26 Plotlines for the 2026 INDYCAR Season: From Will Power’s New Ride to the DC Race

St. Petersburg, FL — INDYCAR is officially back! Drivers take to the track Friday for the first time in the 2026 INDYCAR season as they prepare for the season-opening Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Sunday’s race (noon ET on FOX) will be Will Power’s first time driving for Andretti Global after 17 years with Team Penske. This will be one of the scenarios to watch. But there is much more. Here are 26 storylines for 2026: 26. Scott Dixon seeking seventh title Can Scott Dixon win a seventh title? He will definitely try. Does he need to win a seventh title? This is certainly not the case. He will always remain a legend. As he told me, it’s about the people. That’s true, but it’s also about Dixon and how incredible it is that he’s raced at such a high level for over 20 years. Dixon told me this about three-time defending champion Alex Palou’s dominance: “Some of us were lucky enough to be part of those years where everything didn’t go your way or luck or anything like that, but you get your head on steam and it’s rolling and it was a hell of a year. I think he definitely has a target on him.” 25. Ryan Hunter-Reay at McLaren for the Indy 500 For its additional Indy 500 car this year, McLaren is not choosing a driver from another series that would generate buzz. Instead, they have a driver who generated buzz in Indianapolis by winning the sport’s biggest race. Ryan Hunter-Reay almost won last year for a part-time team racing a car that had been used in the shop for pit testing. It gives McLaren another threat – but perhaps even bigger, it potentially gives the team’s drivers additional insight into what can work or what to try at Indy. RHR told me, “I’m really looking forward to contributing here. I want to come here, I’m not just on the receiving end. I want to give. … My years of experience in Indianapolis will hopefully make that happen.” 24. Will INDYCAR get approval to race in Mexico for 2027? It looked like INDYCAR was on track to solidify a race in Mexico for 2026, but the deal never came to fruition. Blame the World Cup, one or the other, but it’s not the 2026 calendar. INDYCAR needs to get back to it, especially at the height of Pato O’Ward’s popularity. 23. The return of Romain Grosjean Former Formula 1 driver Romain Grosjean is back in the series driving full-time for Dale Coyne Racing after not racing in 2025. He is known as an aggressive driver and he is late in his career, so he is not going to step back for any reason. Grosjean told me: “I never doubted that I would be back in INDYCAR because I felt like what I did was pretty good, and that there would always be an opportunity – and I’m happy that it was happening with Dale Coyne Racing which I love dearly. It was bad watching from the sidelines.” 22. New Car Development for 2028 A new INDYCAR will arrive in 2028, a year or two later than many hoped, but at least there’s a timetable for putting the new car on the track. Testing of the car is expected to begin in earnest later this year. Weight distribution, safety features and improving running ability are all goals. INDYCAR President Doug Boles told me, “The idea is we’re going to do some basic testing this summer, give the manufacturers their cars so they can start testing. The idea is we’ll be able to do enough testing by next summer. And next summer is when we’ll start rolling out these cars to teams, and then team testing will begin.” 21. Walk away! INDYCAR has increased the number of laps from the finish where lagging cars will restart behind the leading cars. This could mean more restarts where those in the middle of the field have a chance to pass. 20. How is Colton Herta performing in F2? Colton Herta no longer races in INDYCAR, but he carries the hope of the paddock that he races well in Formula 2, proving to all the skeptics that INDYCAR drivers have the talent to succeed overseas. If he makes a successful transition, that could also open the door – for INDYCAR to be seen as a place where the best drivers can race without shutting down their F1 hopes and also for INDYCAR’s best to perhaps get a serious look at F1. 