{"id":167696,"date":"2026-02-24T23:49:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T23:49:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/167696\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T23:49:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T23:49:08","slug":"indycar-opens-the-season-in-st-petersburg-on-sunday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/167696\/","title":{"rendered":"IndyCar opens the season in St. Petersburg on Sunday"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Photo – INDYCAR.COM<\/p>\n

With a record four races in March, the 2026 NTT<\/a> INDYCAR SERIES season launches at full speed. The championship begins Sunday, March 1, at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg<\/a> on the familiar and fan\u2011favorite streets of St. Petersburg, Florida. It marks the quickest opening stretch in series history and sets the tone for a year built on momentum and expansion.<\/p>\n

Phoenix, Arlington and Barber Add Early Season Punch<\/p>\n

A return to historic Phoenix Raceway, a highly anticipated inaugural event on the Streets of Arlington and another trip to the demanding Barber Motorsports Park create a compelling early\u2011season lineup. These venues help shape what is expected to be another record\u2011setting year for North America\u2019s premier open\u2011wheel series.<\/p>\n

INDYCAR Expands to 18 Races and Record FOX Coverage<\/p>\n

For the first time since 2014, the series will feature an 18\u2011race championship. FOX Sports enters its second year as the exclusive broadcast partner, airing all 18 races on FOX. With two additional network windows during PPG Presents Armed Forces Qualifying on May 16\u201117 ahead of the 110th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge, the network will deliver a record 20 broadcast windows for the season. All INDYCAR programming will also stream live on FOX One and the FOX Sports app.<\/p>\n

Leadership Sees Opportunity for Another Breakout Year<\/p>\n

INDYCAR President J. Douglas Boles says the series is positioned for another year of major growth. New events in Phoenix, Arlington, Markham and Washington D.C., combined with promotional integration around the FIFA World Cup 2026 on FOX, create a unique opportunity to showcase the series\u2019 competitive racing and driver personalities. The battle for the Astor Challenge Cup begins in St. Petersburg with high expectations.<\/p>\n

Major Milestones on the Horizon<\/p>\n

Several drivers enter 2026 with historic milestones in reach. The next first\u2011time winner will become the 300th different race winner in INDYCAR SERIES history. Four\u2011time champion Alex Palou aims to become only the second driver to win four consecutive titles, a feat last achieved by Sebastien Bourdais in 2007.<\/p>\n

Scott Dixon Continues His Record\u2011Setting Pursuit<\/p>\n

Six\u2011time champion Scott Dixon looks to extend multiple all\u2011time records, including seasons with a win, consecutive seasons with a win, consecutive starts, total starts, podiums and top\u2011five finishes. Will Power, now with Andretti Global, seeks to add to his all\u2011time pole position record.<\/p>\n

Drivers Approaching Their 100th Career Start<\/p>\n

Several drivers are on pace to reach their 100th career NTT INDYCAR SERIES start in 2026. Palou is scheduled to hit the milestone at Phoenix Raceway, Rinus VeeKay at the Streets of Arlington, Santino Ferrucci at the Indianapolis 500 and Scott McLaughlin during the first Milwaukee Mile race.<\/p>\n

Updated Tire Strategy for Street Circuits<\/p>\n

INDYCAR is introducing new tire usage rules for all street circuits beginning in St. Petersburg. Teams must now use one set of primary tires and two sets of alternate tires, adding an extra alternate set compared to previous seasons. The rule is designed to increase strategic variety and promote more aggressive racing on higher\u2011degradation alternate tires. Firestone has engineered the 2026 alternates with reduced drop\u2011off to encourage all\u2011out driving and closer wheel\u2011to\u2011wheel action.<\/p>\n

Competition Leaders Expect More Exciting Racing<\/p>\n

INDYCAR Senior Vice President of Competition and Operations Mark Sibla says the update will challenge drivers and strategists while enhancing the quality of racing at street events. The goal is to create more memorable battles and elevate the fan experience.<\/p>\n

Late\u2011Race Procedures Updated for 2026<\/p>\n

To increase lead\u2011lap battles in the closing stages of races, INDYCAR is expanding the lap windows used to reposition lapped cars to the rear of the field before restarts. The change applies to nearly all races on the schedule.<\/p>\n

Practice Format Adjustments for Road and Street Courses<\/p>\n

Practice 2 will now mirror the group format of Practice 1, splitting the field by odd and even pit boxes. All cars receive an initial 40\u2011minute session before two 12\u2011minute group segments. Qualifying groups will be determined by results from the previous race, with the season opener using 2025 entrant points. Pre\u2011race warmups expand from 25 to 30 minutes, and FOX Sports will increase its coverage of these sessions to one\u2011hour broadcasts.<\/p>\n

Safety\u2011Driven Technical Updates for the Indianapolis 500<\/p>\n

In partnership with Dallara, INDYCAR is mandating superspeedway tire ramp flaps for all sessions at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, including the Indianapolis 500. These carbon fiber flaps deploy during spins to disrupt airflow and reduce lift, continuing the series\u2019 ongoing commitment to safety and aerodynamic stability.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo – INDYCAR.COM With a record four races in March, the 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season launches at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":167697,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[79680,79681,79682,79683,79684,79685,79686,79687,79688,79689,202,204,203,199,201,200,79690,79691],"class_list":["post-167696","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-alex-palou-championship","tag-barber-motorsports-park","tag-firestone-grand-prix-st-petersburg","tag-fox-sports-indycar","tag-indycar-2026-season","tag-indycar-safety-updates","tag-indycar-schedule","tag-indycar-tire-rules-2026","tag-phoenix-raceway-return","tag-scott-dixon-records","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news","tag-streets-of-arlington","tag-will-power-poles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167696","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=167696"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167696\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/167697"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=167696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=167696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=167696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}