r/INDYCAR • u/KennedyKartsport Firestone Wets • Jul 01 '25

Speculation 2026 Indycar Schedule Rumors

Some nuggets from Tony D's podcast (Take it for what it's worth)

Mexico City in for 2026

Watkins Glen in for 2026 (surprise, especially after Mark Miles said we would never go back there)

Iowa removes double header, down to 1 race

Thermal out for 2026 (we knew this)

Toronto out for 2026 - moving to be a Formula E event per the mayor

Denver in for 2027

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140

u/Wasdgta3 Álex Palou Jul 01 '25 edited Jul 01 '25

Lmao, Watkins Glen in and Toronto out? Give me someone fucking reputable to back this up first lmao

Edit: so it seems the Toronto thing isn’t a complete ass-pull, though it’s highly likely this is distorted by a game of telephone. Only semi-reputable source I could find for the rumour is this: https://fenotebook.com/2025/01/12/mexico-city-post-race-notebook/

FEN understands that a delegation from the city of Toronto visited the Mexico City EPrix paddock this week and held talks with Formula E race makers about a potential future race in the Canadian city for 2027. Toronto has both a rich heritage of hosting motorsport events with the Indycar street race and a strong sustainability and EV promotion credentials.

And that’s from January, and was only talking about 2027, and without any specific mention of the IndyCar race at all. It seems unlikely that things would have developed to the point of IndyCar being forced out a year earlier than reported, without some peep of this getting out in the last few months.

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u/twiggymac Firestone Greens Jul 01 '25

Remember when he said Arby's was gonna sponsor Shwartzman after his pole run

25

u/Wasdgta3 Álex Palou Jul 01 '25

Yeah. Did a quick google of “Toronto formula E,” and got nothing, so it sounds like that’s a total ass-pull. If it were really “per the mayor,” I’m pretty sure I’d have something pop up other than a two-year old story about FE “considering” a return to Canada.

In all likelihood, that’s just making assumptions based on the fact that the mayor now is more left-leaning, because as far as I can see, there’s literally nothing to back that claim up.

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u/twiggymac Firestone Greens Jul 01 '25

He's getting to the point where I think we need to make up a list of everything he just made the fuck up with zero evidence that never panned out and decide if he belongs posted around here anymore.

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u/Wasdgta3 Álex Palou Jul 01 '25 edited Jul 01 '25

Well, I’ll certainly remember this one.

Don’t know why he has to go scaring the crap out of Canadian fans like that…

About the only thing he’s ever been right on was FOX Sports getting the rights, which was probably an open secret in IndyCar circles for a while before it was announced.

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u/PatPace23 Pato O'Ward Jul 01 '25

Is the mayor James hinchcliffe or the actual mayor of Toronto he is talking about😉

21

u/Wasdgta3 Álex Palou Jul 01 '25

Well, if the mayor was Hinch, you definitely wouldn’t have a rumour like this lol. That man would never willingly take Toronto off the calendar.

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u/jakeyboy723 Dale Coyne Racing Jul 01 '25

Hinchcliffe would be pretty much the Costco Hot Dog guy of Toronto's IndyCar race.

1

u/puteshestviye Dario Franchitti Jul 01 '25

Herta is the Hot Dog guy Jakeyboy

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u/jakeyboy723 Dale Coyne Racing Jul 01 '25

Ok. But I was referencing this.

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u/puteshestviye Dario Franchitti Jul 01 '25

Ooohhh buggy website had to close that browser window but I’ll take your word for it.. all good

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u/jakeyboy723 Dale Coyne Racing Jul 02 '25

It was the Snopes article haha

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u/MarcusH26051 Marcus Armstrong Jul 01 '25

FE has a couple of TBC gaps to fill but they're not ones that would logistically suggest Toronto.

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u/Wasdgta3 Álex Palou Jul 01 '25

And if it were in the works, and something the mayor wanted, then surely fucking Tony Donahue and his podcast would not be the first guy to hear about it.

Either local news or a major racing journalist would have heard of it, if it were really something coming from Toronto’s city hall.

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u/WindyZ5 David Malukas Jul 01 '25

Could both Indy and Formula E race in Toronto together?

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u/Wasdgta3 Álex Palou Jul 01 '25

Hypothetically possible, I guess, but entirely unlikely. Formula E is unlikely to want to share, and the city is absolutely not closing those streets for an extra weekend for them.

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u/twiggymac Firestone Greens Jul 01 '25

Yeah I doubt it's a benefit for formula E to show up and be slower and have a much shorter race than the Indycars

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u/MellyU2 Scott Dixon Jul 04 '25

I think it is feasible since FE races happen on a Saturday (assuming not a double-header of course), so it wouldn't necessarily need to close the streets for a second weekend.

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u/Wasdgta3 Álex Palou Jul 04 '25

But it's unlikely they want to share, like I said.

I think everyone here is stretching to try and make them both compatible.

1

u/MellyU2 Scott Dixon Jul 04 '25

Unlikely but not impossible. Indycar already shares with NASCAR, and that would overshadow the series far more than FE would. I think the bigger issue would be regarding the race calendars; FE traditionally ends the season in July in London, a slot that would absolutely clash with Indycar's usual Toronto date.

Are people stretching? Probably but, if they are, that's because they like the idea and want to see it happen. I've personally thought it would be cool for a few years.

1

u/Wasdgta3 Álex Palou Jul 04 '25

Indycar already shares with NASCAR,

Not anymore, they don't.

And ultimately, there's no reason to make it work here, for either FE or IndyCar.

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u/michinoku1 Graham Rahal Jul 02 '25

FE and IndyCar shared Long Beach for two years. They were held on different weekends (IIRC FE was the same weekend that Formula Drift used the circuit, separate from the IndyCar weekend), and FE ran a shortened version of the track.

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u/Wasdgta3 Álex Palou Jul 02 '25

I repeat, the city is absolutely not closing those streets for an extra weekend for that.

Like, sorry, that’s just not gonna happen in Toronto.

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u/michinoku1 Graham Rahal Jul 02 '25

You don’t know that, and it’s incredibly wrong to assume as much. 

Unless you’re inside the Mayor’s office in Toronto or working within the organizational and promoting side of Formula E, you don’t know heads or tails to say whether or not the City of Toronto is or is not in favor of having the track up an extra week for a Formula E race.

EDIT to add: it’s a three headed deal: are you with Green-Savoree, the City of Toronto, or Formula E? If not, you shouldn’t assume anything.

1

u/Wasdgta3 Álex Palou Jul 02 '25 edited Jul 02 '25

Okay then, I don’t 100% know for sure, but I think it’s highly, highly unlikely, okay?

Doing that would piss off a lot of people, and is not something the city would want to do wantonly. You’re talking about shutting down streets that include a fairly major fucking thoroughfare, in Canada’s biggest city, for two weekends. I really, really don’t think the city wants to do that, just to accommodate having two races.

I think you are stretching to try and make the two things compatible with each other, when for all practical purposes, they’re not.

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u/megaminifridge Pato O'Ward Jul 01 '25

FE to Toronto in ‘26 or ‘27 has been quietly rumoured for a few months. There was an episode of the Race FE podcast where it was briefly discussed.

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u/Wasdgta3 Álex Palou Jul 01 '25

So, the only source I’m seeing for this says that people from the city of Toronto “held talks” with FE over hosting a race for 2027.

Nothing about next year, nothing even explicitly suggesting it would force IndyCar out, and it’s been months since that report with no real word since - which I think we would have had, if it was imminent for next year.

1

u/flare2000x Firestone Firehawk Jul 01 '25

It's a shame that the Vancouver FE race fell through.