IndyCar Series dream schedule: What would it look like?

What would constitute the perfect IndyCar Series calendar? In the middle of the three-week Olympics break, it feels as good a time as any to think about it. What we’ve already got is a great base to work from: IndyCar’s fine blend of ovals, natural terrain road courses and street tracks makes it stand out as the ultimate test for open-wheel racers in cars capable of over 800 horsepower. The good news is that the shift to the FOX TV network from NBC means there won’t be Olympics or Tour de France concerns to worry the schedulers.

But FOX’s American football-heavy sports programming means the season will have hard bookends from mid-February to September, which is fine. The 2025 schedule is already set, so let’s look ahead to 2026 for our fantasy schedule. Dream 2026 IndyCar Series schedule 22 February Homestead (oval) - 8 March St Petersburg (street race) 15 March Mexico City 22 March Texas (oval) - 5 April Sonoma 12 April Long Beach (street race) 19 April Laguna Seca - 3 May Barber 10 May Denver (street race) - 24 May Indy 500 (oval) - 7 June Detroit (street race) 14 June St Louis (oval) 21 June Road America - 11/12 July Iowa (oval) 19 July Toronto (street race) 26 July Montreal - 9 August Watkins Glen 16 August Milwaukee (oval) 22 August Cleveland (airport night race) 30 August Nashville (street race) The Super Bowl is in early February, with NASCAR’s Daytona 500 the weekend after, so let’s shift up the season opener to an old IndyCar favorite, Homestead-Miami S.