A new year, a new season approaches. With the months dwindling down to weeks before the 2026 NTT IndyCar Series season starts, its time to focus on some of the forthcoming stories to watch that may have slipped away during the offseason.
Four months ago, the 2025 season ended with Alex Palou claiming his third championship in a row, fourth overall. Since then, time has ticked slowly as teams made offseason driver moves, personnel changes, and the news cycle stuttered to a crawl.
But now it’s time to rev back up, start thinking about IndyCar and wrap our minds around multiple topics to follow as the season opener approaches on March 1 at St. Petersburg.
Palou’s four-peat?
This will be discussed ad nauseam in every preview from St. Petersburg until Laguna Seca — how does 2026 fare for four-time IndyCar champion Palou?
While a wise and passionate fan will ask about who can rise to unseat the dominant force, that doesn’t give the Spaniard enough credit for his legendary run since 2021. Instead, taking a note from a famous speech, it’s not what the IndyCar paddock can do to beat him, it’s what Palou can do to repeat.
No one across the grid has figured out how to run as excellently as the No. 10 team does every race. They can easily fill up a TED Talk on reliability, qualifying success, and maximizing performance when victory isn’t attainable.
In 2025, it was all Palou. With 2026 upon the IndyCar world, he easily can reign on that throne again.
For real though?
Is there anyone who will step up and finally beat Palou? Someone eventually has to do it, and this year, that might happen. Will Power sort of did it in 2022, but to be fair, Palou and his business decisions took his own head out of the game back then.
There are 26 other drivers; surely one of them will hit the target this year. Someone? Anyone?
Some FOX(y) stuff.
.The first year with FOX Sports was a success for the series, as viewership averages climbed year over year compared to the series’ run with NBC. Having every race on network television simplified fans’ access to the show. It was clear that FOX cared. Just go back and see the three commercials that were run during the Super Bowl.
Then they bought into the series and showed they cared a whole lot more.
The second year, but first full one as part-owners, will carry on from where 2025 ended — with momentum. Nashville was moved to run directly after FOX’s coverage of the FIFA World Cup on July 19, Phoenix was added in a unique doubleheader with NASCAR (more on that below), and every race returned to network TV, including two primetime windows at Nashville and Gateway.
The Indy 500 will be the marquee draw, but FOX is positioning the brand to maximize the whole product versus the one, world-renowned foray at the 500. Getting eyes on the championship is key; seeing what FOX does throughout the year with their new product, which they partly own, will be just as interesting.
The Power move.
Andretti Global’s Power — wait, that doesn’t sound right. Read that again. Oh yes, that’s weird. For the first time since 2008, when he drove for the defunct KV Racing Technologies team, Power is in a new ride that will not show up to the track in a spotless chrome Team Penske semitruck trailer.
But Power and Andretti are made for each other in a 2026 that must be better.
Do not forget the unspoken, chilly environment that came out of the negotiations last year as Power approached midnight on his contract. The two-time champion displayed emotions of a man clearly on the way out, which amplified after his win at Portland, when neither side could find themselves satisfied with the proposed contracts.
For the team, Andretti Global didn’t let the disappointing Penske season influence their preferences, as they swept the Australian up and put him in the No. 26 car vacated by Colton Herta. The hope is that Power races like an upset Aussie, vying to hammer regret into his former team’s leadership for not retaining him.
Andretti clearly fell behind Arrow McLaren on the grid in performance, dropping to arguably the fourth-best team. This was most disappointing for the 26 team, which fell from second in the 2024 championship to seventh and failed to reach victory lane all year.
One note to keep in mind, this is a team that is one year removed from an ownership transition from Michael Andretti to Dan Towriss, with a full offseason to make strategic changes. Power’s signing was one of them. Another is new technical leadership in place, as reported by RACER, so the effort is there. Now fans await the results.
Time to Be Penske Perfect.
