INDYCAR Season Hits 18-Year TV Audience High

The 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season combined close competition with rising audience interest: all 10 full-time teams led laps, eight drivers won races, and 16 drivers earned podium finishes. Felix Rosenqvist won a record-close Indianapolis 500, which sold out for a second consecutive year and featured 70 lead changes. Alex Palou captured his fourth straight championship and fifth in six seasons, while overall television viewership rose 23% year over year. New street races in Washington, D.C., Arlington, Texas, and Markham, Ontario, added to the season’s momentum; the Washington race drew 3.28 million viewers, the largest audience for a race outside the Indy 500 since 1995.