2023 Indy NXT

The 2023 Firestone Indy NXT Series season will be the 21st season of the primary support series for the IndyCar Series, sanctioned by IndyCar. Known as Indy Lights before 2023, the championship was rebranded following its acquisition by Penske Entertainment, the owner of INDYCAR, in 2022.[1] This rebrand coincided with the three lower support series, still run by Anderson Promotions, also changing their branding.[2]

2023 Indy NXT season
Firestone Indy NXT Series
Season
Races14
Start dateMarch 5
End dateSeptember 10
Awards

Linus Lundqvist, the defending 2022 Indy Lights champion, became a free agent after the season, so he will not defend his championship.

Series news
  • On June 22, 2022, it was announced that after seven seasons, Cooper Tires will be replaced as tire supplier by Firestone.[3]
  • As part of the rebrand, the prize structure will be changed. The champion will receive a sum of $850,000 to spend on tests at Texas Motor Speedway and Indianapolis Motor Speedway as well as to run the 2024 Indianapolis 500 and an additional IndyCar race. The drivers finishing second and third in the championship will receive $125,000 and $65,000 respectively.[4]

Team and driver chart

The following drivers and teams compete in the series.

Team No. Drivers Round(s)
Abel Motorsport[5][6] 51 Jacob Abel[7] All
57 Colin Kaminsky[8]  R  All
Andretti Autosport 26 Louis Foster[9]  R  All
27 Hunter McElrea[10] All
28 Jamie Chadwick[11]  R  All
29 James Roe Jr.[12] All
Cape Motorsports[13] 98 Jagger Jones[14]  R  All
TBA Enaam Ahmed[15]  R  All
HMD Motorsports 14 Josh Pierson[16]  R  TBC
21 Kyffin Simpson[17] All
HMD Motorsports with Dale Coyne Racing[18] 3 Josh Green[19]  R  All
6 Christian Rasmussen[20] All
7 Christian Bogle[21] All
10 Rasmus Lindh[22] All
39 Nolan Siegel[23]  R  All
68 Danial Frost[24] All
HMD Motorsports with Force Indy 99 Ernie Francis Jr.[25] All
Juncos Hollinger Racing[26] 75 Matteo Nannini[27]  R  All
76 Reece Gold[27]  R  All
R Eligible for Rookie of the Year
  • Legacy Autosport planned to enter the series, but later confirmed it would not do so.[28]

Team changes
  • In July 2022, Cape Motorsports, a long-time USF2000 team with consistent success, announced they would enter Indy NXT for 2023.[13] They won the 2022 USF2000 Driver's Championship with Michael d'Orlando.
  • In September 2022, Juncos Hollinger Racing announced its return to the series after not competing in 2022 to focus on their IndyCar entry.[26]
  • In October 2022, Force Indy announced a collaboration with HMD Motorsports to co-run the No. 99 entry under the HMD Motorsports with Force Indy guise.[25]

Schedule

The schedule was released on November 3, 2022; with the only minor change from last season being the changed location of the Detroit round from Belle Isle to downtown Detroit.[29]

Rd. Date Track Location
1 March 5  R  Streets of St. Petersburg St. Petersburg, Florida
2 April 30  R  Barber Motorsports Park Birmingham, Alabama
3 May 12–13  R  Indianapolis Motor Speedway (Road Course) Speedway, Indiana
4
5 June 3–4  R  Detroit Street Circuit Detroit, Michigan
6
7 June 18  R  Road America Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
8 July 2  R  Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Lexington, Ohio
9 July 22  O  Iowa Speedway Newton, Iowa
10 August 6  R  Nashville Street Circuit Nashville, Tennessee
11 August 26  O  World Wide Technology Raceway Madison, Illinois
12 September 3  R  Portland International Raceway Portland, Oregon
13 September 9–10  R  WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca Monterey, California
14

