Cape Motorsports’ Nikita Johnson scored his first career INDY NXT victory at his hometown track, leading every lap on the streets of St. Petersburg.

It was the Johnson show from start to finish, taking control of the race after overtaking Max Taylor for the lead and never looking back.

A handful of Full Course Yellows slowed the pace throughout the event, eventually leading to a countdown clock in the final 15 minutes. But Johnson remained composed out front, controlling each restart and managing the gap with ease en route to victory.

“Yeah, I think so. I mean, it’s my third win around here and all in different classes, so it’s pretty nice to come back here and win. Can’t thank the Cape Motorsports boys enough, powered by ECR. Everything that ECR does for us and all the Cape boys, they just made this car so fast. We’ve been working together great. We were sometimes maybe you could say a little bit behind in practice on the times — we were in there, but we knew just where we were. It’s pretty nice to come in as an underdog and kind of come out of nowhere and qualify and go win in the race. Yeah, I think it’s a great team effort. I can’t thank them enough.”

Next up for Johnson is Arlington, where the INDY NXT points leader will join the rest of the field for the series’ highly anticipated race around AT&T Stadium, Globe Life Park and Globe Life Field.

But the Texas swing isn’t his only focus. Sebring is also on the horizon, as he returns to IMSA competition later this month.

While it will be a busy stretch, Johnson has the support system in place to balance it all.

“It’s going to be hard to manage, but thankfully I have my dad and Michael Moroney — that’s my agent. Those two help do my schedule and all that and get me to places so all I have to worry about is driving. But, yeah, to be at this point in INDY NXT and a McLaren driver in IMSA is pretty surreal. I didn’t really think about it. I knew we had the Cape INDY NXT deal in October, but then the RLL McLaren 59 deal came in two weeks before Daytona, so we hopped in the car there and did well. Yeah, racing both of them is going to be quite a lot, but I’m up for it. I love switching cars and gaining more experience.”