Team Penske was awful in 2025. Heading into the year, Scott McLaughlin was a common pick to win the title after a strong close to 2024. Josef Newgarden chased a chance to be the first driver to win the 500 three times in three years. Power intended to tighten his seatbelts every race and carry momentum from a close championship battle with Palou into a new season.
Nothing went right. There was embarrassment at Indy with illegal modifications that dropped Power and Newgarden to the rear of the grid and McLaughlin recreated Roberto Guerrero’s 1992 start by crashing before the green flag fell. Through 14 races, the team was held out of victory lane and earned just five podiums across all three cars. However, Power’s win at Portland and Newgarden’s hometown triumph at Nashville provided some relief and prevented Penske’s first winless season in this century.
Now, Power is gone, and a hungry David Malukas jumps into the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet. Newgarden is the elder statesman as he must prove his worst year at Penske was an aberration. McLaughlin seeks to drink champagne again after only sipping water on pit road all of 2025.
Penske not only lost ground to Ganassi in the title fight, but Arrow McLaren leapt past them as well. Will they reclaim their long-tenured spot atop the championship and finally make it a whole year without any further controversy?
TK and RHR reunite.
Tony Kanaan enters his second season running the day-to-day race operations for Arrow McLaren Racing. With the two-year Kyle Larson Indy 500 run complete, the team adjusted tactics for their fourth seat for the Month of May. They didn’t reach out to a novice or IndyCar stranger; instead, Kanaan turned to a long-time pal who’s capable of adding to the engineering and technical feedback a squad needs to level up to win their first Indy 500.
In comes Ryan Hunter-Reay. The 2014 Indy 500 winner and 2012 IndyCar champion steps into a top-notch ride for May, one that has surpassed his former Andretti Global squad. His impact will go well beyond on-track results and racecraft. He is known for improving a team’s driver-to-engineer communication channel, and having someone who is adept in the mix with Pato O’Ward, Christian Lundgaard and Nolan Siegel will pay dividends.
If Hunter-Reay adds a slight bump up in performance for Arrow McLaren, then the papaya orange might leap to a dominant, up-front entity at Indy, finally beating Team Penske and Chip Ganassi.
Jay Frye’s brave new world.
Early in 2025, Penske Entertainment fired IndyCar president Jay Frye, sending him out into the wild. Rahal Lanigan Letterman Racing quickly snatched him from the executive soup line, hiring him as their new president at a team that has lacked a strong front-of-office presence. Little improvement occurred during their first year, but that’s not surprising; strategic actions need an offseason to bear fruit for the coming season. The signing of Mick Schumacher is an example of what vision Frye brings, given a few months of off-track focus.
One critical area that the team hopes his guidance can improve is their Indianapolis 500 qualifying speed. Since 2022, the team has put at least one car in the back two rows. After Graham Rahal was bumped in 2023, the expectation was that the tepid pace wouldn’t repeat – but it has.
Frye is a leader, which is clear from his steady performance as IndyCar president in a position that has been historically volatile. That makes a difference when performance is measured by thousandths of a second in a spec series. While the team has just two wins since 2020, albeit one is Takuma Sato’s second Indy 500 win, finishing in the top five and on the podium will show Frye was a solid addition.
Finally, Phoenix rises.
The first of its kind oval doubleheader with NASCAR will happen early in the season. How will this unique arrangement with the France Family play out? IndyCar hasn’t solved the attendance problem at ovals. Even though fans clamor for them every day, the tracks don’t sell out, making it harder for the series to find partners.
By joining NASCAR as a support race – a massive ego check that should be commended – the attendance problem is slightly mitigated. One of the biggest issues on ovals is the lack of track activity compared to the road and street course events. With the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race in the evening, the IndyCar show in the afternoon, and whatever practice sessions NASCAR grants, that’s a pretty hefty day.
Hopefully, the series’ second attempt at reviving the southwest market produces a race as compelling as the NASCAR O’Reilly Series has been putting on for the last few years, giving fans a whole day of great product. If the turnout is good, then this can be more of a permanent fixture on the calendar, ensuring IndyCar’s desert legacy sticks around.
