IndyCar and FOX: New Season and Events Preview

Year two of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES on FOX launches the 2026 season with three highly anticipated events on consecutive weekends, beginning with the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on Sunday, March 1, at 12:00 PM ET on FOX, FOX Deportes, FOX One and the FOX Sports app.

FOX INDYCAR is coming off a banner inaugural season, scoring a 27% year-to-year viewership increase and the sport’s most-watched season in 17 years.

Play-by-play announcer Will Buxton and analysts James Hinchcliffe and Townsend Bell return to call the action for FOX INDYCAR, with Jack Harvey, Georgia Henneberry and Kevin Lee reporting from pit road. Acclaimed motor sports broadcaster Jamie Little joins the team for the INDYCAR/NASCAR “Desert Double” in Phoenix and the 110thRunning of the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, May 24.

Award-winning producer Pam Miller again will serve as lead FOX INDYCAR producer, with Emmy award winner Mitch Riggin returning as director.

BEST OF BOTH WORLDS

The NASCAR Craftsman Trucks Series joins the St. Pete race weekend, airing Saturday, Feb. 28 at 12:00 PM ET on FOX. Little, two-time Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip and Bell call the race, with Amanda Busick and Henneberry reporting from the pits.

Hinchcliffe will race the Spire Motorsports No. 77 in the NASCAR Trucks race, as will Jackson Lee, son of Kevin Lee, in the No. 22 Team Reaume entry.

The following weekend, the NTT INDYCAR SERIES joins the NASCAR Cup Series for the “Desert Double” from Phoenix Raceway, with the Good Ranchers 250 INDYCAR race airing Saturday, March 7, on FOX at 3:00 PM ET, and the NASCAR race airing Sunday, March 8, at 3:30 PM ET on FS1.

A week later, on Sunday, March 15, FOX INDYCAR rolls into familiar FOX Sports territory as the series takes to the 2.73-mile, 14-turn temporary street circuit in Arlington’s Entertainment District around AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys, and Globe Life Field, home to the Texas Rangers, for a first-time event – the Java House Grand Prix of Arlington – airing live on FOX, with expanded prerace coverage beginning at 12:30 PM ET.

All 18 races for the 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season will air on FOX, with two additional Indianapolis 500 qualifying sessions also airing on the network, matching the 2025 record of 19 broadcast windows for the series. All races also are available on FOX One and the FOX Sports app.

Later in the season, a couple of crown jewels highlight the schedule, with the 110th Running of the Indianapolis 500 (May 24) and the inaugural Freedom 250 Grand Prix from the National Mall in Washington D.C. (Aug. 23), being run as part of the celebration of the nation’s 250th birthday.

The last formal race run on the National Mall is thought to be a horse race run in 1801 during the administration of President Thomas Jefferson.