IndyCar releases new-look 2026 schedule

The 2026 schedule for the NTT IndyCar Series has been released, and it features a large number of changes from recent years.

Three new tracks feature on the calendar, including two brand new street courses that are being constructed for the first time.

IndyCar has also found a way to bring more races into the early portion of the year, removing several large gaps in the schedule that have been a part of the March to April timeline in recent years.

After starting the season off on the streets of St. Petersburg on March 1, IndyCar will immediately travel to Phoenix Raceway for a race on Saturday, March 7.

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The Saturday timeslot is to accommodate NASCAR, which will be sharing the weekend with IndyCar and has its main event on Sunday.

The two series have shared race weekends before, notably at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. This will be the first time IndyCar has raced at Phoenix since 2018.

IndyCar will then race the next weekend at the new street course in Arlington, making for three races in as many weeks to begin the new year.

The 110th Indianapolis 500 will be the seventh race of the season, and will kick off a stretch of familiar tracks throughout the summer months.

Late season changes

For the back half of the season, IndyCar has made multiple changes as well.

Nashville Superspeedway will be run in July and will no longer be the season finale, as that honor shifts back to Laguna Seca as it was a few years previous.

The Milwaukee Mile will also host a double-header again, bringing two full length races to the penultimate weekend of the year.

In order to accommodate the new venues early in the season, IndyCar will forego visits to Iowa Speedway and the Thermal Club in order to maintain a 17-race schedule.

Iowa Speedway has hosted a double-header weekend in recent years, but investment and attendance at the event has dwindled in the past two seasons.

The Thermal Club was only contested as a points-paying race once during the 2025 season, with other visits by IndyCar being formatted as a preseason test and as a $1 million challenge in 2023 and 2024 respectively.

Other changes include the Toronto event, which will be shifted to a new location for 2026.

The streets around Exhibition Place will be in use for World Cup matches throughout the summer, so IndyCar will instead race at a new track in nearby Markham.

After considerable efforts to make the race happen, IndyCar will not travel to Mexico City in 2026. It is believed the series will continue to work to make the event a reality for 2027.

The full 2026 schedule can be seen below: