A look ahead to his 2025 INDY NXT racing season

By Chuck Gibson

LOVELAND, OH (March 1, 2025) – All focus has shifted to the 2025 INDY NXT racing season! It opens on the “Streets of St. Pete” this weekend with Evagoras Papasavvas joining the HMD Motorsports team.  

Focus is the right word when you begin telling a story of the motorsports racing career of Evagoras Papasavvas. The 17-year-old Loveland High School junior has maintained a clear focus on racing for nine years since he collected two wins and a place on the podium in all eight races as an eight-year-old racing in the youth class Full Throttle Winter League kart racing series. He kept his foot on the throttle and a strong focus on an auto-racing career over the next couple years winning multiple races, claiming many podium finishes and making a name for himself while honing his driving skills on the kart racing circuit. He stated clearly his desire and focus on a career as a race driver following his Kart Racing Association (KRA) Yamaha Sportsman championship in 2019.

“The biggest thrill is racing. No matter what happens, racing is the biggest thrill. My goal is to be a Formula 1 driver and win a championship. I will keep working to get to that goal.” – Evagoras Papasavvas, Loveland Beacon, December 2019

That work has paid off, leading the talented and skilled developing Indy race driver to the next level on the Road to Indy. After four years with the Jay Howard Driver Development program (JHDD) under the guidance of Jay Howard, Evagoras Papasavvas is “leveling up” from USF2000 to INDY NXT 2025 racing season. The announcement came with this Press Release headline earlier this week:

PAPASAVVAS Steps Up for Part-time Seat with HMD

“I am thrilled to join HMD Motorsports for this exciting opportunity,” said Papasavvas. “I’ve been looking forward to my debut in INDY NXT and being a part of such a talented team makes it even more special. I can’t wait to get on track and contribute to the team’s success, but before then, I will join the team in St. Pete to prepare myself better and be on site if duty calls.”

Papasavvas will make his INDY NXT driver debut at World Wide Technology Raceway – an oval course outside St. Louis on June 15. He’ll follow that up with the June 22nd race at a familiar road course – Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin and then again on the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio July 6th. Mid-Ohio can easily be called the “home course” for the Loveland, Ohio resident. It is also home to two of his victories in the USF-2000 series while driving for Jay Howard Driver Development. 

Evagoras will also serve as an HMD Motorsports reserve driver for the remaining INDY NXT by Firestone events in 2025. HMD Motorsports President Mike Maurini expressed enthusiasm for adding Papasavvas to the HMD team of drivers for this INDY NXT racing season.

“We are excited to have Evagoras join our roster for these races. His drive, passion and potential are exactly what we look for in a driver, and we have no doubt he will bring great energy and dedication to the team. He has had success in USF2000, and his 2025 driving duties and reserve driver role will help better his skill set for a potential full-season campaign in 2026.” – Mike Maurini, President HMD Motorsports.

The question as the 2024 USF2000 championship season came to a close was: What’s next? Nektarios Papasavvas is the father of Evagoras and the responsibility of managing the business of his son’s racing career rested directly on his shoulders. After all, this does not happen without family. The full support of the Papasavvas family, including his mother Sally and younger sister Celia, has been there from the start. It was Nektarios who began to hear other teams’ express interest in Evagoras joining them for the next step up.

“Right after the last race of the season, a few teams started reaching out to us,” explained Nektarios. 

Conversations may have started then, but Nektarios was clear no decisions could be made about what was next for Evagoras racing career until the season ended. One thing needs to be made clear, funding comes from the family, not from the team. It is an expensive sport with total cost for racing a full season well into the six-figure column. In reality, it is close to, if not more than $500,000 to race a full season in any Road to Indy championship racing series. Responsibility for funding and finding sponsors rests solely with the family. It means choosing a team includes conversations (not exactly negotiations) about what the team will provide in an effort to keep the costs efficient while providing the best equipment, coaching and engineering for the racer.

“The teams may introduce people or say a word or two, but teams are not in the business of bringing money to pay the driver,” Nektarios said. “When you talk with teams, you get to talk about the funding required, the contracts and the driver.”

In the end whatever the amount of funding agreed upon in those conversations, the driver is responsible for the funding. That’s the business and it can vary from one team to another. Multiple teams approached Evagoras after the 2024 season. Nektarios made it clear Jay Howard Driver Development wanted Evagoras back for 2025 as well. The decision to leave JHDD was difficult, but the choice to move up to INDY NXT gives Evagoras a clear path to his goal of racing at the highest level of Indy Car Championship racing.

Family and focus are two very key pieces for Evagoras Papasavvas on his Road to Indy racing career. While it’s true Nektarios has held the primary responsibility for managing the decisions guiding Evagoras racing career path, his mother Sally is right there alongside Nektarios and Evagoras. She sees and hears what’s happening and being discussed; especially when it comes to taking next steps and leveling up. When word was out Evagoras might switch, people chimed in with their thoughts.

“We heard it from multiple people,” Sally said. 

 “It was a tough decision to make; very, very tough,” Nektarios said. “When you’re with a team like Jay…and we love Jay. He’s been with us four years. It was a hard decision to make.”

