The NTT IndyCar Series recently completed its fourth racing weekend in five weeks, kicking off the 2026 season with a fast-paced set of events.
That cadence comes in stark contrast to the previous four seasons, during which nine or 10 weeks were needed before the fourth event of the year was contested.
Consecutive races seem to have helped the series carry momentum with fans, with Fox Sports touting impressive viewership numbers to start the season.
The first three races all topped 1 million television viewers, with last week’s race at Barber hitting 906,000. In all, an average of 1.22 million people tuned in for the first four races, which is up around 30% on last season.
It’s not just the fans, drivers are also enjoying the fast pace. Kyle Kirkwood, who also raced with IMSA in Sebring during the one weekend IndyCar had off, explained what is a very common opinion among the paddock.
“This is exactly what we need in IndyCar, right?” said Kirkwood. “We’ve talked about it for years where we have one race with great viewership, then we sit dormant for the other three weeks of the month. That’s not the case anymore, and it’s proving that that was a big factor in our numbers.
“We’re growing and just getting bigger. The venues have been great. We’ve stabilized our viewership and we have room to grow now. It’s good.
“The numbers aren’t trending down because of the cadence of the season, they’re trending upwards. It’s a good time to be alive in IndyCar.”
IndyCar’s schedule now slows down a bit, with only one race scheduled the month of April.
But May begins a typically busy summer schedule that does not slow down until the finale in Laguna Seca for the 18th race of the season.
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