The Hater's Guide to the 2026 IndyCar Series

Today’s theme music: “Speechless” by Nullset

After six long months, the IndyCar Series is finally ready for its grand return. This season brings a couple new faces, some familiar ones in different rides, and the biggest schedule shakeup we’ve had in years, but the goal remains the same. From here to Labor Day weekend, a collection of some of the world’s most fearless athletes will play an intricate game of chess on wheels where winning can make you immortal and losing can cost you everything. The first green flag will fly sooner than you think, so before it does, let’s meet our cast of characters for 2026 and size up their situations and expectations going into the new season.

HONDA

This year, Honda is rolling up with a new logo and all the power in their hands. The LA wings took practically everything there was to win, including the Manufacturers’ Cup, and with the help of their five teams, they’re hungry to do it all again this year.

Chip Ganassi Racing

Chip Ganassi Racing are always front-runners in this sport, and right now, they’re the undisputed cream of the crop. Last year was titanic even by their standards, as at least one Ganassi driver made the podium in all but three races. Given that, it’s no surprise that they’re rolling out the same lineup once again.

Obviously, we have to start this discussion with reigning National Champion and Indianapolis 500 winner Álex Palou. Over the course of 2025, King Kong racked up six pole positions, eight wins, five additional podiums, and 711 championship points. That’s the kind of stat line you’d normally only get by playing career mode in Project CARS 2 with the sliders down. Naturally, Palou enters as the presumptive favorite to win what would be a fifth National Championship in six years, and to become the first driver since Sébastien Bourdais to win four straight.

However, one of the biggest threats to that championship is his own teammate, the newly-knighted Sir Scott Dixon. The ageless Iceman finished 3rd last year, had the best pit crew in the business, and was one of only two drivers to complete all 17 races. Until proven otherwise, Dixon is a guaranteed contender, and if given an inch, he’ll take a mile every time.

Even Kyffin Simpson, the weak link of the team by default, is coming off a year that showed tremendous promise. Island Boy’s powers on street tracks grew exponentially as 2025 progressed, culminating in his first ever podium at Toronto, and he even threatened for an oval bronze at the season finale. Even on bad days, his willingness to play the team game and run late interference makes Simpson a valuable asset, and if he keeps improving, we could have a true power trio on our hands.

Andretti Global

For the entire first half of 2025, Andretti were the only team capable of stopping Álex Palou on race day. Even in the less successful back half, they were crucial partners in Honda’s Manufacturers’ Cup campaign, and all signs point to another strong season this year.

With Colton Herta off to Cadillac in F1, Kyle Kirkwood looks poised to take over the top spot at this team. The front half of 2025 certainly made a case for it, as he scored his second Long Beach victory in three years, then added wins in Detroit and Gateway for good measure. Even after cooling down in the back half, Kirkwood still finished 4th in the title fight, making it easily his best year so far.

However, if Kirkwood wants top billing, he’s going to have to go through one of this sport’s all-time greats. Will Power, the only driver not named Álex Palou to win a National Championship in the last five years, spent exactly one day as IndyCar’s hottest free agent before taking Herta’s place in the #26. Even in his old team’s worst season in decades, the Aussie still managed a pole at Gateway, a win at Portland, and the third-best overall season among Chevrolet drivers last year. If Power can whip this car’s infamously shaky pit crew into shape, there’s no telling what he might achieve.

But every three-headed King Ghidorah has its incompetent Kevin, and in Andretti’s case, it’s Marcus Ericsson. The Sneaky Swede’s near-win at the last Indianapolis 500 turned out to be a fraud, as both he and Kirkwood failed post-race tech inspection and got kicked to the bottom of the box score, and Ericsson didn’t do much else of note before or after that race. If he doesn’t get his act together fast, the ex-F1 driver will soon find himself looking for work at a smaller team.

Finally, there’s the 500-only fourth driver. After back-to-back crashes in his last couple attempts, Marco Andretti finally accepted that it’s not his year and retired from racing, leaving the #98 open. As of this writing, that driver is unconfirmed, but whoever they get is practically guaranteed to be an upgrade.

