Changes both real and cosmetic marked the off season as the NTT IndyCar series prepares for the 2026 season opener at St. Petersburg this weekend. Old drivers are in new places, new drivers created new alliances, and a new officiating board kept the old staff intact. Some new regulations just dropped as I began this post. Let’s break it down.

Keep That Scorecard Handy

Of the drivers who switched teams, Will Power in car 26 for Andretti Global is the biggest shock of all. After 18 years with Team Penske, remembering that Power is not in the 12 will take a couple races to sort out.

Meanwhile, David Malukas moves into Power’s old ride. While people will be watching Power, a critical eye will be on Malukas. The new Team Penske driver has yet to win a race, and I’m not sure how long a leash he will have at Team Penske. I think Malukas enters the season in a very warm seat.

Two moves I found puzzling. Rinus VeeKay had a very good season at Dale Coyne in 2025, and I thought something nice was in the making there. But VeeKay informed Coyne late in the season that he was joining Junco Hollinger Racing for 2026. If a driver changes teams, it is ususally to go to a better situation. This move Sees VeeKay staying at the same level.

Dale Coyne finally announced his second driver, and Romain Grosjean returns yto where he began his IndyCar career. Nothing against Romain, but I thought this was a strange hire given some of the other candidates for that car. I hope Romain can serve as a mentor for rookie Dennis Hauge.

A Strong Rookie Class

The Three rookies, Dennis Hauger at Dale Coyne Racing Caio Collet at A. J. Foyt Racing, and Mick Schumacher at Rahal Letterman Racing, bring great credentials to the series. Hauger won the IndyNXT championship last year, and Collet finished second in the junior series. Schumacher is a former F1 driver who shined in F2.

Give Schumacher half a season to

learn how things work, and I think he just might win Rookie of the Year.

A Smaller Grid to Start

The grid for at least the first four races will have just 25 cars, as the team known as Prema is undergoing an ownership change. The new team has tentative plans to debut at Long Beach. It is possible that they enter just one car for the Indianapolis 500 as well.

The Schedule

The 2026 schedule is the best in a long time. I am happy to see the calendar grow to 18 races. I think a 20 race schedule is ideal. St. Pete begins a stretch of four races in five weeks to start the season and six races in five weeks to end the season. There are just two three week breaks, one after Long Beach and one after Nashville.

The new schedule creates a different dynamic to the season, and may make a Palou four in a row championship more challenging.

Four new venues- Phoenix, Arlington, Markham, and Washington, D. C., will add to the challenges for the drivers. While isn’t a new venue, this is the first time IndyCar will race on the new track configuration, added after the series last ran there in 2018.

Predictions

Don’t bet the house on these, but here are my predictions for 2026:

Championship- Alex Palou

Indianapolis 500- Pato O’Ward

Rookie of the Year- Mick Schumacher

First time winners- David Malukas and Marcus Armstrong

Will Power will win at least two races for his new team.

Nine different drivers will win at least one race in 2026.

I will post another article tomorrow discussing the officiating situation and the new tire rules and other procedures tomorrw. Then Iwill head to St. pete on Wednesday.