19. Is ECR on the rise? Is Ed Carpenter’s organization thriving? Alexander Rossi posted the fastest speeds during the test in Phoenix. Christian Rasmussen won a race last year. The team has received an influx of investment from Ted Gelov and is in the process of building a new facility. Rossi told me: “I think the team has grown a lot over the last 14 months, and there have been a lot of changes in terms of how we do things, how we structure the organization. Starting the year on the right note and then continuing that momentum, especially through May, is key.” 18. McLaren-Ganassi Dynamics After Alex Palou Trial Do you think Chip Ganassi Racing is happy to have to pay a $12 million judgment that McLaren obtained against Alex Palou in the British courts (CGR agreed to pay damages in the breach of contract case)? Probably not. These two owners are far from friends and it will be interesting to see if that carries over to the track. Palou told me: “I have no problem with the McLaren drivers, or with McLaren in general, in particular. It’s more of a personal thing, but that’s in the past. The things that happen off the track, honestly, don’t really motivate me to say, ‘Oh yeah, now I’m going to try to be that guy, or finish in front of him, I don’t care. I just want to win for my team, myself, my family, and I love driving. That’s what motivates me.” 17. Tire Rule Changes for Street Courses For street courses, teams must use at least two sets of soft tires and at least one set of primary tires. This will increase the strategy. Pato O’Ward told me this could mean that if the warning is issued at an inopportune time, a driver might not feel like he has no chance like he did under the previous rule of using at least one tire of each type. Penske driver Scott McLaughlin said the new “soft” tire is more durable so he’s not sure how much of a change it will make. Mclaughlin told me, “We might actually see a red [soft tire] race.” When will he know about St. Pete? “Not until the morning warmup. Maybe practice 1 we’ll see how they feel and how they give up. It will be interesting to see how it runs. That makes 31 and other teams could add another car. It could depend on Prema returning and a car or two arriving. There are drivers looking (including Jacob Abel, who was cut a year ago), but Chevrolet will probably have to wait and see if it should assign an engine to Prema’s Doug Boles, who told me, “When you think about the Indianapolis 500, there are things that are core to our DNA, and one of them is.” 33 cars. So we need to have at least 33. The bumps made qualifying exciting, even though it was just one car. So to the extent that we can have any guesses, that would be fantastic. The most important thing is to get to 33. Obviously there’s some unknown where Prema goes this year, and it was two cars that we were counting on last year that got us to that number 34. So we have some work to do there. Any changes occurring with other teams throughout the year or after the 2026 season also remain to be seen. and styles, INDYCAR President Doug Boles told me: “[Phoenix] is a track that has a lot of history in INDYCAR racing, so I’m excited to be back here for that, that’s for sure. Definitely the opportunity to race on a Cup weekend. I think this is going to be a great opportunity for the INDYCAR guys to expose themselves to a different fan base. As soon as we started talking to people in Markham, they were very excited to have us – the big investment this community is making to ensure the racing surface is the kind of racing surface we want to see. And they immediately started resurfacing and getting things ready. The Markham project is on track. additional staff were added. Whether the board – former Ford boss Raj Nair, former NASCAR team chief and owner Ray Evernham and the FIA’s Ronan Morgan – sees a sense of further change will be a topic of discussion throughout the year, at least in the paddock, telling me and other journalists: “We have a high degree of confidence in the existing team.” We spent a lot of time with them and were really impressed. ” 11. Scott McLaughlin’s return to Indy It’s hard to forget what happened to McLaughlin at the Indianapolis 500 last year when he wrecked on the pace laps. It’s something most people wouldn’t wish on their worst enemy. That thought will be on the minds of everyone who couldn’t believe what they saw in 2025. 10. David Malukas’ first season with Replacing Will Power won’t be easy, and Malukas will have to focus on his own development, but beyond any obvious comparisons, it’s going to be more about whether Malukas is running at about the same level as his teammates or whatever, there’s pressure – it’s Team Penske, right? looking, and I think no matter what driver you ask or who it will be, it will be the same answer I’ve had different pressures throughout my career, and this one won’t be any different. I’m very excited to tackle it and see what we can do to be there in 2027. Siegel told me: “I always try to get the best result possible for myself and for the team, and that doesn’t change based on the expectations of the team. others. I’m going to put everything I have into it, just like I would at any other time, and that doesn’t change based on what other people say about the goal. was loaned to Dale Coyne Racing. If that doesn’t