There is little time for Nikita Johnson to celebrate.
Two weeks after securing the 2026 INDY NXT by Firestone championship, the 18-year-old returns to sports car racing, competing in Sunday’s IMSA TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Johnson shares the No. 59 RLL Team McLaren 720S GT3 EVO with Max Esterson in the two-hour, 40-minute race competing in the GTD PRO class.
Tickets for the TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks are available for purchase at IMS.com.
Johnson clinched the INDY NXT championship Sept. 6 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, becoming the youngest champion in series history at 18 years, 3 months and 12 days old. He won twice in 17 starts, including the season opener on the streets of St. Petersburg and Race 1 at Barber Motorsports Park.
Nine podium finishes and top-10 results in every race helped Johnson secure the championship. His eighth-place finish at Portland was his worst result of the season, and he completed all 656 laps, the only driver in the field to do so.
Johnson’s consistency was rooted partly in his experience in sports car racing. He has also competed full time in IMSA this season and enters Sunday’s race ninth in the championship. His best result came in July, when he finished sixth at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park.
The two disciplines require different approaches, but Johnson has found value in each. Sports car racing has helped him develop the discipline to remain focused through long races and manage the details that can turn a strong result into a mistake.
“Consistency is where it’s at,” Johnson said. “That’s what wins championships.”
Johnson learned that lesson after narrowly missing the 2024 USF Pro 2000 championship because of crashes and penalties. He carried that experience into his first full INDY NXT season with Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR and rarely put a wheel wrong.
“If the car is fifth, I’m going to go put it fifth. If the car is a first-place car, I’m going to try to go for first,” Johnson said. “I always try to get the max out of the car, but I’m not going to try to overachieve and throw off a good points day.”
That mindset served him throughout the championship fight. Johnson understood when a pass was worth attempting and when bringing the car home mattered more.
“To try to go make a pass for seventh on the last lap when you know it’s not there, take yourself out, instead of gaining two points, you lose whatever it was, 19, 20 points or more,” Johnson said.
His approach also reflects a maturity that has impressed Cape Motorsports owner Nicholas Cape.
“He drives beyond his years,” Cape said. “He’s levelheaded. He brings the car home every time. It’s hard to call him young. He’s got a lot of experience.”
Johnson’s racing career began in a kart after growing up in St. Petersburg, Florida. His family were race fans, but racing was not initially the plan. Johnson took skating lessons and dreamed of playing hockey for the hometown Tampa Bay Lightning.
Eventually, the kart won out.
Johnson has won races in every professional season of his career. He earned three USF Juniors victories in 2022 before moving through USF2000 and USF Pro 2000. He won eight USF Pro 2000 races in 2024 and added victories in GB3 and Formula Regional Oceania before making three INDY NXT starts with HMD Motorsports in 2025.
This year, Johnson turned his first full INDY NXT season into a championship.
He has already made it clear that he wants to keep moving up. Johnson has been mentioned as a candidate for open 2027 NTT INDYCAR SERIES rides and said he is ready for the opportunity.
“I’ve heard people saying that I should just come back to INDY NXT for a second year or go do IMSA for a year and then come in, but I’m ready for INDYCAR SERIES,” Johnson said.
For now, though, Johnson returns to IMS with another opportunity to add to an already memorable season. The championship trophy is secure, but the development continues Sunday at the track where the next chapters of his career could eventually unfold.
“I knew as long as I was finishing, I’d be getting good points,” Johnson said. “Others would either have bad luck or drive themselves into a mistake and have a crash. I knew if I could just keep it on track and get the points, we’d be pretty set.”
