Joshua Pierson (born February 14, 2006) is an American racing driver who is set to compete in the IndyCar Series, driving the No. 4 Chevrolet for A. J. Foyt Racing. Pierson previously drove in Indy NXT for Andretti Global, the FIA World Endurance Championship in LMP2 for United Autosports, and is the youngest driver to start the 24 Hours of Le Mans at 16 years and 119 days.
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Racing career
Early career
Having begun his karting career aged two when his father Greg bought him a go-kart, Pierson soon began competing in regional and national competitions. The American would win a number of accolades during the 2010s, most notably winning the Rotax Florida Winter Tour in 2016 and taking home the US Rotax Grand Nationals title the subsequent year.
Sportscar career
On August 17, 2021, United Autosports announced that it had signed Pierson to compete in the LMP2 category of the 2022 FIA World Endurance Championship. This would make Pierson the youngest ever driver to compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans at 16 years and 119 days. Having gathered some prototype racing experience at the 24 Hours of Daytona and two rounds of the Asian Le Mans Series, where he managed to take two victories in as many starts, Pierson won his debut race at the 1000 Miles of Sebring alongside teammates Oliver Jarvis and Paul di Resta. With the team having controlled the race before an untimely red flag brought a premature end to proceedings, Pierson became the youngest race winner in series history. Following a points-scoring round in Spa, Pierson claimed the record of being the youngest starter at Le Mans and ended up finishing sixth. More points were scored in the subsequent two races, which brought the No. 23 United crew into outside contention for the LMP2 title come the 8 Hours of Bahrain. Despite finishing second during the race, the result would only yield third in the teams' championship for Pierson and Jarvis, though the American would receive an award for being the "Revelation of the Year" of the 2022 WEC campaign.
Pierson re-signed with United Autosports to compete in the 2023 WEC season, once again partnering Oliver Jarvis, with a revolving door of drivers claiming the lineup's third seat. Beginning his sophomore season in the WEC at Sebring, Pierson would inherit the lead from Jarvis and extend their gap during a triple stint. However, their strong race came undone as an onboard camera inside of Pierson's car came loose and hit the ignition switch, pushing it out and causing the No. 23 United to come to a halt, forcing them to retire in what Co-Owner Richard Dean described as "a one in a million thing". The team bounced back strongly in Portugal, where Pierson, Jarvis and Giedo van der Garde fought to take victory, overcoming a radio issue for Jarvis during their penultimate pitstop that had dropped them to second. Another podium followed at the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, where teammate Tom Blomqvist narrowly missed out on the win to Louis Delétraz in the No. 41 WRT. The Centenary 24 Hours of Le Mans did not yield much success, as Blomqvist experienced a crash following a loss of brakes, leading to an eighth-placed finish, meanwhile Pierson and the team would miss out on a podium again during the Monza round, as a last-lap pass from Delétraz on Jarvis relegated the No. 23 to fourth by the flag. Fuji ended up burying any remaining title ambitions for Pierson, who finished fourth alongside Jarvis and Ben Hanley; Pierson had shown impressive pace, though he was also involved in a collision with Rui Andrade for which he was given a ten-second penalty which set the team back, before Hanley lost further time when he was hit by João Paulo de Oliveira's Vanwall. After taking eighth place in Bahrain, Pierson and Jarvis finished fifth in the drivers' standings.
American open-wheel racing career
At the age of 14, Pierson made his car racing debut in 2020, competing for Exclusive Autosport in the U.S. F2000 National Championship and partaking in two rounds of the F1600 Championship Series. The campaign did not amount to much, as Pierson ended up finishing twentieth in the drivers' standings.
Pierson would return to the USF2000 Championship the following year, this time as part of the Pabst Racing outfit alongside Jace Denmark and Yuven Sundaramoorthy. He started out strongly, scoring a pair of third places at Barber, before bettering that performance with two runner-up spots on the Indy Road Course. Pierson continued to take regular finishes inside the top ten for the remainder of the season, though he would only manage to add one further podium to his name. He ended the year fourth overall, one place behind teammate Sundaramoorthy.
Alongside his endurance racing commitments, Pierson rejoined the Road to Indy ladder to contest the 2023 Indy NXT campaign with HMD Motorsports. Having missed five races, he ended up 15th in the standings, scoring a best finish of sixth at Iowa.
Pierson remained in Indy NXT for 2024, still driving for HMD Motorsports, but on a full-time schedule. During the season opener at St. Petersburg, Pierson collided with Jamie Chadwick and was penalised for avoidable contact, eventually ending up thirteenth.
Pierson was retained by HMD Motorsports for a third season of Indy NXT in 2025. At Laguna Seca, Pierson claimed his first Indy NXT podium with a third place finish.
For the 2026 season, Pierson switched to Andretti Global after three years of competing with HMD Motorsports. At Gateway and Road America Race 1, Pierson scored podium finishes. Pierson took his maiden pole position in qualifying for the penultimate weekend at the Milwaukee Mile. He led from the start, controlling the opening stint before he spun out of an unthreatened lead on lap 54 and crashed. Pierson began the first leg of the season-ending double-header at Laguna Seca with another pole position. Pierson controlled the race in front and took his maiden series victory.
Racing record
Career summary
* Season still in progress.† As Pierson was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.
American open-wheel racing results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) (Races with L indicate a race lap led) (Races with * indicate most race laps led)
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* Season still in progress.
Complete WeatherTech SportsCar Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete Formula Regional Oceania Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)