Three Up, Three Down: Drivers on Rise, Fall at Midseason

Parity has been the defining storyline of the 2026 INDY NXT by Firestone season.

Nikita Johnson leads the championship standings entering the series’ off weekend by just two points over Enzo Fittipaldi, with Tymek Kucharczyk another three points back in third.

All three are rookies. Johnson drives for Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR, while Fittipaldi and Kucharczyk are teammates at HMD Motorsports.

The depth of competition has been evident throughout the first eight races. Six different drivers from five different teams have visited victory lane. By comparison, through eight races last season, there had been just three winners -- Dennis Hauger, Lochie Hughes and Caio Collet -- representing two teams, Andretti Global (Hauger, Hughes) and HMD Motorsports (Collet).

Those two organizations have reached victory lane again this season, Max Taylor in Arlington, Fittipaldi and Kucharczyk (Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course doubleheader sweep) and Fittipaldi in Detroit but are joined by Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR, AJ Foyt Racing and Abel Motorsports with victories.

Johnson won the season opener on the streets of St. Petersburg and Race 1 of the Barber Motorsports Park doubleheader. Alessandro de Tullio captured Race 2 at Barber for AJ Foyt Racing, while Myles Rowe delivered Abel Motorsports with Force Indy its first victory of the season last Sunday at World Wide Technology Raceway.

With the series headed into a June 20-21 doubleheader weekend at Road America, here are three drivers trending up and three trending down.

Three Up

Myles Rowe, Abel Motorsports: Rowe endured a difficult start to his third INDY NXT season, entering Detroit ninth in points with an average finish of 12.3. His best result through the first six races was fifth in Race 1 at Barber Motorsports Park. The momentum has shifted the last two races. Rowe climbed from 11th to second on the streets of Detroit before charging from 24th to victory at World Wide Technology Raceway, where he led a race-high 29 of 75 laps. He enters Road America fifth in points, 73 behind Johnson.

Max Garcia, Abel Motorsports: Rowe’s Abel Motorsports teammate also appears to be finding his stride. Garcia recorded just one top-10 finish in the first six races, a fourth-place result in Race 1 at Barber. Since, he has posted back-to-back strong performances, finishing fourth in Detroit and eighth at World Wide Technology Raceway (photo, top). His average finish leaped from 15.33 through six races to sixth the last two races. The 17-year-old won the 2024 USF2000 championship and the 2025 USF Pro 2000 title, earning 14 wins and six runner-up finishes in 36 combined starts. His worst result over those two seasons was ninth.

Josh Pierson, Andretti Global: Pierson has recently put together one of the strongest runs in the field. The fourth-year driver, competing in his first season with Andretti Global, has earned three top-10 finishes in the last four races. He managed just one top-10 result in the opening four events, a seventh-place finish in St. Petersburg. His average finish has improved from 17.0 over the first four races to 7.8 over the last four, highlighted by a third-place finish Sunday at World Wide Technology Raceway.

Three Down

Juan Manuel Correa, Cusick Morgan Motorsports: Correa opened the season with three top-10 finishes in the first four races but has managed one in the last four. His recent results of 12th, 11th, ninth and 14th reflect the growing pains often associated with a first-year team. Cusick Morgan Motorsports continues to build its foundation in its inaugural season, and consistency remains a work in progress.

Max Taylor, Andretti Global: Taylor remains fourth in points and earned a runner-up finish in Race 2 of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course doubleheader, but his championship position has slipped. The Andretti Global rookie entered the IMS weekend second in the standings but trails Johnson by 27 points and sits fourth. Qualifying has not been the issue. Taylor has started fourth, second, second, second, first, second and third over the last seven races. However, he has yet to lead a lap during that stretch and has converted those strong starting positions into only three top-five finishes.

Nikita Johnson, Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR: It may seem unusual to place the championship leader in this category, but Johnson’s recent trend has cooled compared to his blistering start. Johnson opened the season with four podium finishes in the first five races, including victories at St. Petersburg and Barber. His average finish through those first five races was 2.8. Over the last three events, however, he has finished sixth, sixth and seventh, respectively, raising his average finish to 6.3 during that span. Johnson entered the Month of May with a 23-point championship lead. He arrives at Road America with just a two-point advantage, a testament both to the field’s parity and the pressure building atop the standings.