Kakunoshin Ohta, DOCOMO TEAM DANDELION RACING

Photo by: Masahide Kamio

With the 2026 IndyCar Series silly season in full swing, Kakunoshin ‘Kaku’ Ohta is making a push to remind everyone he wants in the conversation. 

The 27-year-old Japanese driver is a Honda factory standout and current championship leader in Super Formula, the same series that aided the development of reigning and four-time IndyCar titlist Alex Palou, along with newly-crowned Indianapolis 500 winner Felix Rosenqvist. He is also contesting the Super GT championship, alongside select appearances in IMSA.

Ohta is already a familiar name for many, with his Honda affiliation bringing him to North America for the first time last season where he ran the endurance rounds with Acura Meyer Shank Racing. Ultimately, it led to an IndyCar test with Meyer Shank Racing at Mid-Ohio last October, where he completed 104 laps. 

Although Acura is set to pause its Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) program in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship at the end of the year, Ohta has still been called upon to share the #93 Acura ARX-06 with Renger van der Zande and Nick Yelloly for the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen. It marks just his second IMSA start of the year following a fifth-place outing in the Rolex 24 At Daytona.