FOX Sports and INDYCAR Announce INDY NXT by Firestone Schedule on FS1, FS2 

From IndyCar:

 INDIANAPOLIS (Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024) – FOX Sports and INDYCAR have revealed the television schedule for the 2025 INDY NXT by Firestone season. As part of the new media rights deal between FOX Sports and INDYCAR announced in June, the entire INDY NXT season will be available live on television for the first time. Twelve INDY NXT races will appear live on FOX Sports’ FS1 with two airing on FS2.
Additionally, all practice and qualifying sessions for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES’ developmental series will air on a combination of FS1 and FS2. All INDYCAR programming also streams live on the FOX Sports app.
“As part of INDYCAR’s exceptional partnership with FOX Sports, INDY NXT by Firestone will receive unprecedented exposure,” Penske Entertainment Corp. President and CEO Mark Miles said. “As we have seen, the competition in INDYCAR’s developmental series is fierce and intense. A full season of live races on network television via FS1 and FS2 will prove to be a significant showcase for INDY NXT and the drivers vying to advance to the NTT INDYCAR SERIES.”
In 2024, INDY NXT averaged the most starters (19.5) since 2009 and is on pace to see a record 24 full-time starters in 2025.The battle for the 2025 INDY NXT by Firestone championship begins on the palm tree-lined streets of St. Petersburg, Fla., Sunday, March 2 at 10 a.m. (All times Eastern).
The 2025 champion will once again be crowned at the season finale at the thrilling Nashville Superspeedway Sunday, Aug. 31 at 11:30 a.m.
The schedule also includes a return to several venues where on-track passing records were broken in 2024:
Barber Motorsports Park
Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course
World Wide Technology Raceway
WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca
INDY NXT drivers and teams also look to extend 2024 qualifying records at:
Streets of St. Petersburg
Streets of Detroit
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
Iowa Speedway
World Wide Technology Raceway
Portland International Raceway
Milwaukee MileE
xcept for the United States, the INDYCAR LIVE streaming service will continue to provide live coverage of 14 INDY NXT races along with all practice and qualifying sessions.
 Click here for pricing and more information on INDYCAR LIVE.

2025 INDY NXT BY FIRESTONE TELEVISION SCHEDULE:

DateVenueTelevisionTime (ET)
Sunday, March 2Streets of St. PetersburgFS110 a.m.
Sunday, May 4Barber Motorsports ParkFS111:30 a.m.
Friday, May 9Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course Race 1FS17 p.m.
Saturday, May 10Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course Race 2FS11 p.m.
Sunday, June 1Streets of DetroitFS110:30 a.m.
Sunday, June 15World Wide Technology RacewayFS1Noon
Sunday, June 22Road AmericaFS11 p.m.
Sunday, July 6Mid-Ohio Sports Car CourseFS211:30 a.m.
Saturday, July 12Iowa SpeedwayFS11:30 p.m.
Saturday, July 26WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca Race 1FS24:30 p.m.
Sunday, June 27WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca Race 2FS11 p.m.
Sunday, Aug. 10Portland International RacewayFS11 p.m.
Sunday, Aug. 24Milwaukee MileFS111:30 a.m.
Sunday, Aug. 31Nashville SuperspeedwayFS111:30 a.m.

Floersch Tests IndyNXT; IndyCar Grid Still in Limbo

HMD Motorsports announced last week that Formula 3 driver Sophia Floersch will drive in today’s Indy NXT test at Barber Motorsports Park.

Floersch, 23, has driven in Formula 3 and has also driven in the European Le Mans Series. In 2018 Floersch suffered a spine fracture in a horrific accident in Macau when her got airborne and landed outside the track after tearing through the catch fence. She underwent a 10 hour surgery and made a full recovery.

Floersch is exploring her options for 2025and has not signed with any series.

IndyCar Grid- Still 5 Seats Open

Filling the IndyCar grid for 2025 will come down to who has the cash. There are two open seats at Dale Coyne Racing, two at Juncos Hollinger Racing, and one opening at Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.

While no drivers have been formally announced for the second car at Meyer Shank Racing, the third Chip Ganassi Racing seat, or the second car at PREMA, it is presumed that they are all spoken for.

Available drivers include Rinus VeeKay, Linus Lindqvist, Conor Daly, Jack Harvey, Sting Ray Robb, Devlin DeFrancesco, Jamie Chadwick, and Katherine Legge.

Robb and de Francesco have money, and they could possibly help find a teammate.

Coyne might try to cobble together a rotating lineup as he did last season, but the charter rules limit each entry to three drivers a season.

I think VeeKay, Robb, and Lundqvist have the best chance at landing full time rides, while the others we may see in part time roles. It would be a shame not to see Jamie Chadwick make her IndyCar debut this season.

Pato on a Roll

The Pato O’Ward frenzy at the Grand Prix of Mexico this past weekend was quite a sight to behold, and it made the absence of an IndyCar race in Mexico even more of a glaring schedule omission. I am hopeful the race will happen in 2026, and there is now more room for optimism.

Several credible sources are reporting that O’Ward will run some demo laps in an IndyCar during the Formula E weekend at the circuit in January.

INDY NXT by Firestone Drivers Featured at Chris Griffis Test Friday at IMS

From Indy NXT:

  The Chris Griffis Memorial Test is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 18 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
INDY NXT by Firestone drivers will turn laps on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile circuit from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. ET.
The annual open test is named in memory of Chris Griffis, the team manager of Schmidt Peterson Motorsports who passed away suddenly in September 2011.
.WHAT: Chris Griffis Memorial Test
WHO: INDY NXT by Firestone Drivers
Abel Motorsports: Callum Hedge, Jordan Missig, Myles Rowe, Yuven Sundaramoorthy
Andretti Cape INDY NXT: Ricardo Escotto
Andretti Global: Salvador de Alba Jr., Dennis Hauger, Lochie Hughes, James Roe
HMD Motorsports: Nolan Allaer, Bryce Aron, Christian Brooks, Caio Collet, Hailie Deegan, Josh Mason, Josh Pierson, Liam Sceats, Tommy Smith
Juncos Hollinger Racing: Alexander Koreiba, Frankie Mossman
Miller Vinatieri Motorsports: Jack William Miller

WHEN: 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Friday, Oct. 18Noon-12:45 p.m.: Media bullpen interviews with drivers Caio Collet, Hailie Deegan, Lochie Hughes, Myles Rowe and Yuven Sundaramoorthy; Trackside Garage 25WHERE: Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course