Nygaard began karting in 2001 and competed for four seasons, his best result being third in the Nordic Formula A Championship in his final karting year, 2004. He debuted in car racing in 2005 in the German ADAC Volkswagen Polo Cup, remaining in that series through 2006. In 2007 he joined Fischer Racing in the SEAT Leon Supercopa Germany and in 2008 finished third in the championship, also recording one victory and eight podiums over the two seasons in the series. Champion that year was his compatriot Nicki Thiim.
For 2009, Nygaard moved to GT competition, joining Fischer Racing with a Matech-prepared Ford GT GT3 in both the ADAC GT Masters and the FIA GT3 European Championship. In the FIA GT3 European Championship he shared the #28 car with Florian Gruber, winning one race at Oschersleben and finishing sixth in the championship. In ADAC GT Masters he shared the #8 Ford with Walter Lechner Jr, scoring two podiums and finishing tenth.
In 2010 Nygaard continued in the FIA GT3 European Championship with Fischer Racing, sharing the #14 Ford GT with Mikko Eskelinen. He simultaneously joined Aston Martin Racing's Young Driver programme, racing in the FIA GT1 World Championship alongside Stefan Mucke in the #8 Aston Martin DBR9. That year also brought his Le Mans debut: in June 2010 he raced with the #52 Young Driver AMR crew alongside Tomáš Enge and Peter Kox, finishing 22nd overall and third in the GT1 class — the best Le Mans result of his career.
In 2011 Nygaard remained in FIA GT3 with Fischer Racing, again pairing with Eskelinen in the #14 Ford GT. In the FIA GT1 World Championship he moved to Belgian Racing, sharing the #9 Ford GT with Vanina Ickx and Jonathan Hirschi.
In 2012 Nygaard joined Aston Martin Racing in the ADAC GT Masters — where he and Kristian Poulsen won a race at Sachsenring in the #33 Young Driver AMR car — and simultaneously began his WEC campaign. At the 2012 24 Hours of Le Mans, racing the #99 Aston Martin Vantage GTE alongside Poulsen and Allan Simonsen, the car retired after 31 laps.
In the 2013 WEC season, Nygaard, Poulsen and Simonsen formed an all-Danish GTE Am crew for Aston Martin Racing. The team won the opening round at Silverstone and finished second at Spa. At the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans, Simonsen crashed the #95 Aston Martin Vantage GTE at the exit of Tertre Rouge on lap 3 and died from his injuries. Neither Poulsen nor Nygaard had driven the car at the point of the incident. Nicki Thiim joined as co-driver for the rest of the season; with two further victories at Fuji and Bahrain the crew finished fourth in the GTE Am standings.
For 2014 Nygaard switched to the #98 Aston Martin with Paul Dalla Lana and Pedro Lamy, still in GTE Am. The crew won four rounds — Circuit of the Americas, Shanghai, São Paulo, and one further — and finished second overall in the GTE Am championship with 164 points, behind the sister AMR entry of Poulsen and David Heinemeier Hansson. At the 2014 Le Mans race the #98 crew finished sixth in class.
In 2015 Nygaard was promoted to GTE Pro, sharing the #95 Aston Martin Vantage GTE with Nicki Thiim and Marco Sørensen. The crew's best GTE Pro result was fourth, and they finished eighth in the class standings. After 2015, Aston Martin Racing reduced its car count and Nygaard did not return to the WEC programme. He made one further start in the 24H Series in 2016.
Nygaard has worked as an instructor at the Power Racing Gokart Academy in Herlev, Denmark, running the Race Club, a regular coaching programme for both novice and advanced kart drivers.
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