Alex Palou might have run away with his record-tying fourth consecutive championship and fifth title in a six-year span by an 86-point margin, but do not let the overall standings fool you. The 2026 NTT IndyCar SERIES campaign was an absolute war. Seven separate races were decided by a margin of victory of less than a second, eight winners did not lead the most laps, and the action from start to finish across the 18-race schedule was simply wild.
Take the Good Ranchers 250 at Phoenix, for instance. Team Penske standout Josef Newgarden charged from 11th on the grid to hunt down and pass race leader Kyle Kirkwood with just seven laps remaining, winning by 1.7937 seconds. Newgarden led only eight of the 250 laps, benefiting from fresh rubber on his final stop. The race at the 1-mile desert oval featured an insane 565 on-track passes, though it ended in chaos when a fierce battle between Andretti Global's Will Power and Ed Carpenter Racing's Christian Rasmussen ended in contact that cut Power's tire and triggered a late caution.
Then came the new street circuits, starting with Arlington. Five drivers led the 70-lap main event, with Kirkwood pulling off a daring pass on Palou in Turn 13 near the end of Lap 55. Kirkwood built a 5.5-second lead before a late caution set up a one-lap shootout that he mastered for his first of two wins on the year. The Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham also debuted with a bang. Dale Coyne Racing's Romain Grosjean led 28 laps and looked poised for victory before Ericsson—fresh off confirming his return to Andretti Global for a fourth season just 10 days prior—charged back from seventh following a tyre stop to pass Grosjean with five laps to go, taking his first win in 63 races by 7.5305 seconds.
Of course, nothing could touch the 110th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge. Felix Rosenqvist of Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb Agajanian delivered an all-time classic, capturing the win in the closest 1-2 finish in event history by a scant .0233 of a second over Team Penske's David Malukas. Rosenqvist had to survive a chaotic final lap that included a frantic side-by-side duel with teammate Marcus Armstrong before sling-shotting past Malukas into the draft as the checkered flags waved. The race featured an event-record 70 lead changes across 200 laps, with Armstrong ultimately dropping to fifth behind Scott McLaughlin and Pato O'Ward in a breathtaking three-wide finish separated by just .4360 of a second.
Even road courses delivered stunning comebacks. At the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America, Arrow McLaren's Christian Lundgaard took opening-lap contact that dropped him plumb to last place in the 25-car field. Using a masterclass of strategy, speed, and fortune, Lundgaard clawed his way all the way to the front to lead the final four laps and secure his third career series victory. Armstrong had looked set to take his maiden win, leading by nearly three seconds with five laps to go, before a cruel mechanical failure struck his machine in Turn 5 on Lap 53, robbing him of glory and proving just how unforgiving and competitive this incredible machine of a season truly was.