See also

References
  1. "Indy Lights rebranded for 2023 as "INDY NXT by Firestone"". MSN. Retrieved November 3, 2022.
  2. "Andersen Promotions Announces Rebranding". www.usfpro2000.com. Retrieved December 8, 2022.
  3. "Indy Lights confirms Firestone switch for 2023". RACER. June 22, 2022. Retrieved September 7, 2022.
  4. Wood, Ida (January 13, 2023). "Indy Nxt udpates prize structure for 2023 season". Formula Scout. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
  5. Series, F1 Feeder (October 8, 2022). "Indy Lights Silly Season update: who goes where in 2023?". F1 Feeder Series. Retrieved October 10, 2022.
  6. "TBT to our first Indy Lights race at @GPSTPETE. Sophomore season coming soon". Twitter.
  7. "Abel Staying with Growing Family Team for 2023 Season". IndyCar.com. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  8. "COLIN KAMINSKY JOINS ABEL MOTORSPORTS IN THE NO. 57 INDY NXT by FIRESTONE ENTRY". Abel Motorsports. Retrieved February 8, 2023.
  9. "Foster joins Andretti Autosport for 2023 Indy Lights season". Motorsport.com. September 8, 2022. Retrieved September 29, 2022.
  10. Herrero, Daniel (September 2, 2022). "McElrea signs new Indy Lights contract with Andretti". Speedcafe. Retrieved September 29, 2022.
  11. "Andretti Autosport | Andretti Autosport Signs W Series Champion, Jamie Chadwick for the INDY NXT by Firestone 2023 Season". Andretti Autosport. December 1, 2022. Retrieved December 1, 2022.
  12. "James Roe Signs with Andretti Autosport for the 2023 INDY NXT by Firestone Season". Andretti Autosport. September 8, 2022. Retrieved January 4, 2023.
  13. "Cape Motorsports to advance to Indy Lights in 2023". RACER. July 3, 2022. Retrieved September 7, 2022.
  14. Staff Report (September 7, 2022). "Jones Signs With Cape Motorsports For Indy Lights In 2023". SPEED SPORT. Retrieved September 7, 2022.
  15. "Ahmed ahead at Miami". Samaa TV. February 6, 2023. Retrieved February 7, 2023.
  16. Wood, Ida (October 18, 2022). "WEC racer Josh Pierson to add Indy Lights campaign in 2023". Formula Scout. Retrieved October 18, 2022.
  17. "Simpson Staying with HMD Motorsports for 2023 Season". IndyCar.com. Retrieved October 10, 2022.
  18. "NEWS | HMD Motorsports will expand to no less than EIGHT cars in @IndyLights next year". Twitter.
  19. Pruett, Marshall (September 15, 2022). "Green joins HMD w DCR for Indy Lights". Racer. Retrieved September 29, 2022.
  20. "Christian Rasmussen makes switch to HMD Motorsports for 2023". Rtd-media.com. October 6, 2022.
  21. Wood, Ida (September 22, 2022). "Christian Bogle sticks with HMD Motorsports for third year in Indy Lights". Formula Scout. Retrieved September 29, 2022.
  22. "Rasmus Lindh is back in Indy Lights with support from Garage XYZ as he joins HMD Motorsports with Dale Coyne Racing". Rtd-media.com. October 17, 2022.
  23. Media, R. T. D. (October 4, 2022). "Nolan Siegel Confirms Full-Time Jump to Indy Lights With HMD Motorsports". RTD Media. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  24. "Danial Frost Eyes Indy Lights Championship in HMD Motorsports Return". RTD Media. September 29, 2022. Retrieved September 29, 2022.
  25. "Force Indy Expands Reach, Focus in 2023 with Francis, Rowe". IndyCar.com. Retrieved October 19, 2022.
  26. Pruett, Marshall (September 29, 2022). "Juncos Hollinger returns to Indy Lights with two entries". Racer.com. Retrieved October 4, 2022.
  27. "Juncos Hollinger confirms Gold and Nannini for Indy NXT". Racer.com. December 9, 2022.
  28. "Legacy Autosport Climbing to Indy Lights in 2023". IndyCar.com. Retrieved September 7, 2022.
  29. "IndyCar rebrands Indy Lights, releases 2023 schedule". Racer.com. November 3, 2022. Retrieved November 3, 2022.
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