Meyer Shank Racing

Year one of Meyer Shank Racing’s alliance with Chip Ganassi, trading spots on their IMSA team for valuable technical insights, proved a fruitful one. Both of their full-time drivers made the podium and finished in the top eight overall here in IndyCar, and the Ganassi loanees brought the IMSA side podiums at Daytona and Sebring. Now, MSR hope to go from kings of the open-wheel midfield to winners in their own right, and they believe they’ve got the men for the job.

Felix Rosenqvist is still seeking his second win in this series, but he’s closer than ever before. A runner-up at Road America gave him the tiebreaker over Colton Herta for 6th place on the season, not to mention the team’s first points-paying podium since 2022. If he keeps that up and continues running killer liveries, his fan-favorite status will remain unchanged.

Not far behind, we find Marcus Armstrong, whose first year away from Ganassi proved to be his best yet. The Kiwi finished 8th in the season standings and took a podium in what may turn out to be IndyCar’s final race at Iowa Speedway. The big question now is whether the #66 crew will evolve their strategies or keep going “Waiter! Waiter! More overcuts, please!” every single week. While that approach certainly helped him lead laps, the plans are going to have to become more sophisticated if Armstrong wants to properly contend for a win.

Of course, we can’t forget co-owner Hélio Castroneves, who will once again return exclusively for the 500 in a bid to climb the fence for a record fifth time. Given that he finished 10th last time out, he should at least have an outside shot at victory.

Dale Coyne Racing

This time last year, Dale Coyne Racing was at the undisputed back of the pack. An extremely productive one-year fling with Rinus VeeKay shook that status, as he put them second in Toronto. In order to sustain this new momentum, and hopefully fix the team’s trash-tier oval setups, the Coynemaster will turn to a new pair of drivers and a new technical alliance with Andretti.

In a shockingly early move, especially from this team, DCR locked down their first signing in September by bringing Indy NXT champion Dennis Hauger up to the big time. The former Red Bull prospect was an absolute monster in his lone year on Indy’s junior ladder, taking six wins and seven pole positions, and while it’s highly unlikely he can replicate that straight out of the gate, he’ll still be an intriguing addition to the team. Just being here makes him Norway’s most accomplished open-wheel driver in decades, and he’ll be hungry to ensure that’s not the only thing we remember him for.

However, the team’s trademark hiring lethargy hit hard afterward, and after months of making everyone wait, the team finally unveiled Romain Grosjean, who returns to active IndyCar duty after a year of reserve work at Prema and an IMSA endurance campaign with Lamborghini. The Swiss-Frenchman debuted in IndyCar with this team in 2021 and scored three podiums while there, so he’ll be hoping for a happy reunion.

Rahal Letterman Lanigan

Outside of a few bright spots, most of which arrived on permanent road courses, Rahal Letterman Lanigan were non-factors last year. However, what they did get out of it at least provides solid signs of their direction, and with the hires they’ve made in the offseason, they could make a significant rebound.

For the time being, Louis Foster is RLL’s future. The young Brit won Rookie of the Year honors and took pole at Road America, which is certainly no mean feat and likely contributed to his earning a contract extension. The big goal for his sophomore season will be to convert his Saturday pace into results on race day. If he can’t at least make the top ten at some point, perceptions of him will turn for the worse.

After two years apiece in F1 and WEC, Mick Schumacher will join the team, and he presents an immediate upgrade over Devlin DeFrancesco, who was so bad last year that RLL were able to kick the Canadian without losing his arranged budget for 2026. Schumacher is coming off his best season since reaching the big leagues, with consecutive podiums for Alpine at the Imola and Spa six-hour races, and should contend well for Rookie of the Year, but the big question is how well he’ll adapt to both the ovals and a completely unfamiliar set of road and street circuits.

Right beside them, we have family scion Graham Rahal, who Foster has yet to truly surpass on race day. Complainer though he is, Rahal did get the most Sunday shine last year, leading most of the Indianapolis Grand Prix, finishing 4th at Portland, and joining Scott Dixon as the only other driver to finish every single race. Outside of that style of road course where RLL thrives, Rahal will mostly be relevant as a measuring stick for the other two.

Finally, in the fourth car, the great Takuma Sato will once again return in May in search of his third victory at the Indianapolis 500. Last year showed he absolutely still has the magic, posting his best ever Brickyard qualifying with a P2 and leading the most laps of anyone, and he’ll be a very popular competitor as always.

