2026 IndyCar season could be pivotal for sport's growth

At the very least, IndyCar will find itself making plenty of headlines this season. 

Whether those headlines are positive or negative will be largely subjective. But following Friday's news that the series is planning to hold a race in the streets of Washington, D.C. in August, there's no doubt that the sport will make plenty of waves in 2026. 

A sport on the rise

The objective good news is that IndyCar appears to be on the upswing. 

2025 was the most-watched season of IndyCar racing since 2008, with 17 races averaging 1.362 million viewers on FOX. That included an audience of just over seven million viewers that watched the 109th running of the Indianapolis 500, also the most since 2008. That was also a bigger audience than that of the 2025 Daytona 500 (6.76 million viewers on Fox), the third time in 30 years that Indianapolis drew more eyes than Daytona. 

With another 18 races all set to be broadcast on network television this season, it wouldn't be surprising to see 2026 beat 2025's viewership marks. 

That case will only be helped by an intriguing 2026 schedule. Even before the late addition of the potential street race in Washington, the 2026 IndyCar schedule included the season-opener on the streets of St. Petersburg, Fla., a doubleheader weekend with NASCAR in IndyCar's return to Phoenix Raceway, the much-anticipated Arlington Grand Prix, the Indianapolis 500 and the season finale at Laguna Seca, among others. 

Add in an enticing doubleheader at the Milwaukee Mile, another exciting oval race at Gateway, and a new street race in Ontario, Canada, and IndyCar has the makings of a schedule that should snag momentum early and be able to maintain it. 

Fox's IndyCar advertising blitz certainly won't hurt. Nor will the increasing star power of four-time IndyCar champ and defending Indy 500 winner Alex Palou, who will go for a fourth consecutive title in 2026. 

The sport is also host to an emerging superstar in Pato O'Ward and will have plenty of storylines to follow. 

Chief among them is the departure of Will Power from Team Penske after a 17-year tenure with the team, the return of formerly dismissed Penske executive Tim Cindric as a race strategist for driver Scott McLaughlin in the wake of an Indy 500 cheating scandal, an a merging young talent in David Malukas taking Power's spot at Penske and the potential, Power-esque free agency spotlight that could shine on two-time Indy 500 winner and Penske driver Josef Newgarden. 

Of course, barring extenuating circumstances, the 110th running of the Indianapolis 500 will by far be the most intriguing event on the IndyCar calendar. But the street race in Washington, as well as that in Arlington, Texas, also has the potential to steal the spotlight and begin building up a sport that saw its popularity decline and stagnate before 2025. 

All of those ingredients make for a main course that could be well received or the other way around, but regardless, IndyCar will be talked about quite frequently throughout 2026.