Andretti Global announced Oct. 14 that Max Taylor will join its lineup for the 2026 INDY NXT by Firestone season, driving the No. 28 car.

Taylor, 18, is the third driver to be confirmed for the Andretti INDY NXT team in 2026, following the recent announcements of teammates Seb Murray and Lochie Hughes.

New Jersey resident Taylor competed full time in the USF Pro 2000 Championship and made six INDY NXT by Firestone starts in 2025. He completed his rookie USF Pro 2000 season with one win, four podium finishes, nine top-five finishes and 13 top-10 finishes in 18 races. In INDY NXT, he collected one top-five finish and four top-10 finishes with HMD Motorsports.

Most recently, Taylor competed in the Donington Park Grand Prix, the penultimate race of the 2025 GB3 Championship, where he scored top-10 finishes in every race of the tripleheader weekend.

“I am beyond excited to be joining Andretti Global for the 2026 INDY NXT season,” Taylor said. “I am incredibly honored to be a part of a team with such a legendary history in motorsport. This is a huge step in my career and truly a dream come true. I can’t wait to get to work with the team.”

Max Taylor

Taylor (photo, above) made his open-wheel racing debut in 2023 when he competed in the USF Juniors Championship, rounding out his rookie season with one win, three podiums and six top-five finishes. During this time, he also competed in partial seasons in the USF2000 Championship (11 starts) and the Formula 4 United States Championship (three starts), where he scored four top-10 finishes in USF2000 and produced a best finish of sixth place in Formula 4.

In 2024, Taylor won the USF Juniors Championship title and placed third in the USF2000 Championship.

“Credit goes to JF Thormann for bringing Max to the team for 2026,” Andretti Global Team Principal Rob Edwards said. “Conversations started midseason in 2025 and moved quickly to include him as part of the Andretti Global INDY NXT team.

“Max impressed us in half a dozen INDY NXT outings this past season, most notably at Barber, Detroit and Laguna Seca. We look forward to seeing Max continue his growth and build on those performances with us in 2026.”