Bob Pockrass
FOX Motorsports Insider
INDYCAR joins the NASCAR weekend at Phoenix Raceway, and drivers from both series seem to hope to enjoy some of the flavor of the year.
In releasing its 2026 schedule, INDYCAR announced Tuesday that it would race Saturday of the March 6-8 weekend on the 1-mile oval. The INDYCAR race will be the same day as the Xfinity race, with INDYCAR most likely kicking off the doubleheader in midafternoon, early evening on the East Coast, followed by an early evening race for Xfinity (night-time in the East).
[Read more: 2026 INDYCAR Schedule: Phoenix Weekend With NASCAR, Laguna Seca Finale]
It marks the primary time since 2023 that the collection have raced on the identical venue (from 2021-23 they each raced the Indianapolis street course on the identical weekend), however the way in which the storage format was at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, there wasn’t as a lot interplay between NASCAR and INDYCAR drivers.
“As a fan, I like it simply imagining that you just get to see completely different races of various collection on the identical time, the identical weekend, it’s wonderful,” four-time INDYCAR champion Alex Palou stated throughout a taping of the Kevin Harvick’s Blissful Hour podcast. “I’d love if we could be a little extra collectively, not like we had two years in the past — we had been very separate.
“I simply needed to see the NASCAR vehicles as nicely. I needed to be near that automotive. I feel it’s going to be lots higher. It’s tremendous enjoyable for drivers and followers.”
INDYCAR first raced at Phoenix Raceway in 1964 however hasn’t raced on the 1-mile Phoenix oval since 2018, previous to the reconfiguration that moved the start-finish line.
“It’s going to be improbable, and I like that INDYCAR goes again to Phoenix,” stated 2023 Cup champion Ryan Blaney. “It’s been some time since they’ve run in Phoenix and I feel it is going to placed on a extremely good present.
“I’m trying ahead to that within the spring, and it’ll be enjoyable to look at these guys run a minimum of six seconds quicker than us round that place. I’m trying ahead to going and standing in [Turns] 1 and a couple of as these guys are simply hauling butt round there. That will likely be fairly wonderful to see.”
Blaney has a detailed tie to INDYCAR as all the Workforce Penske groups work out of the identical North Carolina store.
“We’re all underneath the identical constructing, and all of us root one another on,” Blaney stated. “[INDYCAR driver] Scott McLaughlin was out in Phoenix once I received my championship.
“He simply got here out and needed to help, and it was a number of enjoyable. It simply speaks to how a lot we help one another, so I’m trying ahead to that.”
INDYCAR President Doug Boles stated that discussions with NASCAR in July created the momentum to get Phoenix on the 2026 schedule. INDYCAR needed extra races in March and April and having an oval previous to the Indianapolis 500 is also a plus. Each the INDYCAR and Cup races being televised by FOX Sports activities additionally helped the deal occur.
Firestone will conduct a tire check on the observe, and INDYCAR is contemplating a full-field check previous to the beginning of the season. INDYCAR testing guidelines additionally would permit groups to decide on extra check dates on the observe.
The Phoenix observe has a protracted historical past of INDYCAR and sprint-car racing and lots of former drivers stay within the space.
“Phoenix is an INDYCAR neighborhood, so the truth that INDYCAR is coming again to Phoenix, I feel can be going to assist the NASCAR occasion on that Saturday,” Boles stated. “I feel you may see a number of INDYCAR followers who will come out and expertise a NASCAR weekend as a result of INDYCAR is there.
“Our hope is that we’ll get NASCAR followers to know why we love NTT INDYCAR Collection racing a lot.”
Boles stated if the occasion is profitable from each an attendance and logistical standpoint, the race might proceed past 2026.
“We have to see how this how this one goes, not simply from an general attendance standpoint, however actually from a logistical standpoint,” Boles stated. “It is essential for us to return to Phoenix. It’s a racetrack with a complete bunch of historical past right here. I really feel like it should be very profitable.
Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports activities. He has spent a long time overlaying motorsports, together with over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting Information, NASCAR Scene journal and The (Daytona Seaside) Information-Journal. Comply with him on Twitter @bobpockrass.
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