By: Ashley McCubbin

After placing fifth in the Indy NXT standings the past two seasons, Salvador de Alba is ready to contend for the series championship this year with HMD Motorsports.

de Alba feels if they can be super consistent, and improve each time they are on the track, he will be part of the championship picture.

“First of all, super happy to make it happen to be back on the NXT grid,” de Alba told News From The Pits. ” Just thrilled to be in a team like this. I feel a lot of support from the team – very good testing we’ve done so far, and just getting things ready for the first round in St. Petersburg. It will be a very interesting season; there will be lots of good drivers. It feels like it’s going to be super tight but I’m confident that we will be fast and fighting for the top spot.”

As noted, de Alba has placed fifth in the standings the previous two seasons, both of those spent with Andretti Global, consisting of five podiums in 28 races.

“There’s a lot I’ve learned over the past years and I’ll put into my work,” he explained. “The ovals have been my strong part and that’s something we will need to work on the HMD program team. On the opposite side, I think they’ve been very quick on the tracks that I’ve been not so good so I think we will be a good compliment and just trying to make it work to put a good program together.”

de Alba went on to say that there are a couple tracks he feels they need to improve upon, including Barber Motorsports Park. He feels they have lacked speed there in the past, but should come as he gets more confident in getting the car to rotate better.

On the flip side, there has to be excitement in returning back to Milwaukee, which was the sight of his first career series win in the second last event of the 2025 schedule.

“It meant a lot especially where it happened and how it happened,” de Alba expressed. “It’s a track that Michelle, my mentor, had his first IndyCar win there so it meant a lot and where it was in the season. It felt like a monkey off my head so that’s a very good thing and just to have one career win in my resume means a lot and for me, it gained confidence in knowing that we can be there and that’s obviously why we’re getting back this year and coming back stronger.”

Although the schedule will consist of several tracks he got to race at last year, the series’ new addition at Arlington is circled on the calendar due to the amount of Mexican fans expected to be in attendance.

“So I’m excited about that and also it’s a new track for everyone, so I think it will be very good for us to learn a new track and just to get to speed quick,” he added.

For de Alba, his family has been involved in motorsports since he was a young age with “everything having to do with engines” as a child. His father raced a couple open-wheel events in Mexico, which turned into de Alba getting a go-kart when he was eight-years-old.

As he has worked his way up the ladder from there himself, the 26-year-old is already giving back, coaching kids at his home karting track. It started with a friend asking him to coach a single driver, before growing from there.

“it was something that lacked in the karting environment – some professional coaching and the whole environment to give the driver the best tools he can get to develop,” de Alba shared. “So I started that 2 years ago in the off-season and then when I came to the States and started doing Indy NXT, I was like, Whoa, what do I do now?’ I partnered up with a friend that used to drive with me in go-karting and yeah, it’s been a good year. Obviously there’s good days and bad days, but just watching them grow it’s something I really enjoy.”

The biggest advice he continues to tell them is simple, though, as it’s all about being discipline and staying motivated.

“Everything is about knowing where you want to be and knowing what you have and what you don’t have,” he explained. “The things you have are easy as you have it already, but things you don’t have is what you’re fighting for and that’s the things we do day-by-day as a person and as a driver.”