Note: This starts a series of 2026 INDY NXT by Firestone team previews on INDYNXT.com. The season starts Sunday, March 1 on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida (10 a.m. ET, FS1, FOX One, FOX One, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network).

Starting Lineup: Lochie Hughes (No. 26 Andretti Global), Sebastian Murray (No. 27 Andretti Global), Max Taylor (No. 28 Andretti Global), Josh Pierson (No. 29 Andretti Global).

2025 in Review: Rookie Dennis Hauger earned Andretti Global its seventh INDY NXT by Firestone championship last season, including a second in a row, following Louis Foster’s title for the team in 2024. Hauger, from Norway, finished with six wins, four runner-up results and 12 top-five finishes in 14 starts. Rookie teammate Lochie Hughes added two wins, eight podiums and 10 top-five finishes en route to third in the standings. Salvador de Alba earned his maiden series victory in the penultimate race at Milwaukee Mile and finished fifth in points, giving Andretti Global three of the top five drivers in the final championship standings. James Roe placed 12th in points driving the fourth entry.

New for ’26: For the second consecutive season, three of the four Andretti Global entries feature new drivers, with Hughes the lone returner. He is joined by sophomore Sebastian Murray in the No. 27 car. Murray raced with Cape Motorsports last season, but in his first outing with Andretti Global equipment on Oct. 27, the Scot topped the Chris Griffis Memorial Test on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. Oregon native Josh Pierson replaces Roe in the No. 29 entry and enters his fourth INDY NXT season following a career-best year with HMD Motorsports that included two podium finishes, 11 top-10s and a sixth-place championship result. Pierson ranked inside the top three in two of the three offseason Open Tests and finished in the top 10 in three of four Sebring test sessions. New Jersey native Max Taylor (photo, bottom) made six INDY NXT starts last season and completed his USF Pro 2000 rookie campaign with one win, four podiums and nine top-five finishes. He led November’s Barber Motorsports Park Open Test, was second fastest at the Chris Griffis Memorial Test and ranked top two in all four Sebring sessions.

Keep an Eye on This: The 2026 season marks the first since 2023 that Andretti Global operates without a technical alliance. The team partnered with Cape Motorsports over the past two seasons to support two additional entries. This year, Andretti Global will run as a standalone organization, allocating all resources to its four cars. What impact will that have? Andretti Global won 18 of 28 races during its two-year partnership with Cape Motorsports – will that total increase? Three of the four drivers in the 2026 lineup are still seeking their first INDY NXT victory, while Hughes owns two career wins.

Little-Known Fact: An Andretti Global driver has finished first (2018, 2019, 2021, 2024, 2025) or second (2022, 2023) in points in each of the last seven INDY NXT by Firestone seasons.

Max Taylor