Teen has high aspirations of one day being an IndyCar star

Oh, to be 17 again.

You still have your whole adult life ahead of you, and the sky’s the limit.

Most 17-year-olds don’t know exactly what their future yet holds, but Josh Pierson does: He’s going to become a professional racecar driver.

In fact, Pierson already is one.

Despite just barely having a driver’s license, the 17-year-old from the Portland suburb of Wilsonville, Oregon, already competes professionally in the World Endurance Championship for United Autosports and IMSA’s WeatherTech Sports Car Series with TDS Racing.

Last year, he became the youngest driver to ever compete in the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans, where he finished 10th overall.

Pierson also became the youngest winner in WEC history, winning his class in the 1,000 miles of Sebring last March. But while the rising star has already proven himself in sports car racing, he now eyes a new challenge - becoming the next American star in the NTT IndyCar Series.

“For me, IndyCar has always been a goal,” Pierson, who signed a driver development deal with Ed Carpenter Racing last fall, told Auto Racing Digest. “Since I was really little, that’s always where I’ve wanted to go. I’ve always dreamed of racing in IndyCar.”

No stranger to open-wheel racing, Pierson competed in the USF 2000 championship in 2020 and 2021. He made his Indy NXT debut at St. Petersburg this past March (finished 16th in a 19-car field) driving for HMD Motorsports, for whom he’ll run a partial season this year on weekends where he doesn’t have any sports car commitments.

So why the back and forth between open-wheel and sports car racing?

“The sports car side of things, for me, has been about making connections and learning,” Pierson said. “I think it’s important to be in this paddock because sports car racing is something that a lot of the best IndyCar drivers are doing, and in general a lot of the best drivers in the world come and do.

“Some of them do it as a side gig and others do it full-time, but there’s a lot of talent in this paddock and there’s a lot to learn from the sports car side and for me that’s why I really came - to learn, improve and really find my footing in a car and understand concepts that would normally be foreign such as fuel saving, tire management.

"All of those are concepts that you would normally only get introduced to when you get to IndyCar. I wanted to give myself a chance to learn those concepts ahead of time and almost give myself a bit of a head start.”

Pierson’s five-year development deal with Ed Carpenter Racing will see him race in Indy NXT full-time in 2024 before moving up to IndyCar in 2025. Additionally, Carpenter serves as a mentor to Pierson.

“He’s very involved, which I appreciate,” Pierson said of Carpenter. “If I look at a lot of the team owners that I’ve worked with, I think that he is quite unique in a sense that when he did this deal he’s really serious about it and he’s very forward in what he does. When he signed this deal he is really here for the development of a future driver for his team in IndyCar. And that shows in the passion he brings to the table.”

Pierson first met with Carpenter at the IndyCar/NASCAR doubleheader at Indianapolis last summer. The team has previously found success developing young drivers such as Josef Newgarden and Rinus VeeKay into IndyCar stars.

“I have truly enjoyed getting to know Josh Pierson and his family," Carpenter said in a press release. "For such a young man, he has already accomplished so much in his racing career. Along with that, he is such a well-spoken and professional person.”

“I am confident with the plan that we have in place that he will develop into a complete racing driver. We very much look forward to working with him as we finalize his path to the NTT IndyCar Series starting in 2025.”

It may be a few years before Pierson becomes IndyCar’s next star, but make no doubt about it, he’s a 17-year-old with a bright future ahead of him.

“I’m purely focused on winning everything I can this year and looking to improve myself in every way whether that’s on the track or off the track,” Pierson said. “I think I’ve got a great platform this year with United, TDS and HMD. All of these guys are really giving me a chance to prove myself as a driver and get faster.”