Can PREMA catch a second wind?
Rookie years are tough for drivers and new teams. PREMA Racing handled their inaugural foray into IndyCar with the professionalism expected from their lineage of European formula racing as well as sports cars. For their first go-round, a pole at Indianapolis by their rookie driver Robert Shwartzman and four top 10s in the last five races by Callum Ilott give hope they belong in the long term.
However, this is all assuming the team makes it to St. Petersburg. With the Rosin family, who founded the team more than 40 years ago, departing the organization this month, the future is far from clear for the European outfit.
Conor Daly’s full-time career?
There is only one seat left to fill in the paddock and journeyman Conor Daly doesn’t sound like he’s in the running it. With no ride for St. Petersburg, Daly’s full-time IndyCar career might be in doubt. The spirited American has driven for all but three teams on the grid, a nomadic existence that has kept him employed since 2016. However, with zero wins and not enough sponsorship to hand over for the keys to a DW12 chassis, a one-and-done Indy 500 attempt might be it for him.
That’s a lot to follow for 2026. But that’s not everything. These are just some of the stories as the New Year plunges on into the spring and race season.
Tom is an IndyCar writer at Frontstretch, joining in March 2023. Besides writing the IndyCar Previews and frequent editions of Inside IndyCar, he will hop on as a fill-in guest on the Open Wheel podcast The Pit Straight. A native Hoosier, he calls Fort Wayne home. Follow Tom on Twitter @TomBlackburn42.
I’m reviewing last year in my head (and final standings as a reminder), and sure, Palou will be in the hunt. But I also see about 6 other guys not named Dixon who could (should) be legitimately fighting for the podium at the end of 2026.
With Kirkwood breaking out at Andretti last year, it makes sense to think Power will return to form (outside of Penske’s snake-bitten 2025 season) and vie for another title.
Pato has been strong for the last few seasons, but seems to be tripped up just enough at the worst times. Lundgaard was also solid (performed above my expectations, anyway), and the Arrow McLaren team has shown good pace nearly everywhere they go for a while.
2025 was an anomaly for Penske, and I fully expect Newgarden and McLaughlin to come roaring back to form in 2026.
And of course you can never count out Dixon. So there’s 8 guys with a legitimate shot for the top 3 spots in 2026.
Plus, there’s the suspense of who else might surpass expectations and have a break out season, possibly sneaking into the Championship hunt? I can’t wait for March so we can kick this 2026 Indycar season off!
More excited for this Indycar season than any I can recall since before the CART/IRL split. I think it’s an important one for Indycar’s trajectory.
While NASCAR was busy shooting their golden goose over and over and over again, Indycar was sitting back eating popcorn, and enjoying nothing but exciting headlines. Might this be the year Indycar begins to reclaim their throne as top American racing series?
Sure, Power and Penske’s split was a bit ugly, but Power should absolutely raise Andretti’s competition level. Power was the best Penske driver most of last year, so it doesn’t seem as though he’s lost much of his edge. I wouldn’t be at all surprised for Power and Kirkwood to be title contenders for Andretti.
As for Penske, Malukas will have a microscope on him every week, having replaced a legend. I agree with Jeremy…I think it would be unwise to write Penske’s epitaph at this time. They likely will have multiple players for the title.
Over at Arrow McLaren, Lundgaard’s trajectory is pointing up, and it wouldn’t take much more for him to become a title contender. Hopefully this pushes O’Ward as well. O’Ward’s speed has never been in question. He just needs to clean up the mistakes, and maximize every week’s results.
