Who are the stars to watch along the Road to Indy?

Written by Evan Roberts, Edited by Julia Bissessar

The Road to Indy paves the way for some of the new, fresh talent to grace the NTT IndyCar Series, granting valuable opportunities to young drivers in their motorsports careers. 

Credit: James Black

The Road to Indy is a pathway that inspires the next generation of racers and serves as the place where many young talents are discovered by teams and sponsors based on their performances in the junior categories.

Beginning as early as the Skip Barber Race Series — where drivers as young as 11 years old compete in a race car for the first time — these youngsters progress through the ranks, growing up before our very eyes, all in pursuit of their dream to become NTT IndyCar Series drivers.

Some of the most recent stars to have successfully made the step up to the big stage include Kyle Kirkwood, Christian Rasmussen and last year’s Indy NXT champion, Louis Foster. Each of these drivers hail from different countries but have made their names in American open-wheel racing thanks to the Road to Indy structure.

In this article, DIVEBOMB IndyCar editor Evan has selected five of the very best young drivers who we believe are ones to watch, based on their performances throughout their time in American open-wheel racing.

As a result, names such as Dennis Hauger and Caio Collet will be excluded from this list, as they have only recently begun their ventures in the United States and were already highly regarded due to their achievements in the European junior Formulas.

Credit: Joe Skibinski

Lochie Hughes

Australia has a rich motorsport pedigree; however, the IndyCar series in particular has not been a major beneficiary of this success. Throughout its history, the series has only fielded seven Australian drivers. One of these, of course, is two-time champion and all-time leader in pole positions, Will Power.

The Penske driver has become one of Lachlan “Lochie” Hughes’ biggest advocates, publicly expressing his desire to help his fellow countryman make it to IndyCar.

“I really want to help him get to IndyCar. I think he’s very good. He’s very focused, determined,” said Power.

Having a big name in your corner can only help and inspire greater success — and success has not been hard to come by for Hughes so far in his career. Now entering his fourth year racing in the United States, the Australian has already captured two championships during his time stateside.

One of these titles came last season, when, as a rookie, Hughes dominated the USF Pro 2000 Championship. He ended the season with five wins and an almost 50-point gap over his nearest competitor.

This year, Hughes will compete in the final step of the “Road to Indy” ladder as he takes on the toughest challenge of his career so far: Indy NXT. He started on the right foot in the season opener at St. Pete, taking second place in his first race of the series.

Credit: USF Pro 2000

Max Garcia

Floridian Max Garcia’s rise up the Road to Indy ranks has been nothing short of spectacular. While he took the 2023 season to adapt to racing in USF2000 — at only 13 years old — what followed in his sophomore season was complete domination.

In the 2024 season opener at St. Pete, Garcia swept the weekend, converting both of his pole positions into race wins. Despite only securing three more wins throughout the remainder of the season, the American demonstrated Alex Palou levels of consistency, his worst finish being seventh at Indianapolis Raceway Park.

Garcia eventually finished the season 73 points ahead of his nearest competitor — a statement to those tracking his career.

2025 has begun in similar fashion, this time in USF Pro 2000. He finished runner-up in the opening race at St. Pete before going one step further the following day to take victory. Garcia currently leads the championship after an impressive opening round.

Credit: Joe Skibinski

Myles Rowe

Georgia native Myles Rowe has experienced a rise through the ranks unlike anyone else. Lifted from obscurity by Roger Penske to become the face of Penske’s diversity programme, Rowe joined the Force Indy race team in 2021.

In his first season back in a race car after three years away, he broke records — becoming the first African American to win an IndyCar-sanctioned race, doing so at New Jersey Motorsports Park.

Although he finished a lowly 13th in the championship, he joined the established Pabst Racing team for his sophomore year in the hope of launching a title challenge.

Unfortunately, heartbreak followed. Despite securing five wins throughout the season, it all came down to the final race, where Rowe held a slim lead over championship rival Michael D’Orlando. Whoever finished ahead would win the title. Rowe crossed the line in fifth place, a solid result — but D’Orlando took the chequered flag in first, snatching the championship by just six points.

In 2023, Rowe stepped up to USF Pro 2000, again with Pabst Racing, but also in collaboration with Force Indy. Few expected such a swift start, but Rowe won three of the opening four races, including a sweep at Sebring. Two more wins at Mid-Ohio and Toronto sealed his first single-seater championship by 63 points, making him the first African American driver to win an American open-wheel championship.

For 2024, Rowe graduated to Indy NXT, the final step in the Road to Indy. Expectations were high, and after qualifying an impressive third in the opening race, things looked promising. However, the season turned sour — for the first time in his career, Rowe failed to win a race, even missing the podium entirely and finishing 11th in the standings.

Mentored by IndyCar legend Will Power, Rowe has described this year as a "make or break" season, stating: “It’s win or bust.” While he didn’t secure victory in the opening round at St. Pete, a fourth-place finish — matching his best result from last year — will do wonders for his confidence as he looks to mount a championship challenge and secure an IndyCar seat for 2026.

Credit: USF Pro 2000

Max Taylor

Connecticut native Max Taylor has taken an unconventional approach to climbing the racing ranks. While most drivers progress one championship at a time, Taylor has broken the mould. In 2023 and 2024, he competed in both the USF Juniors and USF2000 championships.

In his first year of racing, Taylor balanced both series, securing his first win at Road America in USF Juniors and finishing sixth in that championship. 2024 saw him take off, extraordinarily winning the USF Juniors title while also competing for the USF2000 crown, eventually finishing third.

Despite juggling both campaigns — and achieving seven wins across the season — he still found time to compete in three rounds of the GB3 Championship in the UK.

Remarkably, Taylor has maintained this multi-series approach. In 2025, he steps up to USF Pro 2000 with Velocity Racing Development — the team he has been with throughout his career.

Alongside a full season there, where he currently sits fourth in the championship, he will also contest a partial Indy NXT campaign with HMD Motorsports, driving the No. 18 at Barber Motorsports Park, the streets of Detroit, Iowa Speedway, WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, and the Milwaukee Mile.

Credit: Skip Barber Racing School

Oliver Wheldon

Having secured his first single-seater championship at the end of 2024, Oliver Wheldon — son of two-time Indy 500 winner Dan Wheldon — has announced himself as a serious prospect. The 13-year-old Andretti Development Driver followed in the footsteps of his older brother Sebastian by clinching the Skip Barber Race Series championship on his first attempt.

Wheldon took some time to adapt to the cars, having only competed in karting prior to this. Despite this, he managed to secure a podium on debut at Sebring, finishing third. It didn’t take long for him to find victory lane, converting pole position at Circuit of the Americas into his first win. What followed was a dominant title charge as Wheldon claimed the next five race wins in a row.

The streak was only broken by a second-place finish at Lime Rock Park, which meant the championship would be decided at the final round. He entered the finale at Virginia International Raceway trailing leader Dean Lambros by just three points.

At only 13, Wheldon delivered a mature and composed performance, winning both races across the weekend to clinch his first single-seater title.

For 2025, the youngest Wheldon will compete in the USF Juniors Championship — the same series in which his older brother finished third last year. With sibling bragging rights on the line, Oliver will be eager to start strong when the season begins at NOLA Motorsports Park in mid-April.