Race start times for 2026 IndyCar season announced

The NTT IndyCar Series has announced the race broadcast start times for the 2026 season.

For the second year of FOX Sports’ coverage of the series, all races will once again be broadcast on free over the air television.

Pre-race coverage will begin shortly before each event, giving the network presenters a platform to hype up the action before the green flag.

Most events will begin at roughly the same time of day as recent years, with a few notable exceptions.

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The race from World Wide Technology Raceway, also known as Gateway, will be held even later in the evening than last year. The green flag is set to wave just as the sun sets in early June, making for a race completely under the lights.

One race continues to be listed with a TBA start time, and that is the event at Nashville Superspeedway.

The FIFA World Cup final is taking place the same day, and is also broadcast by FOX in the US. The series appears to be remaining flexible so that the start of the race can come directly after the conclusion of the highly-watched football finale.

Series and network executives hope the coordination can bring high viewership numbers to the open wheel series by virtue of fans keeping the same channel on after the celebrations are over.

There will be multiple tie-ins with the World Cup, with the opening match of the competition on June 21 also leading directly into coverage of the IndyCar event at Road America.

In addition, on July 5 the race from Mid-Ohio will come directly before a pivotal round-of-16 World Cup match and will be shifted 90 minutes earlier to accommodate the schedule.

The first race of the 2026 season takes place on Sunday, March 1, with the green flag waving shortly after noon eastern time.

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