CHEVROLET

Whatever marque they enter with, no single engine manufacturer has ever achieved more in this sport than General Motors. But last year, the Chevrolet teams had an incredibly rough go of it. By the time any of the Detroit bowties’ drivers took their first win, the season was already approaching its end. Still, they did get more teams to the top than their rivals, and after taking the offseason to figure out what in God’s name happened, they’re hoping that their slate can come back stronger and bring the Manufacturers’ Cup back home.

Arrow McLaren

McLaren entered 2025 as the consensus fourth-best team on the grid, but they’ve muddied that water to their benefit. With Penske in a funk, the Papaya Arrows eagerly stepped up to become Chevy’s top team, and that’s a status they have no intention of giving up this year.

Like Andretti, McLaren have a bit of a King Ghidorah dynamic in their lineup. The Ichi of the trio is the ever-popular Pato O’Ward, who scored two wins and several more podiums on the way to the vice-championship. His talent and star power have only continued to grow hand-in-hand, and he stands as a perennial threat for the Astor Cup, the Borg-Warner, and every other trophy on offer. 

They’ve also found a significant upgrade at the Ni position. Christian Lundgaard entered the team guns blazing last year, scoring six podiums and threatening for wins all season long, and though his lack of oval results keep him from challenging Pato for top gun status, the Dane seems primed for at least one victory this year.

Lagging far behind the other two, we find the Kevin of the group, Nolan Siegel. While he was good for a couple of top-tens last year, his first full season took him nowhere near the heights he’s proved capable of in junior series and sports cars. Oval races were particularly unkind to him, as he finished one, crashed in three, and missed another entirely thanks to a concussion the day before. With his contract up at the end of the season, it’s going to take more than family money and Tony Kanaan’s faith to stay in this car for 2027.

After two years of NASCAR’s Kyle Larson attempting the Memorial Day Double, we’ll see a more conventional outing in the Indy-only fourth McLaren from Ryan Hunter-Reay. Captain America was a major threat to win his second 500 last year, leading 48 laps before his car broke down, and he’ll come in hungry to join the final fight for victory that he was denied last year.

Team Penske

Their motto is “Penske Perfect,” but this team’s 2025 was anything but. With a long string of bad luck, clouds of scandal at the 500, and an upheaval at key positions up top, Team Penske came dangerously close to their first winless season since 1999 and created a power vacuum that everybody and their grandma ran to exploit. However, they’re still far from backmarkers. All of their drivers took multiple podiums and a pole over the course of the year, and with two wins in the last three races, plus an opener coming at their favorite street track, their momentum is building towards a full return to form.

Will Power may be off the team, but the men formerly known as the Bus Bros are still here and hungry to make noise. Josef Newgarden had a 2025 so snakebitten it beggars belief, but he put a lot of that behind him with a season-ending hometown win in Nashville, and he’s got the chance to establish a Brickyard dynasty by winning his third Indy 500 in four years. Meanwhile, three-time V8 Supercars champion Scott McLaughlin is hunting a return to winning ways, which should be doable considering his down year still involved a slew of podiums and the first pole of the season.

Where it gets interesting, though, is the new face in the #12. After a preseason injury two years ago kept him from driving for McLaren, David Malukas will finally get his shot at driving top-tier equipment. Given who he’s replacing, expectations will be high, but knowing what Lil Dave has already proved he can do, this should be the perfect place to help correct his flaws. His boat will be the most dependent on Penske’s overall tide, but if the team can get their act together and he can up his racecraft, he’ll be a major threat to win, especially on short and intermediate ovals.

Ed Carpenter Racing

After spending 2024 as the most anonymous team on the grid, Ed Carpenter Racing have made themselves very hard to ignore. The surge of investment and sponsors that came in with the charter system paid off big-time at the Milwaukee Mile, where ECR won their first race in four years and reminded everyone why IndyCar has its “any given Sunday” reputation.

Naturally, the star attraction here is Christian Rasmussen, the winner of that Milwaukee race. His checkers-or-wreckers approach on ovals has paid massive dividends so far, especially with his ability to run unconventional lines and overcome setbacks. With our first oval coming up second on the schedule this year, expect the young Dane to grab the spotlight early and often.