put pressure on Marcus Ericsson, who is in a contract year, then nothing else will. Veteran Ericsson has never experienced this. and knows it needs to bounce back after a mediocre 2025. Ruzewski told me: “I said it in front of the whole group, and I continue to live by it: winning races isn’t very difficult, it’s just a lot of hard work.” 7. New Management for Team Penske This will be the first full season with Team Penske under new leadership with Jonathan Diuguid leading the organization and Travis Law the new Vice President of Competition. Can they do enough to inspire the organization to regain its momentum after a season of just two wins and no drivers higher than ninth in the standings? We’ll see. McLaughlin told me: “There are a lot of new faces and new positions on our team, and we had to do that in the middle of last year, and having six months to really bring everyone together and put together a really strong team, I think that really puts us in a really strong position right now. “With the people we have, it’s going to be a lot of fun.” 6. Race around the Capitol Late addition to the schedule, a race through the streets of Washington, D.C., in the National Mall district, will take place on August 23. A project that didn’t seem to be happening was finally realized thanks to an executive order from President Donald Trump. Much of the access to the event will be free. This should be a weekend-long spectacle celebrating the 250th anniversary of the United States. Doug Boles, INDYCAR President: “We’ve been working on this since the end of the summer. Even though the announcement was only a few weeks ago, we’re a lot further along. We have a lot of work to do to get there though. But we’ve got the course set. Hopefully it will be announced in the next few weeks. I’ve ordered the concrete, the fencing, everything we need for it. So I think we’re in pretty good shape. It’s going to be a big job.” 5. Arlington Races Around Jerry World The new Arlington race is just a few weeks away (March 15) and will feature races around the Dallas Cowboys and Texas Rangers stadiums. This race has created a lot of buzz. Driver Rinus VeeKay told me, “I’m excited for it. So it’s really just the big show with all the entertainment around it, with all the stadiums, it’s just something. The big sports are America and Texas, so I’m excited.” 4. Mick Schumacher brings a big name. Will he have big results? Can Mick Schumacher make a successful transition out of European racing? Who knows. But everyone will be watching to see if the son of seven-time Formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher can succeed in INDYCAR, especially on ovals, where he has never raced before. Schumacher told me last week: “We’re all excited. We’ve been talking about it for so long now that they’re all really excited to start the race weekend.” 3. Will Palou continue to dominate? Will Alex Palou dominate and win his fourth consecutive title (and fifth overall)? It’s hard to imagine he would win another eight races this year. But why not? Palou told me: “I think everyone knows it’s pretty hard to win that many. Our 2025 season was just one of those seasons where everything came together.” 2. Josef Newgarden: Will he bounce back or will he struggle? The two-time series champion was obviously sour during 2025, and even a win in the Nashville finale wasn’t enough to do him any good for the year, where he finished 12th in the standings. If he has a similar year, the question will be on whether he’ll return to Penske in 2027 or look to move on, Newgarden told me, “I don’t want to do anything. [as far as momentum] from the last race. We will be resetting from 2026 and nothing from last year will be kept for now. We’re just going to have to restart and be strong from the start.” 1. Will Power move to Andretti What else do you think it would be? Power was the off-track storyline last year in terms of his saga and whether he would return to Penske. Obviously he didn’t. So how many races is he going to win and how quickly is he going to get up to speed at Andretti? He thinks it won’t take long. Power tells me: “When I see their resources, the store, the engineering trailer, some On that front, I feel like they’re ahead in some ways — and a little behind on some basic things, which they worked hard on in the offseason anyway. I have a feeling Andretti will be better than last year. I have a feeling they’ll take a big step forward this year. And I feel like that gives them a pretty good position. That’s why I’m very interested to see where we stand. » 2026 INDYCAR SEASON PREVIEW: Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He spent decades covering motorsports, including more than 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.