With an 18-race calendar featuring new and returning venues, record-breaking broadcast exposure, and a newly christened officiating structure, the 2026 NTT IndyCar Series season is in position to be the most memorable in recent history. The Unser Open Test let drivers and teams get their eye in ahead of the season. But, as it looks, that was just a sample.
Four-time and reigning champion, Alex Palou, sets out to claim his fifth title. Will Power embarks on his first season with Andretti Global. Romain Grosjean returns with Dale Coyne Racing. Mick Schumacher returns to open-wheel racing with Rahal Letterman Lanigan. IndyCar comes back to Phoenix Raceway for the first time since 2018. And last, but not least, the addition of two new street circuits in Arlington and Washington D.C. Safe to say, this is is going to be an interesting season.
2026 Calendar and New Venues
This season stretches to 18 rounds for the first time since 2014. Four races in March has teams immediately thrown into a relentless and uncompromising pace from the start. The combination of street course, oval, first visit to the Arlington street course, and Barber Motorsports Park will shape the pecking order and provide an insight into the rest of the season well before we reach the 110th Indianapolis 500 in May. Teams and drivers will have to be at the top of their game to cope with the punishing March schedule. The vastly different setups and driving techniques needed for that combination of tracks is another obstacle to overcome.
Broadcasting IndyCar
IndyCar enters its second year with FOX, fully leaning into network television. All 18 races will air on FOX. The two additional slots for qualifying ahead of the Indy 500 making a record 20 broadcasts. In what the series has dubbed as building on “massive and historic growth,” all on-track session will also appear on FOX One and the FOX Sports app in the U.S.
Globally, a larger group of partners will allow the 2026 IndyCar Series to reach more than 200 countries and territories. Many of those areas can utilize INDYCAR LIVE, allowing full, uninterrupted coverage and in-car feeds provided by IndyCar directly. In the UK, Italy, and German-speaking markets, Sky’s family of channels will provide IndyCar broadcasts. In Brazil viewers can utilize Band, Spanish fans have options with Movistar and Vamos, and other broadcast partners include Viaplay, Stan Sport, and TSN.
Safety & Officiating
While not the sweeping changes seen in Formula 1 this year, the 2026 IndyCar Season brings its own host of rules and format tweaks. All street courses now require one set of primaries and two sets of alternates to be used in each race. The purpose seems obvious, opening more aggressive strategy options and better on-track action. The procedures for lapped cars during late-race restarts have changed, hopefully allowing those on the lead-lap to continue their battles without backmarkers unnecessarily getting involved. Additional street course changes include Practice 2 mirroring Practice 1 formatting: one initial 40-minute session followed by two 12-minute group sessions. Also, pre-race warm-ups are expanded to 30-minutes, likely to gain numbers on FOX’s coverage.
The Indy 500 will see its own regulation changes. Focusing on keeping the cars on the track, new superspeedway “tire ramp flaps” will be mounted in front of the rear tires. Akin to NASCAR, these flaps will reduce the likelihood of a car lifting off the track by nearly nine percent according to series CFD testing. Teams will also have a speedway-specific brake package to give drivers more predictable stopping performance when entering pit lane.
We cannot forget the elephant in the room here; INDYCAR Officiating Inc. The new not-for-profit governing body is overseen by the Independent Officiating Board (IOB). The IOB includes Raj Nair, Ray Evernham, and FIA appointee Ronan Morgan. The governing body hopes to increase transparency and separation between series management and officiating. Several key figures have remained in place including race director Kyle Novak and technical director Kevin Blanch. They are joined by new technical inspection manager Nick Allen. The IOB continues its search for a managing director of officiating however. Of note, with all these changes, IndyCar has yet to lay out fully updated competition regulations and officiating frameworks publicly. If they were hoping for transparency, this does not meet that expectation.
IndyNXT
As the main feeder series for IndyCar, IndyNXT hosts 17 races in the 2026 season. Of those, 15 races will be aired on FS1 and two will be on FS2. The 24-car field features drivers from 11 countries and joins IndyCar for the opener on the Streets of St. Petersburg.
The IndyNXT grid is deeper this year than any in recent history. AJ Foyt Racing returns to IndyNXT for the first time since 2004 with two cars. Cusick Morgan Motorsports joins the series with two entries. Chip Ganassi Racing expands to four cars for 2026. New entrant in Cape Motorsports powered by ECR brings Ed Carpenter Racing into the IndyNXT paddock for the first time.
A refined group qualifying format has been adopted for the season. There is a championship purse of just over $1 million dollars, which includes $850,000 dedicated to fund a 2027 Indy 500 and another IndyCar race start for the 2026 IndyNXT champion. IndyCar is investing in its own future with IndyNXT.
The 2026 IndyCar Season
As the series temporarily takes control of the Streets of St. Petersburg this week, this season is already building tension. Can Palou and Chip Ganassi Racing extend their domination? Will the new tire rules and restarts actually heighten the action? Can FOX continue IndyCar’s recent momentum? Finally, how exactly will the independent officiating structure incorporate itself into the series?
With the recent increase in the popularity of motorsport, the 2026 season may well be IndyCar’s declaration of intent to grab the title of the “Elite U.S. Motorsport Series.”
Feature Image Credit: Penske Entertainment – Chris Owens