It’s been a winding path to the Indy NXT by Firestone series for Salvador de Alba. The 26-year-old racer from Guadalajara started his single-seater career in Mexico, competing in series such as Tractocamiones Freightliner and the NASCAR Mexico Series. The Mexican driver is now racing in his first season with HMD Motorsports for his 2026 campaign, where he currently sits in 13th.
In the second part of an exclusive interview with Pit Debrief, de Alba talks about growing up with familial racing influences, learning new tracks through USF Pro, and bringing lessons learned with Andretti to HMD.
A family affair
A love of racing began at a very young age for de Alba, shaped by close familial influences in the form of his father racing cars in Mexico as well.
“Well, since I can remember, I loved racing. I was born kind of in the in the mood of racing. My dad used to drive. The pictures and all that made me get into cars, racing, and everything.”
de Alba was insistent at quite a young age that he wanted to be around cars, asking family members for their keys and being entranced by them.
“I can remember I asked for the keys of my parents, of my aunts, of my family, you know, just give me the car keys, give me the car keys, and [I would] just play with it. And at the age of eight, I joined my first car.”
A different path to Indy NXT
A more common path for those young drivers trying to make it to the NTT IndyCar Series is to go through Indy NXT, but de Alba’s journey was a bit more winding.
The Mexican racer embarked on his journey to the pinnacle of North American single-seater racing in karts, starting in Mexico and moving through the regional and national karting series there, which he described as being very beneficial.
“It was a big process about regional carding, the national carding, you know, that whole path. That’s a good thing.”
The Mexican native won Rookie of the Year honors in the Super Copa Telcel series before continuing his success in the NASCAR Mexico Series, winning the championship in 2021 and 2023, giving him a broad range of experience in other styles of racing.
Though de Alba did admit that his path of racing in Mexico led him to a later entry into open-wheel racing and the IndyCar ladder, as his entry in 2021 was rather late in his open-wheel career.
“So I did the path of Mexico, which is GT cars and NASCAR. And it was a bit late and a bit off from everyone else, how I came into this IndyCar ladder. It was 2021, which was the first year I did open wheel. So pretty late in my career. But I still have the dream I had on that first day.”
Learning through the ladder for de Alba
Salvador de Alba’s plan was to go straight to Indy NXT, but a lack of funding forced him and his team to pivot.
“At the beginning, the initial plan was to go straight into Indy NXT. [But] you know, we didn’t find the budget and everything to put the program together in 2022. So I did USF pro.“
Many would consider having to start in a series further down the ladder to IndyCar a setback, but for de Alba, it was an opportunity to learn tracks and a style of racing he wasn’t all that familiar with. And the USF Pro Series has graduated quite a few well-known names in the NTT IndyCar paddock, like Pato O’Ward, a fellow Mexican driver to de Alba, Graham Rahal, and Kyle Kirkwood.
“I think it was a good choice there because I didn’t know the tracks. I didn’t know about open-wheel cars or aerodynamics. [It] was something very new to me. So I think it’s a very, very complete program, going up the ladder. It’s very straightforward, USF juniors, USF, USF pro, Indy NXT and IndyCar. A lot of very professional teams, good drivers everywhere. And I think you find drivers that keep graduating and going into IndyCar. And I feel like that’s the ultimate goal for every driver we’re currently doing Indy NXT with.”
From one team to another
Salavdor de Alba began his career in the Indy NXT by Firestone series with 2 stints at 2 different Andretti teams.
“It was two very good seasons with different teams,” de Alba said. The Mexican driver gained a plethora of skills and knowledge in open-wheel racing over those first 2 seasons.
“The first Cape Andretti, the second one Andretti Global. And now HMD, for sure, a lot of knowledge. I think last year was a very, very good result in the Oval, especially for me.”
Salvador de Alba netted his first win in the Indy NXT series in 2025 at the Milwaukee Mile, proving that he had a bit of a knack for oval track racing.
“Last year was a very, very good result in the oval, especially for me. So that’s something I’ll carry in the way with HMD.
“And on the other hand, HMD would have very good results in the courses [that I] didn’t do great, so I think it’s a very good compliment. And we’ve been working together very, very well. So it’s always pushing and being better every time we go out. So I’m really happy to join this team and keep moving forward.”
de Alba on trust and communication between teammates
HMD Motorsports hosts one of the larger lineups on the Indy NXT grid, with 3 other drivers alongside Salvador de Alba. And with so many drivers on the team, trust and communication are pivotal to not only individual success but team success as well.
“I’m very glad to share with my teammates,” de Alba commented. “We’ve been getting to [know each other] really well. And I hope it stays like this for the whole year because in that way, we push it forward, and it’s a four-driver team, which makes us faster every time.”
While speaking to Pit Debrief, de Alba was quick to comment on how easily he was getting on with his new teammates: Enzo Fittipaldi, Tymek Kucharczyk and Jack Beeton.
“Really, everyone, the three teammates I have now, they’re really, really easy to get along with. And we’ve been doing a couple of things here and there and the relationship just builds up.”
Although he is the eldest of the 4 HMD drivers, de Alba hasn’t taken on a mentorship role, stating that they have similar experiences. He expanded further, going so far as to say his teammates poke fun at him for being so serious.
“It’s fun to be with people of different ages and just sharing stories and all of that. Everyone’s in a different kind of state of life, but it’s fun, you know. I learned from them [about] being more open and learning stuff and [they are] probably saying I’m more serious. Which is probably right, but it’s something that, for me, is complementing as well.”
