Nikita Johnson joins Dale Coyne Racing for 2027, Indy NXT champion steps up to IndyCar at 18

Nikita Johnson will race full time in the 2027 NTT IndyCar Series with Dale Coyne Racing, the team announced on Tuesday. The 18-year-old from St. Petersburg, Florida, is the reigning Indy NXT by Firestone champion and will drive one of the team’s Honda-powered cars.

His first race as a full-time IndyCar driver is the season opener on the streets of St. Petersburg on 7 March, his home event. All confirmed dates are on our IndyCar 2027 schedule.

The youngest champion in Indy NXT history

Johnson won the 2026 Indy NXT title at 18 years, 3 months and 12 days, the youngest champion the series has had. The numbers behind it are about consistency more than raw wins: two victories, at St. Petersburg and in Alabama, nine podiums and ten top-five finishes. He finished in the top eight in all 17 races and was the only driver to complete all 656 laps of the season. We looked at that title season in how Johnson became the youngest Indy NXT champion without a bad race.

St. Petersburg has been a lucky place for him. He won the season opener there in Indy NXT this year, in USF Pro 2000 in 2024 and in USF2000 in 2023. He was runner-up in both of those junior championships. In 2025 he raced in Europe as well, winning GB3 races at Zandvoort and Brands Hatch at the age of 16.

“This is a great opportunity”

Team owner Dale Coyne pointed to the range of cars Johnson has already raced. “This is a great opportunity for DCR to sign a young and talented driver with an impressive résumé,” Coyne said in the IndyCar announcement. “Nikita has raced many types of cars and has gained great experience in the USA with INDY NXT, the USF series, Formula Regional in New Zealand, and GB3 and F3 in England and Europe.”

Johnson thanked the team, his backers and his family, and kept his focus on the job: “I am focused on working with the DCR team to maximize this opportunity at the top level of motorsports.”

A test at Barber settled it

The deal follows a test at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama on 26 October. Johnson drove the Coyne car in the afternoon, after Formula 2 driver Alex Dunne had used it in the morning. “It was faster, more downforce. It was surreal,” Johnson told IndyCar afterwards, adding that braking was the main thing he still had to get used to.

ENVE Composites and OnlyBulls support his entry. OnlyBulls goes into a third straight season with the team. ENVE now backs three drivers on the IndyCar ladder for 2027: Johnson, Mick Schumacher and Indy NXT driver Matteo Nannini.

One Coyne seat filled, one still open

When IndyCar published its 2027 line-up update on 30 October, both Dale Coyne seats were still unconfirmed, together with the second Juncos Hollinger car. Johnson takes one of the Coyne cars. The team has not yet said who will drive the other.

Johnson joins a rookie class that will race on more new ground than usual. Besides St. Petersburg, the 2027 calendar includes IndyCar’s first race in Europe since 2007, at Barcelona on 18 July.

Our view

Dale Coyne Racing has a long record of giving young drivers their first IndyCar seat, and Johnson fits that pattern almost perfectly. What stands out in his Indy NXT season is not speed alone but the fact that he never had a bad weekend: top eight in every race and every lap completed. That kind of consistency is exactly what a smaller team needs from a rookie, because points finishes keep sponsors on board.

The jump is still big. An IndyCar is faster, heavier on the brakes and far more physical than an Indy NXT car, and the field is deep. A realistic first-season target is to finish races, learn the ovals and beat his team-mate. If he does that, the St. Petersburg habit could follow him into IndyCar sooner than people expect.

Sources: INDYCAR official announcement and media advisory, 10 November 2026; INDYCAR, 27 and 30 October 2026; SPEED SPORT.

Can Nikita Johnson score points in his IndyCar debut at St. Petersburg, his home race? Tell us in the comments.