One of the most common gripes about the IndyCar schedule, specifically within the early portion of the season, is the fact that after the season opener on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida, there has tended to be no action for close a month afterward.
Any serious momentum the series might have gained after getting back in action following a roughly six-month offseason tends to be lost during that downtime.
The 2018 season started in St. Petersburg. The next race at Phoenix Raceway didn't take place until four weeks later.
The 2020 season was supposed to start in St. Petersburg, but that changed due to COVID-19-related restrictions. It started at Texas Motor Speedway instead, but the second race still wasn't for another four weeks at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, although we do have to give credit to the series for effectively making up a schedule on the fly and actually having a season that year.
After 2023's St. Petersburg opener, IndyCar waited four weeks to race again at Texas Motor Speedway. After 2024's St. Petersburg opener, IndyCar waited six weeks to race again on the streets of Long Beach, although there was an exhibition race at Thermal Club three weeks in between.
IndyCar taking no time off between first three races in 2026
This problem was slightly less of a problem in 2025, with only three weeks between the St. Petersburg race and the points race at Thermal Club.
But seeing as how the St. Petersburg race was the most watched non-Indy 500 race since 2011, largely due to Fox taking over the broadcasting duties and completely nailing their offseason promotion of the series, that was still 21 days of momentum loss that arguably could have been avoided.
In 2026, it looks to have been avoided.
IndyCar is set to run three races in 15 days to start the upcoming 18-race campaign, beginning with the traditional St. Petersburg opener on Sunday, March 1. Phoenix is set to be back on the schedule for the first time since 2018, but instead of a four-week wait, it's only a six-day wait, with the Avondale, Arizona oval set to host a race on Saturday, March 7.
Eight days later, IndyCar is set to visit a completely new venue, that being the new street track in Arlington, Texas. The temporary circuit is situated around AT&T Stadium, home of the NFL's Dallas Cowboys, and Globe Life Field, home of MLB's Texas Rangers.
Aside from IndyCar correcting this lingering issue, another major positive of this season's schedule is the fact that at no point during the entire season is there a break in the action scheduled to last more than three weeks.
Yet the season is still set to feature 18 races, the most since 2014 following the unexpected addition of an event in Washington, D.C., and it's still set to span more than six months.
Fox is set to provide live coverage of all 18 races on the 2026 IndyCar schedule, beginning with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg at 12:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, March 1. Begin a free trial of FuboTV and don't miss any of the action!