Opening rounds The 2026 IndyCar season started like the year before, with a pole position for
Team Penske's
Scott McLaughlin at the
Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. He led
Andretti's
Marcus Ericsson throughout the first stint of the race, handling an early restart after a three-car collision caused by
Juncos Hollinger Racing's
Sting Ray Robb on the opening lap. McLaughlin pitted on lap 35, with Ericsson following a lap later.
Chip Ganassi Racing's defending champion
Álex Palou crucially elected to stay out two laps longer to attempt an overcut. That strategy worked and it led to Palou taking the net race lead after his stop on lap 38, before cycling back to the front on lap 42. The only threat to his victory from that point on came through the final stint, where Palou ran hard tires while the others behind ran the quicker soft tires, but Palou consistently pulled away throughout the final part to win the race by almost 13 seconds. Andretti's
Kyle Kirkwood looked set to take second before both McLaughlin and
McLaren's
Christian Lundgaard overtook him on lap 94. The
Good Ranchers 250 marked IndyCar's return to
Phoenix for the first time since
2018.
Team Penske's
David Malukas earned his first career pole position after beating teammate
Josef Newgarden in qualifying. He controlled the opening part of the race, which saw an early caution on lap ten. On the restart, JHR's
Rinus VeeKay made contact with Palou while attempting to pass him, sending the points leader into the wall and out of the race. Malukas held first place until the first pit cycle, where McLaren's
Pato O'Ward took over in front.
ECR's
Christian Rasmussen rose up the order during the next stint, and a timely second caution allowed him to dispatch then-leader Kirkwood with fresher tires. Andretti's
Will Power attacked Rasmussen for the lead and the pair made contact, causing a puncture for Power and a third caution. Newgarden was among the drivers electing to pit and quickly moved from tenth to the lead. He took the win and the points lead ahead of Kirkwood and Malukas, while Rasmussen dropped to fourteenth with a damaged car. The
Java House Grand Prix of Arlington brought a new track as well as a new top-six single-lap shootout qualifying format, in which Ericsson took his first career pole position. Palou qualified second, with the pair leading the field until they both pitted on lap 16. An error by Ericsson's pit crew saw him fall behind Palou, with O'Ward and Kirkwood slotting in behind. Lap 27 saw both Andretti cars make their second stops, with Palou and O'Ward following a lap later before Kirkwood got past Ericsson for a net second place. The pit stops promoted Power to the front, albeit on a less favorable two-stop strategy that saw him extend his second soft-tire stint until lap 45. By that point, Palou had nullified the gap to him and took over at the front. The top two took their final pit stop on lap 49, and Kirkwood, the fastest man on track at that point, reeled in Palou to claim first place with 16 laps to go. The race ended under caution after a multi-car collision, handing Kirkwood the win and with it the championship lead as Power rounded out the podium. Round four, the
Children's of Alabama Indy Grand Prix, saw Palou take pole position in qualifying ahead of Malukas and
RLL's
Graham Rahal. The top three remained static after the start until Rahal took second place on lap 17. Malukas pitted two laps later, with Rahal following suit and Palou holding out on hard tires on until lap 27. Lundgaard, who also started on hard tires, rose from tenth to third in his first stint. Palou took his second pitstop on lap 45, seven seconds ahead of Rahal, who stopped one lap later. Lundgaard pitted on lap 50, overcutting Rahal to move into second place. Lundgaard cut Palou's advantage to 3.4 seconds during the penultimate stint, until the Spaniard stopped for the final time on lap 64. Lundgaard stayed out longer again and looked set to challenge Palou through an overcut, but a slow 17-second stop saw him rejoin behind Rahal. Palou, now leading comfortably, took victory to cut the championship gap to two points. Lundgaard was able to repass Rahal, who held on to third to take his first podium since August 2023.
MSR's
Felix Rosenqvist secured pole position in qualifying for the
Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, besting O'Ward by just 0.04 seconds. Palou started third and immediately passed O'Ward for second place on Lap 2. Rosenqvist controlled the pace for the first 31 laps until the leaders made their first tandem pit stops. Rosenqvist maintained his lead over Palou as they both transitioned to the alternate tires. He managed to build a three-second lead during this second stint, before a piece of debris triggered the event's only caution period on lap 57. The field pitted on Lap 59, leading to a direct duel between the top two drivers' pit crews. Palou's stop took 7.3 seconds, while Rosenqvist was stationary for 8.4 seconds, leading to him losing the lead as CGR's
Scott Dixon took third place. After the Lap 61 restart, Palou quickly began gapping the field, while Dixon had to work hard defending from Kirkwood. Palou claimed his maiden victory at Long Beach to also move back into the championship lead, 17 points ahead of fourth-place finisher Kirkwood. ==Points standings==