As for the races where we turn right, expect Alexander Rossi to shine brighter there. His performances early last year were the first sign that ECR was headed somewhere, and if his team can get a better grip on strategy, he could plausibly strike anywhere on the schedule.

Finally, at the 500, the team’s namesake Ed Carpenter will hop in a third car with an inglorious bit of history on the line. If he loses again, he’ll hold the record for most Indy 500 starts without a win. Then again, he does have a history of taking pole position at the Brickyard, so there’s no telling if this might finally be his year in the sun.

A.J. Foyt Racing

Few benefitted more from last year’s Penske power vacuum than their tech partners at A.J. Foyt Racing. A few years ago, this team couldn’t even keep all their cars funded for the whole season, and now they’re coming off a three-podium 2025 that included a runner-up at the Indy 500. That’s momentum that they would love to sustain as their pair of flag-flying coyotes hunt for Foyt’s first win in over a decade.

Returning in A.J.’s #14 car, we have “I’m Keeping My Eye On” Santino Ferrucci. It seemed like before every single race last year, especially on ovals, somebody in the Fox booth or on pit row would name Ferrucci as their dark horse pick, and with podiums at Detroit and Road America, he did deliver his most accomplished season yet. The question now is if he can finally grab a win—something he hasn’t done on asphalt at any level since the Obama administration—before his habit of constantly squandering pre-race hype gives Ferrucci the same permanent stench as Marco Andretti.

For his fourth teammate in as many years, Ferrucci will pair with rookie Caio Collet in the #4. The Brazilian has been impressive in his two years of Indy NXT, taking Rookie of the Year honors in 2024, the vice-championship last year, and a combined four wins with 11 additional podiums. He even comes with a bit of championship-level seasoning from Formula E, having driven for Nissan at the 2024 Portland ePrix. That should take some nerves off and make the transition to the top flight that much easier.

Juncos Hollinger Racing

As the only full-time team without a podium or a pole last year, Juncos Hollinger Racing enter 2025 as the lowliest group on the grid, but they’re far from hopeless. They did squeeze in a top-five finish at the last race of the season, and they avoided the bad press and soured relations that haunted them all through 2024’s Agustín Canapino saga.

In the #76, it’s out with Conor Daly and in with Rinus VeeKay, who tried to leave Dale Coyne for a better spot and ended up right back in the kind of situation he entered at the start of last year. If he can lift his team out of the mud again, he’ll keep his stock high, especially with a couple strong oval runs, but if not, his quest for better equipment may hit a dead end.

Joining him in the #77, we have everyone’s favorite backmarker, Sting Ray Robb. Last year, he posted the team’s best finish outside the ovals with a P9 at Long Beach, and now that he’s finally getting a second year with the same team at this level, we may see him continue to grow. Even if he doesn’t, his role as the grid’s avatar of chaos should at least keep things interesting.

Prema Racing

The upstarts at Prema were up against it all year in their maiden IndyCar voyage, with no charters, no Leader’s Circle eligibility, and often no sponsors on the cars. A shock pole at the Indianapolis 500 and steady improvements in racing form as the season progressed gave their fans reason to hope, but financially speaking, the damage was too severe, and now it’s unclear which race they’ll start their season at. Hopefully, though, it’s as soon as possible.

If they do make it to the grid, they’ll be led by Callum Ilott, who roused into fighting form late last year by reaching the top 10 in four of the last five races. He’s also running a full season in the GTD class of the IMSA SportsCar Championship, so if Prema can make it to Long Beach, his double duty will be one of the big storylines of that weekend.

Meanwhile, Robert Shwartzman comes in with hopes of translating his miracle pole run from the Brickyard into as full a season of speed as possible. His place in Indy lore may be secure, but with no escape valve gig lined up, it’s imperative that he makes the most of however many opportunities he gets here.

Dreyer & Reinbold Racing

Finally, we turn to Dreyer & Reinbold, who’ve raced exclusively at Indianapolis since 2013. They’re hoping quality will beat quantity, and they have a legitimate foundation for that belief considering how many laps their drivers led in last year’s 500.

Returning this year is “Hollywood” Jack Harvey, who’ll once again trade in his pit lane reporting duties for the month and get behind the wheel. The Brit led three laps and finished seven spots above where he started last time out, and he should be good for another respectable midfield drive this year. The question is if his as-yet-unconfirmed teammate will take things higher.

THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN

For those of us who enjoy chaos, the worst thing about charters by far was how it clamped down on midseason driver swaps. Officially, up to three drivers can split one car over the course of a year, but in practice, every full-time car stuck with the same driver week in and week out for all of 2025. That means the pickings will be extremely slim for those hoping to pounce on an injury or catastrophically bad drive the way they could before the charter system entered the picture.

The most obvious name on the list is 2024 Rookie of the Year Linus Lundqvist, who still hasn’t had a sophomore season since Ganassi downsized from five cars to three. Lundqvist currently holds a reserve role at McLaren, but absence has made fans’ hearts grow fonder, so the second anyone looks like they might be out of their usual seat, expect the Swede’s name to pop up in a hurry.

Not far behind is Katherine Legge, who took a part-time NASCAR schedule when she couldn’t get a 500 ride last year. She’s openly angling for shots at Indy and Phoenix this year, and between her lucrative sponsorships and inside track at Honda, money should be no object as long as there’s a chassis available.

If Prema miss the 500, they’re completely toast, and Ilott and Shwartzman will immediately hit this market as candidates. The former has a history of playing well as a mercenary, while the latter can point to his 500 pole as a resumé booster if an oval opportunity opens up. 

Finally, there’s the outbound Colton Herta. He’s spending his year mopping up those last lousy super license points as he prepares to take a seat in Cadillac’s F1 team, but his choice of series leaves May conspicuously free, he’d be an automatic upgrade in the fourth Andretti car over the newly-retired Marco Andretti, and it would be nice to see him say a proper goodbye at the 500.

PREDICTIONS

Let’s get the obvious out of the way. Álex Palou has won four of the past five National Championships, he clicks even more with the car now that it’s a hybrid, he’s on the strongest team in the league, his crew is stacked with studs at every possible position, and he ended the oval slander by winning the most famous and difficult one of all. I have learned from last year’s mistakes. I will assume Palou is the likeliest driver to win the championship and/or 500 every single year until something fundamentally changes about his situation. If he only takes one, I’d wager it’ll be the former.

As for who his challengers will be, that heavily depends on the state of Team Penske. If their late resurgence last year presages a return to form this year, their drivers will go a long way to splitting the spoils and making this a close fight. Add in Dixon, Power, Kirkwood, O’Ward, and Lundgaard, and you’ve got a wide spread of potential title contenders. As for those who won’t be in that picture, but have a solid chance of a race win, I’ll say Rasmussen, both of the Meyer Shank drivers, and maybe VeeKay if the car for it is there.

The Rookie of the Year race should liven up compared to what it was last year, with each contestant holding some type of advantage over the others. Mick Schumacher brings far more big league experience than the other two, Caio Collet should have the strongest setups on ovals thanks to his landing at Foyt, and Dennis Hauger is fresh off besting Collet over the course of the Indy NXT season. Personally, I suspect the oval races will be the biggest decider in this fight, which is why I’m picking Collet to exploit his equipment and win out.

Finally, let’s consider the big chaos factor hanging over the field. This year’s schedule adds at least two brand-new street circuits (the third is so slapdash it might get cancelled) and an oval we haven’t visited since before the cars had aeroscreens. It also makes some changes to existing stops on the calendar, with the most drastic one being that Nashville is now a 400-mile night race. That means a significant chunk of the schedule will be wide open for surprises to happen, and who benefits could go a long way towards shaping the championship fight.

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Future Flames: St. Pete party starter

As of this guide’s release date, we are six days away from the grand opening to the season, the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. With the NASCAR Truck Series’ first ever street race on the undercard, the series should be able to pack the stands all weekend long.

Álex Palou will put on the first of his six local crown defenses at this race, but he’s far from the only one to watch. Scott Dixon has come agonizingly close to conquering this circuit year after year, including a strategic masterclass last year to score his fifth runner-up, but he’s never put together the win, and that’s something he’ll want to change. The debutantes of the field will all come in hungry to prove themselves. And for Team Penske, it’ll be a crucial chance to start hot at a track they historically dominate. Whoever ultimately prevails, expect the whole field to come out swinging.