allaer felt HMD allocated the right personnel to him last year to work with his inexperience, and his target is to end every weekend faster and closer to the front than he started it. While out of the cockpit he still shadowed HMD to continue learning.

#10 Niels Koolen THE NETHERLANDS Chip Ganassi Racing
2024: 20th in Indy Nxt, 32nd in F2   2023: 25th in Eurocup-3, 31st in FRegional Middle East, 37th in FREC

When Koolen finished 10th in race one on Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course last season, it marked the first top-10 finish of his career. Since starting his car racing career in 2022, he has competed in Formula 4, FRegional, Formula 2 and LMP2 prototype sportscars. He was 17th in the 2024 European Le Mans Series, his highest ever position in a championship.

#48 Jordan Missig USA Abel Motorsports
2024: 22nd in Indy Nxt   2023: 11th in USFP2000 (1 FL)   2022: 11th in USFP2000   2021: 20th in USFP2000, 5th in FRegional Americas (1 W, 1 FL)

Missig started off in sportscars (and has been competitive on his appearances in closed-wheel cars since as shown by his 2024 Radical Cup North America crown), won once across two seasons in FRegional Americas, had two podiums from two USFP2000 campaigns and did five Indy Nxt races last year that culminated with a ninth place at the Gateway oval.

He feels he knows where he stands compared to the opposition going into this season, has a mentality shift brought about by his Radical success, and wants to keep it clean to bring home the points rather than get risky on track.

#3 Ricardo Escotto MEXICO Andretti Cape
2024: 23rd in Indy Nxt, 9th in USFP2000, 13th in Euroformula   2023: 13th in USFP2000 (1 W, 1 FL)

Escotto contested five Indy Nxt races in 2024, and little can be said from that on how he will fare this year with Andretti Cape. He turned experience into good results in USFP2000 during his second year there, but it will be harder at this level.

The rookies

#28 Dennis Hauger NORWAY Andretti Global
2024: 11th in F2 (1 W, 2 P, 2 FL)   2023: 8th in F2 (2 W, 1 FL), 2nd in Macau GP   2022: 10th in F2 (2 W, 3 FL)

Still ‘only’ 21, Hauger arrives in the USA with three years of F2 experience, working experience with teams in Formula 1 and Formula E and a reputation as a top talent who had a title favourite tag on him before even driving the Indy Nxt car.

But Hauger may have a lot to prove, since there was a rather static trajectory over his time in F2 (which included four sprint race wins but only two feature race podiums in total) and his inability to trounce his team-mates enhanced their reputations.

He was the third fastest driver on average in 2024, but only 15th on race pace. That led to 16 drivers leading more laps than him, and only scoring 4.5 more points in the more valuable feature races than the sprints. Despite missing two rounds, he was four points shy of being the most productive driver in sprint races. With no reversed-grids in Indy Nxt, Hauger’s strong qualifying form should prove a strength and the series’ tougher tyre compounds we already know suits him more.

Hauger is happy with how pre-season testing went, he only has eyes on the title, and many expect him and Collet to be incredibly close. While Collet has the Indy Nxt experience, Hauger has more races and success at this level under his belt.

“All tracks are new for me this year. Not least the ovals. Everything is new, and it’s just about doing the hard work with the team. Watched a lot of videos and data over the off-season with my engineer and really tried to understand the car and how they work around the race weekends. I know all the tracks by heart at this point already, to be honest! Probably watched four or five hours of videos per day for some weeks, at some point. And I think that’s going to be the most important thing: do the hard work off-track, and be as prepared as possible when we get on track.”

#26 Lochie Hughes AUSTRALIA Andretti Global
2024: USFP2000 champion (5 W, 4 P, 3 FL)   2023: 3rd in USFP2000 (4 W, 2 P)   2022: US F4 champion (6 W, 2 P, 5 FL)

Completing Andretti’s four-car main line-up is the reigning USFP2000 champion, who contrasts his rookie status to Hauger’s.

“It’s my first year of Indy Nxt, hopefully it’s my only year of Indy Nxt because I’m moving up [to IndyCar]. But yeah, I feel like I’m one of the few genuine rookies this year. No pressure.”

There’s certainly momentum behind the 22-year-old, who has blossomed on the American scene. Track time will likely be his greatest ally in 2025, as he has been quick to identify where small changes are needed but there has been limited pre-season time to try out every new things he learns about the car and from the team. He may end up being competitive sometimes without feeling it, or alternatively have productive days that aren’t pinned to big results.

“It’s a big jump, honestly. It’s taken a little bit to get used to. I felt like I’ve been straight on the pace, straight away. But the car is very different. So extracting those last tenths or two is a lot harder. Just to get comfortable with the car.”

#24 Sophia Floersch GERMANY HMD Motorsports
2024: 29th in FIA F3 Championship   2023: 11th in Macau GP, 23rd in FIA F3 Championship   2020: 29th in FIA F3 Championship   2019: DNF in Macau GP, 7th in FREC (1 FL)   2018: 22nd in FIA European F3, DNF in Macau GP

Floersch anticipates to be more competitive in Indy Nxt than Formula 3, and due to the change of machinery rather than what could be considered a weaker midfield. Her driving style suited the category’s open era rather than the spec cars and tricky to manage tyres of the present, but she didn’t get to develop in the former and instead had doggedly commited to racing the latter to show female talents in Europe don’t have to race in all-female series to look competitive.

It didn’t work out, with one top-10 finish from 58 FIA F3 races while heaps of media attention was plastered on W Series and F1 Academy’s drivers, but Floersch was with midfield teams in highly competitive fields and experience is still experience.

