ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — On Sunday afternoon, the green flag drops on the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. But before it does, the Indy NXT drivers will take on the 1.8 mile course in the INDYCAR development series.

What You Need To Know

Nikita Johnson is a 17-year-old driver from St. Petersburg rising in the INDYCAR ranks

He is entering his rookie year in Indy NXT, a development series below the INDYCAR Series

The Gulfport resident is racing this weekend, looking to win his first Indy NXT race right here in his hometown

Nikita will take the course at 10 a.m. before the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg at 12 p.m. downtown

Nikita Johnson is a 17-year-old driver with plenty of experience driving around downtown St. Pete, being from the area and growing up in Gulfport. Spectrum Sports 360’s Michael Epps caught up with the local driver looking to win in his hometown.

The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg is getting close! 🏁

Action packed weekend downtown, with @IndyCar practice today before qualifying tomorrow and the big race on Sunday.@INDYNXT and a @NASCAR Truck Series race too!

Hear from drivers tonight on @BN9 @SpecSports360 pic.twitter.com/ZeCcm0Mr7u

— Michael Epps (@MichaelEppsTV) February 27, 2026

Q: Nikita, you are from St. Petersburg, from this town and now you’re going to be out there racing on that track, how does that feel?

A: I mean, it feels amazing to be at home. Most weekends we’re not at home, we’re at a hotel living out of a backpack, so it’s so nice to be able to sleep in my own bed and only have a 10-minute commute.

Q: Yeah, see some friends?

A: Yeah, see my friends and family and they’re all going to be out this weekend so I can’t wait.

Q: We’ll have to look out for them, a louder cheering section in the stands than maybe the rest of the drivers, huh?

A: Yes, I’d assume so, they’re going to be in Turn 1, so hopefully it doesn’t get too crazy there.

Q: You have been on an absolute tear to start your career at age 14, the youngest ever in the USF 2000 to win, the youngest USF 2000 Pro winner at age 15. What allowed you to have so much success early in your career?

A: Yeah, I’ve just had really good people around me, Dan Mitchell from VRD, who I used to work for in the USF Pro Championships, and of course my parents for always helping me get around, because at that point, I couldn’t drive and it was hard to get to hotels, so really good people around me, a lot of support and pushing me to keep going better, and yeah, it’s been pretty amazing to think about. I didn’t really expect all this honestly

Q: Winning at the lower levels Nikita, now you’re hoping to win on the next level here on Indy NXT. What is it going to take here on this level, obviously the competition is only getting tougher?

A: Yes, the competition is amazing this year in Indy NXT. I think we have 24 drivers all from FIF3, F2, F4 overseas and all the U.S. junior grounds over here, so we have some incredible talent in this series, and it’s going to be really difficult, but I know this track very well. I sometimes drive it in the offseason when there are no walls around, so hopefully we can start strong in practice and keep that momentum into qualifying and races.

Q: Looks a little different without the walls and the grandstands, huh?

A: Yeah completely, you can’t get on that front straightaway because it’s a landing strip, but yeah, on some of the sections, you can actually drive it during the offseason when there are no walls, so it’s pretty cool to see how the track gets built up over a few weeks prior to the race, and Mayor Ken Welch does an amazing job… Green Savoree and all the workers here from St Pete, and a part of the track build — it’s just without them we wouldn’t be able to do this, and they get this turned around so fast.

Q: How special is this opportunity knowing, as you just mentioned, you’ve walked around these streets, you know what these streets are named here on every block, and now you can go out there and maybe win the race, like you did with the USF race, but now trying to do it at a higher level, how special of an opportunity is this?

A: I mean, I’m extremely grateful for everything that’s been happening. My agent, Michael Moroney, is amazing, and my parents for all the support that they give me, Cape Motorsports by ECR has given me a really fast racecar in testing, so hopefully we can have a very fast race car this weekend. I think we will and to pull off a win in Indy NXT, I mean that would be sensational, because it’s right below INDYCAR, so hopefully we can go win in Indy NXT and then maybe next year or in two years I’m here in the main show.

Q: A lot of people here in Tampa/St. Pete are going to be rooting you on Nikita. Good luck thanks a lot.

A: Thank you very much.