The focus for Evagoras just made the turn to INDY NXT

The decision was made and Evagoras Papasavvas is starting the 2025 INDY NXT Championship racing season with HMD Motorsports team at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on the Streets of St. Petersbug in St. Petersburg, Florida this weekend. Evagoras joined the team there earlier this week, and while he is not scheduled to drive in this event, he is on hand learning and preparing to take the seat “when duty calls” and in his scheduled debut in INDY NXT June 15. With his “first INDY NXT track walk in the books with HMD Motorsports on Thursday, he shared the following comment via his Evagoras Papasavvas racing Facebook page:

“I would rather be driving, but excited to take in the weekend!” – Evagoras Papasavvas – INDY NXT driver with HMD Motorsports

Driving and staying focused since his first kart racing years, beginning when he was just 8-years-old, have brought Evagoras Papasavvas to this next step on his Road to Indy racing career. Here’s a little more of the story of his rise on the racing circuit.

A look back at the road taken

Papasavvas continued to gain recognition and respect as a racing champion winning four consecutive championships in kart racing series’ during 2018-2020. Among the many series championships, Evagoras Papasavvas also earned the honor Junior Driver of the Year. Setting a goal to be a Formula 1 champion driver is a lofty goal for any race driver, especially an 11-year old, but Papasavvas has already achieved some lofty accomplishments winning kart races and championships since he was just an 8-year old.

“I set my goals high. Put your goals as high as you can and then you’ll get higher and higher once you reach your goal.” Evagoras Papasavvas, Loveland Beacon, December 2019

Papasavvas continued his racing success story through 2020 winning on kart tracks all around the nation. That success opened the eyes of Jay Howard, owner of the Jay Howard Driver Development program for drivers on the Road to Indy development series. Things not only happen fast on the racetracks, but in the world of auto racing. In April 2021, the Jay Howard Driver Development (JHDD)  program for Indy racing announced Evagoras Papasavvas had joined their driver development program. Suddenly he was testing in Indy-type F-4 cars – on a variety of different tracks including the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. At 13-years old, Papasavvas was in the drivers seat reaching speeds of 125 MPH in cars capable of 150 MPH. Compare that to the maximum 80 MPH speeds of the kart cars he was driving. The results left a strong impression on JHDD owner Jay Howard.

“Evagoras has been testing with us in F4, and he has been doing a fantastic job. He just keeps getting better and better with every lap. It’s now got to the point where we wanted to put in place a proper program for him to get up-to-speed prior to being old enough to compete. It’s encouraging to see him and his family taking the appropriate steps to be as well prepared as possible. His approach has been fantastic.”  – Jay Howard, owner Jay Howard Driver Development, Loveland Beacon May 2021.

Evagoras’ focus turned full-time to development in the JHDD program. You have to be 14 years old to actually race in the USF2000 championship series. At 13, he could only test and used 2021 to get laps and experience on the Indy racing courses around the nation with a focus on racing in the USF2000 Championship Road to Indy series in 2022. Because of a serious injury sustained in his final 2021 kart, he was only able to race in four of the USF2000 events, but gained valuable experience for the 2023 USF2000 Championship season. Already demonstrating strong skills as a developing Indy car driver, he finished 4th in the driver championship, earned his first Indy car victory at Mid-Ohio and claimed six podium finishes along with winning two pole position starts and eight Top 5 finishes in his first full season of racing USF2000.

Those results in 2023 quickly made Papasavvas a familiar name in the Road to Indy development series. He was a clear choice as the number one driver for the Jay Howard Driver Development team. At just 16-years old, his focus and results earned him high praise from Jay Howard as the season got underway.

“We love Evagoras. You always get 110-percent from him all the time, which we love. We want the best version of our drivers. We always get that from Evagoras.” – Jay Howard, JHDD owner, Loveland Beacon Talks podcast May 2024.

Evagoras raced right into the 2024 USF2000 driver championship competition with five consecutive podium finishes including four second place finishes and one third place finish to open the racing season. If not for a questionable race official’s decision on a restart, Papasavvas would have claimed victory in New Orleans instead of a 2nd place podium finish. His streak of consecutive podium finishes was broken with a 4th place finish at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in mid-May. He bounced back quickly gaining another podium finish at Lucas Oil Speedway in Indianapolis at the end of May.

Racing at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car course is like coming home for the Loveland, Ohio resident. It is also the course where he collected his first USF2000 victory in 2023. Papasavvas found victory lane there again collecting his first win of 2024 on his “home” course. He won again on the streets of Toronto earning an impressive second win of the season on the street course he claims as one of his favorites. His podium finishes and two victories kept him in the running for the 2024 USF2000 Driver Championship right into the final races of the season at Portland International Speedway in late August. When the rain and racing were over in Portland, Oregon, Papasavvas finished 4th in the driver points championship.

 “I love working with him. He’s got a bright future ahead of him. I look forward to seeing him driving the big cars in Indy cars one day.” – Jay Howard – JHDD, Loveland Beacon trackside interview at Indy Motor Speedway: May 2024.

The bright future of Evagoras Papasavvas is now in the hands of Mike Maurini, President HMD Motorsports.

Watch INDY NXT Grand Prix of St. Petersburg this Sunday, March 2,

on FS1

• Be sure to listen in as we begin the 2025 Tracking Evagoras Papasavvas Racing: A Podcast Sports Special presentation on Loveland Beacon.
• More about INDY NXT at: www.indynxt.com
• More about Evagoras Papasavvas racing at: www.evagorasracing.com
• More about HMD Motorsports at: www.hmdmotorsports.com