Following the acquisition of Indy Lights by Penske Entertainment, the IndyCar Feeder Series was re-branded to Indy NXT in 2023. A new era of the sport had begun and with it, came its first female driver since Pippa Man and Carmen Jorda back in 2010. Jamie Chadwick would be the first female driver to compete in the junior series but she wouldn’t be the last.
Let’s take a look at Chadwick and the other women who have competed so far in Indy NXT.
Jamie Chadwick
A driver with a wealth of experience across categories such as W Series (where she was a three-time Champion), the British GT Championship and Extreme E, it’s no surprise that Jamie Chadwick ended up stateside in Indy NXT. 2023 was her debut season where she drove for Andretti Autosport. It took her some time to get to grips with both the new car and all of the brand new circuits (comparatively similar to what Colton Herta is currently experiencing in Formula 2) but she went on to score her first top ten result in the series at the seventh round of the season in Mid-Ohio. A P10 result there was followed by three more point scoring results immediately thereafter. Chadwick then struggled for the remaining four rounds of the season but did return to the top ten with a season best result of P6 in Portland. She’d finish her first year in the series in P12 overall with 262 points to her name.
2024 would then be Chadwick’s breakout year in Indy NXT. After a troublesome opening two rounds of the season, the British driver bounced back in style as the series went racing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In the first of two races held there, Chadwick put all of her experience in the series so far to good use and came away with her first podium after finishing in third place. Jacob Abel and Nolan Siegel were ahead of her on the podium. For those who aren’t familiar, Abel went on to compete in IndyCar in 2025 as did Nolan Siegel who remains there to this day as he drives for Arrow McLaren until the end of the 2026 season.
Three rounds later at Road America, Chadwick went even further and won the race in dominant fashion. Fellow Brit, Louis Foster (also now an IndyCar driver) and Jacob Abel joined her on the podium. While the podium eluded her for the rest of the season, Jamie was in the top ten in five of the remaining eight races with a best finish amongst those of P5 in Milwaukee. Chadwick ended her second season with Andretti in P7 overall with 310 points, less than thirty points away from the top four.
Jamie didn’t return for a third season in Indy NXT as she instead returned to Europe where she has since forged a career in the European Le Mans Series and the World Endurance Championship.
Lindsay Brewer
There was another woman besides Chadwick on the Indy NXT grid in 2024 - Lindsay Brewer. The American contested in eight of the fourteen rounds that season as she drove for Juncos Hollinger Racing. P15 would be Brewer’s best result from her limited time there which she achieved in both her first and final race in St. Petersburg and Laguna Seca respectively. She accrued 102 points from these races which was good enough for twenty-first overall out of the twenty-seven drivers that competed in 2024.
Brewer previously raced in the USF Pro 2000 Championship and is now competing alongside Célia Martin in the GT3 revival series with Klausen Racing.
Taylor Ferns
There was a third and final woman competing in Indy NXT in 2024 - Taylor Ferns. She competed for four of the final five rounds of the season across Iowa, St. Louis, Milwaukee and Nashville. Her highest finish was P15 around the oval at St. Louis and she racked up 53 points from her four events where she drove for Abel Motorsports.
Ferns initially began her time on racing competing in Midgets and Stock Cars. She competed in the ARCA Menards Series from 2012 to 2013 but the high costs meant that she had to return to grassroots racing. Before her time in Indy NXT, Ferns stepped away from racing and studied for a bachelor's degree in Finance and Economics, an MBA, and a Juris Doctor.
Hailie Deegan
Hailie Deegan would be the next and most recent full-time driver in the Indy NXT series. Coming from the world of NASCAR, the switch to single seaters came off the back of a two race stint in the Formula Regional Americas Championship where she competed in the final two races of the year at the Circuit of the Americas. She finished in P10 in the final race and earned a solitary point for her effort.
In 2025, she drove for HMD Motorsports for the full Indy NXT season as her transition into this new style of racing continued. She was consistent for the duration of the year but failed to crack into the top ten. Instead, her best results and best weekend came together at Laguna Seca. There she finished in P12 and P11 respectively, keeping clear of much of the carnage and chaos occurring out on track. Deegan’s efforts were good enough for P14 at the end of the season with 202 points to her name.
In 2026, Deegan returned to the ARCA Menards Series, a NASCAR sanctioned stock racing series, where she finished in P11 at her latest outing in Phoenix.*
Sophia Flörsch
Sophia Flörsch was also on the Indy NXT grid, albeit briefly, in 2025. Running for HMD Motorsports, Flörsch made her debut as the season opener in St. Petersburg. Starting the race towards the rear of the field, Flörsch was able to make her way up to an impressive P12 by the end of the race, ahead of more experienced full time drivers such as Sebastian Murray, Bryce Aron and Niels Koolen. However, due to financial constraints, Flörsch was unable to compete beyond that first outing. It was a real what if moment for the German driver as the potential was clearly there as evidenced by that opening race.
Flörsch has now returned to the world of single seater racing as she had been signed by Opel as their test and development driver for their brand new Formula E team.
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Five women have competed in Indy NXT since 2023 with two of those racing in the series full time. With more female talent in the pipeline, both in America and in the rest of the world, it’s surely only a matter of time before more compete in Indy NXT once again. Let’s hope that 2026 is the only blip on the Indy NXT record and that more female talent get the chance they deserve in 2027.