Her success in GT and prototype sportscars shows how she can rise to new challenges, but more importantly can maximise her talent outside of the regimented F1 support paddock environment and the FIA F3 car.

She has to at least do better than W Series champion Jamie Chadwick, who had an average finishing position of 11.7 as an Indy Nxt rookie in 2023, to prove her route to single-seaters’ second tier better prepared her than racing in all-female series.

#16 Tommy Smith AUSTRALIA HMD Motorsports
2025: 16th in FRegional Oceania   2024: 20th in FIA F3 Championship, 8th in FRegional Oceania   2023: 14th in Macau GP, 27th in FIA F3 Championship   2022: 19th in GB3 (1 W)   2021: 22nd in GB3

If Smith can match Floersch, that would be good going for a driver who spent most of their time in F3 failing to challenge for points. However, this year could be seen as the first time he’s entered a championship with a top team and HMD’s expansive resources should help him get up to speed quicker than drivers at smaller teams. Should that give him a head-start, he needs to prove he can capitalise on competitive machinery and to take the fight to Indy Nxt sophomores.

#2 Seb Murray SCOTLAND Andretti Cape
2024: 18th in GB3, 19th in F4 UAE   2023: 17th in GB4, 30th in F4 UAE, 39th in Spanish F4   2022: NC in F4 UAE Trophy

The Scot is yet to even finish in the top four of a single-seater race, and admitted to underestimating how much of a high-performance car he is now in after pre-season testing as he stepped up from GB3. The 18-year-old hasn’t really made the point yet of why he is in Indy Nxt, so he’ll have to do his explaining on track.

#38 Hailie Deegan USA HMD Motorsports
2024: 32nd in NASCAR Xfinity Series, 19th in FRegional Americas   2023: 19th in NASCAR Truck Series   2022: 21st in NASCAR Truck Series   2021: 17th in NASCAR Truck Series

A huge signing for the series that may not immediately register with open-wheel audiences, Hailie Deegan is a hugely popular driver on the stock car scene with 3.2 million followers on TikTok and 1.2 million on Instagram.

She is bigger than junior single-seaters in its entirety when it comes to reach, so she has to avoid being at the back of the pack during her open-wheel transition to avoid damaging her brand. She did one FRegional Americas round in 2024 so is not entirely new to open-wheel racing, and there have been several drivers who have gone from NASCAR to IndyCar’s support series and shown strongly on ovals. Deegan however wants to prove she can race on road courses and street circuits.

#18 Nikita Johnson USA HMD Motorsports
2025: 3rd in FRegional Oceania (1 W, 1 FL)   2024: 2nd in USFP2000 (8 W, 7 P, 8 FL), 11th in GB3 (2 W, 1 FL)

St. Pete, IMS, Nashville only Age waivers means Johnson has already won a lot aged 16, and importantly above entry level series and beyond the IndyCar support paddock. He began 2025 with FRegional Oceania success, and last year had victories in USFP2000 and GB3. He has been competitive in everything so far, but this year will be his first not driving for Velocity Racing Development so he needs to prove he can grow as a driver with a different outfit and also to juggle programmes.

He can’t let the work that needs to go into learning the faster Indy Nxt car take away from his full-time GB3 programme, but he also can’t let the time and additional travel going into GB3 make him underprepared for his three Indy Nxt outings since simulator time will be key. If he takes it all in his stride, that’s a point proven in itself for such a young driver.

#18 Max Taylor USA HMD Motorsports
2024: 26th in GB3, 3rd in USF2000 (4 W, 1 P, 2 FL), USF Juniors champion (3 W, 3 P, 2 FL)   2023: 18th in USF2000, 2nd in YACademy Winter Series (2 W, 2 FL), 6th in USF Juniors (1 W, 2 FL), 25th in US F4

Barber Motorsports Park, Detroit, Iowa Speedway, Laguna Seca, Milwaukee Mile only Formula Scout spoke to Taylor before his Indy Nxt programme was confirmed, to find out how the 17-year-old sees his rapid rise up the single-seater ladder.

Intruigingly he is not going to be racing at the two tracks he is most successful at, Road America and Mid-Ohio, but this year is all about learning when it comes to Indy Nxt and his choice of tracks to race in reflects that. He will race in USFP2000 full-time through 2025, after taking the USF Juniors title three steps below Indy Nxt and winning in USF2000 last year, and making such a large step means he has to prove he’s ready to race far bigger cars against drivers with more wheel-to-wheel experience.

#18 Evagoras Papasavvas USA HMD Motorsports
2024: 4th in USF2000 (2 W, 2 P)   2023: 4th in USFP2000 (1 W, 1 P, 1 FL)   2022: 23rd in USF2000

Gateway, Road America, Mid-Ohio Taking over the #18 car for the remaining three races is Papasavvas, a fourth-year driver who has only raced a USF2000 car. His deal was the latest to be done, so he’s the least prepared and will need to learn from his team-mates on weekends out of the cockpit. Showing tangible improvements will be difficult in his programme since the Gateway oval is very different from Road America, and it’s a quick turnaround from there to Mid-Ohio.

#30 Liam Sceats NEW ZEALAND HMD Motorsports
2024: 2nd in USFP2000 (1 W), 2nd in FRegional Oceania (3 W, 2 P, 3 FL)   2023: 2nd in FRJC (3 W, 2 FL), 4th in FRegional Oceania (1 FL)

St. Petersburg only Being part of the HMD mega-team means Sceats could do well, particularly if his cameo means he can take risks on the streets of St. Pete.