Now, looking back at the 2026 NTT IndyCar SERIES season, the experts have plenty of jaw-dropping moments to sift through. Curt Cavin points straight to Kyle Kirkwood's stunning late move on Alex Palou during the Java House Grand Prix of Arlington. Locking horns for the lead, Kirkwood decided to dive down the inside of Palou approaching Turn 14 where nobody expected a gap to exist. The move left the FOX broadcast booth stunned, with Townsend Bell dubbing it a Hail Mary near the stadium and James Hinchcliffe questioning if Kirkwood surprised himself with the late braking. While Felix Rosenqvist took the pass of the season at the Brickyard, Cavin slots Kirkwood's Arlington maneuver in at number two for the year.
That said, Eric Smith looked at the bigger picture and found his shock in the championship order. Seeing Will Power and Scott Dixon both go winless and miss out on the top 10 in the standings is hard to fathom. Power was embarking on his first year with Andretti Global after 17 seasons with Team Penske, snapping a streak of top-10 championship finishes dating back to 2009 while his teammates grabbed three wins between them. Dixon saw his incredible run of 21 consecutive seasons with at least one victory come to a halt, alongside a 20-year streak of finishing inside the top six in the standings as he landed 12th. With eight combined titles between them, watching these two struggle outside the top 10 was wild.
Arni Sribhen went straight to the historic finish of the Indianapolis 500, echoing Jack Buck's famous disbelief. Felix Rosenqvist pulled alongside Meyer Shank Racing teammate Marcus Armstrong over the Yard of Bricks, spending the lap on the outside before finally clearing him through Turn 4. From there, Rosenqvist's machine looked like it hit a video game boost button, hunting down race leader David Malukas and sweeping past him right before the checkered flag. The margin was a scant .0233 of a second in a finish that will be talked about for years.
Finally, Paul Kelly weighed up the Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C. against Scott Dixon's move from Chip Ganassi Racing to Arrow McLaren, ultimately choosing the capital's wild new event. When rumors surfaced in early January about racing around the National Mall and the U.S. Capitol with less than a year to prepare, the idea seemed impossible. Yet, announced on January 30 and built in under seven months by Bud Denker, Penske Entertainment, and the local D.C. team, the logistical mountain was climbed successfully. Pulling off an event of that magnitude in such a short window leaves Kelly joking that maybe he has a shot at making the NHL after all.
