Indy NXT development series to undergo significant changes for 2026
Penske Entertainment’s Indy NXT development series will undergo a number of significant changes for 2026.
As it has done in the IndyCar Series with a maximum of 27 entries, RACER understands an entry limit of 24 cars will be implemented by Penske Entertainment next season. In a related move, teams will also be capped at four entries apiece.
The four-car ceiling comes with an important caveat where the likes of reigning champions Andretti Global, which fields four entries under its name, will be allowed to continue supporting two additional cars through its ongoing Andretti Cape Indy NXT co-entry program. The same allowance also applies to HMD Motorsports, which will enter four cars under the HMD banner, run two cars for Cusick Morgan Motorsports, and two more cars in partnership with a different entrant.
Altogether, Andretti/Cape and HMD with its pair of two-car efforts under different names, are expected to account for 14 entries. Abel Motorsports is expected to continue with four cars, which brings the tally to 18, and Chip Ganassi Racing, which returned to NXT in 2025 with two cars, is known to be doubling in size with a four-car effort for 2026, which takes the total to 22.
With Juncos Hollinger Racing’s confirmation of its return with two cars, Penske Entertainment has its field of 24 entries.
On the technical side, an important development is coming to the Dallara IL15 chassis for 2026 with a replacement for its original six-speed transmission. The paddle-sifting units made by Ricardo, which have been subject to increasing supply concerns for spare parts, will be traded for brand-new six-speed units from Xtrac, the makers of IndyCar’s spec transmission for the Dallara DW12. A new semi-automatic shifting system is also part of the package, which will require tuning.
The current plan by the series and Xtrac is to provide each team with one new unit to install and use at the Chris Griffis Memorial Test, scheduled to start on October 27 at the Indianapolis Road Course. Manufacturing and shipping the rest of the units to outfit the remainder of the cars will take place after the test.
Teams are also preparing for a change to the structure of NXT’s calendar. As Penske Entertainment sought to stabilize and simplify the series, the use of doubleheader weekend was reduced; in 2025, only two weekends – the Indy GP and Laguna Seca – featured two NXT races apiece.
RACER understands the final schedule could mark a return of more doubleheaders to give the prospective IndyCar drivers more racing mileage and experience before graduating, and the venues being considered for the calendar could also feature one or more new destinations.
Long Beach has been spoken of as an option for NXT; Indy Lights was a steady presence at the event in the 1980s and 1990s, but there’s a question of whether the series would be integrated into the Penske-owned event before 2027. IndyCar’s trip to Mexico next year, which awaits confirmation, is also said to have NXT on the docket as a featured component of the weekend.
The possibility of IndyCar holding a street race in Washington DC next year is another option being weighed for the inclusion of NXT.
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