Indy NXT is an American developmental automobile racing series sanctioned by IndyCar and is known as INDY NXT by Firestone. The series serves as the highest step on the Road to Indy, leading up to the next level, the IndyCar Series. Previously known as Indy Lights, it filled the developmental role for the CART series and served as the American Racing Series from 1986 to 1993, and Dayton Indy Lights from 1991 to 2001. The series was known as the Menards Infinity Pro Series (MIPS) until 2006, when both Menards and Nissan revoked their sponsorships, changing the name to Indy Pro Series. An announcement regarding the change of names took place on March 26, 2008, when the series came to be known as Firestone Indy Lights.
During the CART series from 1986 to 1992, Indy Light used March chassis, a Formula One constructor and manufacturer of customer racing cars from the United Kingdom. After 1992, Lola became the primary chassis constructor of the series and used a modified F3000 chassis. The year after the Indy Lights Series shut down, the Infiniti Pro Series was re-founded by the Indy Racing League and it began racing in 2002. The series initially had few drivers as participants and some races even had fewer than 10 drivers. To counter this and raise the number of entrants in the series, the introduction of several road-course races to the schedule in 2005 took place which attracted America’s top prospects like Marco Andretti and Phil Giebler to run part-time schedules on road courses. A boost in the prize money in 2006 even further increased the driver counts to 16 or more, with an even six oval and six road course mix.
Indy NXT Teams
The 2025 Firestone Indy NXT Series is scheduled to be the 38th season of the Indy NXT open-wheel auto racing series and the 23rd sanctioned by IndyCar as the primary support series for the IndyCar Series. All teams will use Dallara IL-15 cars with an AER-produced Mazda-sourced 2.0-litre engine and Firestone tyres.
Teams competing in the 2025 Indy NXT Series
Abel Motorsports
Abel Motorsports with Force Indy
Andretti Global
Andretti Cape Indy NXT
Chip Ganassi Racing
HMD Motorsports
Juncos Hollinger Racing
Miller Vinatieri Racing
On September 4, 2024, IndyCar team Chip Ganassi Racing announced its return to the Indy NXT series with a two-car effort. Chip Ganassi Racing last competed in the Indy NXT’s predecessor Indy Lights in 2008.
FAQs on IndyCar NXT
A. Louis Foster won the 2024 IndyNXT Series.
A. Andretti Global secured the championship win along with Louis Foster.
A. Andretti Global was founded in 2008.
A. Rob Edwards is the chief operating officer of Andretti Global.