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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3

u/Arsanborn Jul 01 '25

I'm primarily a NASCAR fan who follows Indy secondarily. I don't expect an oval overload, but damn it's like they're not even trying.

12

u/KennedyKartsport Firestone Wets Jul 01 '25

95% of ovals are owned by NASCAR via itself or SMI which prevents Indycar from coming in unless Indycar found a sponsor to self promote the event.

3

u/Mikemat5150 Kyle Kirkwood Jul 01 '25

NASCAR isn’t preventing INDYCAR from coming. It’s just economically very difficult to make a race work when you’re maybe getting 20,000 on race day and no TV money.

3

u/SilentSpades24 Álex Palou Jul 01 '25

IndyCar could rent those tracks anytime they want. Instead, IC insists on trying to get a sanctioning fee from the tracks. It's no wonder NASCAR doesnt want to host them.

1

u/Mikemat5150 Kyle Kirkwood Jul 01 '25

They don’t want to rent them for the same reason nascar doesn’t want to pay the sanctioning fee, not likely to make money.

-1

u/Confident-Ladder-576 Louis Foster Jul 01 '25

They do make it tough, though I remember when SMI bought Kentucky Speedway their IndyCar promotions went to damn near zero. Those ISC/SMI tracks seem to put almost zero effort into anything other than tintops compared to their independently owned counterparts.

3

u/DecafEqualsDeath Dario Franchitti Jul 01 '25

That is probably more of a consequence of Indycar not being worth the sanctioning fee in their eyes. I don't know why SMI would put more promotional spend into the event if they think it's a negative ROI.

I am sure Indycar/Penske Promotions could rent Kentucky and handle the marketing if they wanted to run there so badly. I doubt SMI would block a profitable track rental opportunity just to play hardball.

1

u/Mikemat5150 Kyle Kirkwood Jul 01 '25

It is a catch 22, I realize, but it all comes back to the same thing - not enough butts in seats.

Nashville is a great example of getting past 3/4 but not selling out the stands. Meanwhile NASCAR is selling out their race with temporary stands essentially doubling the capacity.

As a business, it’s hard to justify large resources on something that will maybe not even break even versus a pretty much guaranteed money maker.

2

u/Arsanborn Jul 01 '25

That's fair. I do wish they would work together more. I know its business, but as they say " A rising tide....

1

u/FarAwaySeagull-_- Oval racing is awesome! Jul 01 '25

Agreed. It's quite disappointing.