ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — With a record four races in March, there has never been a faster-paced start to an NTT IndyCar Series season, and the 2026 championship begins March 1 at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
A return to historic Phoenix Raceway, a can’t-miss and much-anticipated inaugural event on the Streets of Arlington and another trip to the picturesque and physically demanding Barber Motorsports Park will set the stage for another record-making 2026 season.
For the first time since 2014, North America’s premier open-wheel series will feature an 18-race championship.
For the second year, FOX Sports will provide coverage of all on-track sessions, including all 18 races scheduled to air on FOX. With two additional appearances on broadcast television during PPG Presents Armed Forces Qualifying on May 16-17 ahead of the 110th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge, FOX will provide a record 20 network windows.
The NTT IndyCar Series is the only premier motorsport series in North America with all races broadcasting on network television
“Coming off a 2025 season of massive and historic growth with FOX Sports, 2026 has all the makings of another incredible year,” IndyCar President J. Douglas Boles said. “The addition of new events at Phoenix, Arlington, Markham and Washington D.C., combined with integration around this summer’s FIFA World Cup 2026‚Ñ¢ on FOX, will provide even greater opportunity to showcase the ultra-competitive, wheel-to-wheel racing and dynamic driver personalities that the NTT IndyCar Series is known for.
“We cannot wait to see what happens during the 2026 championship and the battle for the Astor Challenge Cup, beginning with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.”
MILESTONES
Drivers will take aim at several milestones throughout the 2026 NTT IndyCar Series season. The next first-time winner in the series will mark the 300th all-time race winner in the history of the IndyCar Series.
Four-time series champion and winner of three consecutive titles, Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing, looks to become only the second driver to win four consecutive championships, joining Sebastien Bourdais in 2007.
Six-time series champion Scott Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing will attempt to extend all-time records for: Seasons with a win (23); Consecutive seasons with a win (21); Consecutive starts (356); Starts (419); Podiums (145);Top fives (216).
Will Power, who joined Andretti Global starting this season, looks to extend his all-time record for pole positions earned (71).
Several other drivers are on pace to make a milestone 100th career IndyCar Series race start:
Palou: scheduled at Phoenix Raceway; Rinus VeeKay (Juncos Hollinger Racing): scheduled at Streets of Arlington; Santino Ferrucci (AJ Foyt Racing): scheduled at Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge; Scott McLaughlin (Team Penske): scheduled for Milwaukee Mile race 1
HITTING THE STREETS
IndyCar is updating the race tire usage requirements for all street circuit events in 2026. Beginning with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, teams will be required to use:
-One set of primary compound tires
-Two sets of alternate compound tires (one more than previously required)
There are no requirements in terms of new (sticker) sets of tires used in the race. The two completed laps needed to satisfy the tire requirement rule, where one lap must begin once the Green Flag has been displayed to the Race Leader (Rule 15.3.3.2.3.) for each of the three sets (Rule 15.3.3.2.) remains in effect.
The update challenges drivers and teams to compete with a more varied strategy choice on higher drop-off (alternate) Firestone race tires, which IndyCar believes will bring race quality to an even higher level and create even more wheel-to-wheel action.
Ultimately, doubling the use of street circuit alternate tires, which Firestone has designed to have less drop-off in 2026, strives to ensure an all-out driving on the limit, a thrilling and entertaining product for fans that generates even more strategic challenges.
“IndyCar is always looking into ways to improve the quality of what is already exceptional on-track action,” IndyCar Senior Vice President, Competition and Operations Mark Sibla said. “This street circuit update will challenge drivers and strategists alike and provide an avenue for even more memorable wheel-to-wheel action at our fan-favored street events in 2026.”
PROCEDURES
IndyCar is also updating late-race procedures for 2026. To generate more lead-lap battles in the closing stages of races, the lap windows — in which cars that are a lap down to the leader and moved to the rear of the field before restarts – will be expanded at almost all races.
Additionally, updates to IndyCar road and street course practices include:
-Practice 2 will now mirror the “group” format of Practice 1, where the field is split by odd and even numbered pit boxes. All cars will receive an initial 40-minute practice segment before the start of two 12-minute group segments.
-With the change to Practice 2, qualifying groups will now be determined by the qualifying results from the previous 2026 race (2025 championship entrant points for the season opener on the Streets of St. Petersburg).
-Traditional pre-race “warmup” sessions will expand from 25 to 30 minutes in 2026. FOX Sports’ coverage of warmup sessions will also increase to robust one-hour telecasts.
TECHNICAL
In collaboration with Dallara, IndyCar is mandating the use of superspeedway tire ramp flaps for all sessions at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, including the Indianapolis 500.
The carbon fiber flaps, connected to the aerodynamic “ramps” located directly in front of the rear tires, are a continuation in the effort to increase aero stability of cars and will deploy – rising from the aft area of the flap – to disrupt air flow “lift” during a spin.
“Dallara is a tremendous partner and have joined us to closely examine spins that have occurred over the last few years at IMS,” IndyCar Director of Aerodynamic Development Engineering Tino Belli said. “This update to the rear tire ramps has proven in computational fluid dynamics testing to decrease, by nearly 9 percent, the likelihood of a car at speed ‘lifting’ after a 180-degree spin. We are always evaluating safety and, from a car perspective, believe this is an effectual development for a superspeedway.”
Use of these new tire ramp flaps will be required beginning at the Indy 500 Open Test on April 28-29 at IMS.
Additionally, oval testing at IMS performed by 500 champions Alexander Rossi and Takuma Sato in October 2025 validated the performance of Performance Friction Corporation’s speedway-specific brake configuration. In recent Indy 500s, incidents have occurred where drivers have struggled to slow or control their cars coming off Turn 4 and entering pit lane. The new brake configuration is more predictable and responsive, increasing safety.