I’m quite excited to see what the addition of Mick Schumacher means for RLL. If Schumacher was paying attention during his time in F1, and if RLL has open ears for Schumacher’s experience in the more advanced series, this could prove a paradigm changing hire. Schumacher is still fairly young, and showed speed in lower Formula series before winding up in what was a terrible Haas car during his short stint in F1. Also, I have to guess Schumacher will bring new international viewers. If someone like me, from the American south, is excited for this, I’d imagine there will be curious viewers all over the world tuning in to see how Mick fares. I’d be surprised to see RLL become an instant contender, but I wouldn’t be shocked to see massive improvements across the team.
And I haven’t even mentioned Palou, who has been posting historically impressive results. Everyone is trying to climb up and join him atop the hill, but thus far, no one has been able to get there. Will this year bring contenders, or more pretenders to the throne? As for Dixon, I fear age is finally catching up with him. He’s still one of the best in Indycar, but I worry he will be unable to match Palou’s pace. I hope I’m wrong, and if anyone can find a way to outrace time, it’s Dixon.
Hopefully the off-season has allowed Fox to fix most of their telemetry issues. They were wonderful at promoting broadcasts, and the camera work was mostly good, but the technical gremlins held them back a bit. I cringe when I compare their telemetry to F1’s rock-solid presentations.
Bring it on! I only wish the season started earlier, and was a bit longer.
I wasn’t sure how to state how I feel about Dixon. It’s hard to say he’s lost a step when he’s finished 4th, 3rd, 2nd, 6th, and 3rd in the last 5 seasons, but when you watch the races he seems to be relying on strategy and solid lap times more than outright pace. His qualifying speed always puts him too far back (IMO) at most events. With competition where it is today, the consistency is great but he needs to pick up pace – especially in qualifying. But we’ll see, he has more racing knowledge and experience in his pinky-toe than I’ll ever have so I could easily be proven wrong!
I’m also interested in seeing what Mick can bring to RLL. Through the years they’ve shown occasional speed, just not overly consistent. Would be cool if he can help elevate that team and start stealing a few wins from the title contenders.
One other note about next season vs NASCAR. Look at the TV schedules. Do you know where to tune in for every NASCAR race? I know exactly where to find every Indycar race – because they’re all on the same channel AND all you need is an antenna to watch them !! :-)
I’ve noticed NASCAR being on so many channels has been a big deal to a lot of folks. I hear what you and they are saying, but personally, it hasn’t really bothered me. I’m lucky enough in life I can afford the necessary services, and despite being long in the tooth, I have a pretty extensive professional background in consumer electronics, and a natural affinity for gadgets which keeps my knowledge ahead of most in my age bracket.
In years past, I’d have my DVR set to automatically record full seasons across all cable channels, and using a Roku streamer meant I could also watch Amazon broadcasts on delay, with FF, pause, and RW capability. On days where I had time to watch a race live, I’d still intentionally wait at least 1/2 hour after slated green flag before tuning in, so I could skip most commercials before catching up near the end of the race.
NASCAR was always somewhat fragmented, with combinations of TNN, TBS, USA, CBS, Fox, NBC, ABC, ESPN off the top of my head, and I’m sure there were others. You’re right though…for many fans, having Indycar the same place every week is easier, as it was for F1 before they decided to hide behind Apple’s pay wall in 2026. I wonder if Indycar will pick up a few newer F1 fans, now that F1 is no longer on ESPN.
I’m considering cutting the cord on cable, as NASCAR was the remaining sport keeping me in the cable ecosystem, and I’m kinda over the current NASCAR product. I once loved stick and ball sports, but in a world where there’s other entertainment available which does not constantly bombard me with commercials, I’ve lost quite a bit of interest there as well.
I can receive Fox broadcasts at my home, and I’ve already done some basic research on OTA DVRs, so I can still time shift as I choose. If I go that route, I’ll probably upgrade my antenna as well, to see if I can get more channels in my somewhat rural area. F1 will be on Apple TV this year, and I enjoy those races enough I’m moving my subscriptions around to pay for that one. (Bye Bye, ESPN+) Those two things will give me the full Indycar and F1 seasons, which is still a lot of racing!