Indy NXT: Ricardo Escotto to race for Andretti NXT team in 2025

Andretti Global announced today that Ricardo Escotto will join the Andretti Cape INDY NXT lineup for the 2025 INDY NXT by Firestone season piloting the No. 3 Andretti Cape Dallara.

Escotto is the first confirmed driver for the 2025 INDY NXT season for Andretti Cape INDY NXT, a technical partnership formed in 2024 between Andretti INDY NXT and Cape Motorsports.

The 19-year-old Mexican native got his start in racing in 2017 in senior karting on the SKUSA tour before making his open-wheel racing debut in the NACAM Formula 4 Championship in 2018, where he competed in three races, two of them resulting in top-10 finishes. Escotto then took his racing career to Europe in 2022 to race in the Spanish Formula 4 Championship, where he secured two top-10 finishes. That same year, Escotto ran in the UAE Formula 4 Championship, finishing the season in the top five of the Rookies’ Championship standings.

After a busy year, Escotto returned to the States in 2023 to begin his journey through the North American open-wheel ladder system in the USF Pro 2000 Presented by Continental Tire Championships. During his rookie year, he secured a win on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, four additional top-10 finishes and one fastest race lap. Escotto’s sophomore season in USF Pro 2000 saw him collect two podiums, five top-five finishes and 10 top-10 finishes, all while competing in a partial INDY NXT season that saw him make four starts

Escotto returned to the site of his sole USF Pro 2000 win, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, last week to make his on-track debut with Andretti Cape INDY NXT in the annual Chris Griffis Memorial Test. Finishing the day inside the top 10 on the timing sheets, the Mexican driver improved from Session 1 to Session 2, shaving nine-tenths of a second off of his fast lap time. Escotto will be back on track with the Andretti Cape INDY NXT team on October 28 at Barber Motorsports Park.

J-F THORMANN, PRESIDENT, ANDRETTI GLOBAL

“After a successful first season for our technical partnership with Cape Motorsports, we’re looking forward to bringing Ricardo into the mix as we continue to grow the Andretti Cape INDY NXT program. Ricardo was strong in USF Pro 2000 the last two seasons and after getting a few INDY NXT starts under his belt last season, the natural next step was for him to move up to INDY NXT full time. We were impressed with his pace last week at the Chris Griffis test finishing the day in the top 10, especially with how competitive the INDY NXT field is right now, and we’re eager to see what the 2025 season has in store for him.”

DOMINIC CAPE, PRESIDENT, CAPE MOTORSPORTS

“We are extremely happy to have Ricardo in our lineup for the 2025 season. We had the opportunity to evaluate him while we were at the Chris Griffis test last week, and he immediately fit in with everyone on the team. Ricardo had excellent feedback and performed really well. We are all looking forward to working with him.”

RICARDO ESCOTTO, DRIVER, ANDRETTI CAPE INDY NXT

“I’m super excited to be with Andretti Cape in 2025. I’ve only worked with the team for a short amount of time, but after getting to do the test with them in Indianapolis, I feel like we already work together really well. This is a great career opportunity for me to be able to race in INDY NXT, so I’m looking forward to working hard with the team and getting some good results next season.”