We are in the middle of IndyCar's mini summer break. After a weekend off, IndyCar has another one, and at a time when many series are also in the middle of a break. Don't worry, we will have plenty of IndyCar in August with five consecutive weekends and six races to end the season. The end of the 2026 is staring us right in the face. It is a good time turn an eye to 2027.
A few pieces are already known, as is always a case, when it comes to next year's calendar. Most of the calendar is still a mystery, but as with much in IndyCar we already know how this will play out.
Nothing happens in IndyCar on a whim... except for the Washington, D.C. race, which may require a greater conversation later, but 99.999% of the time, any addition or change comes after a drawn-out buildup. There is a lot of flirting, track personnel taking trips to other racetracks, publicly canoodling with the series, and then IndyCar and the track announces a date. We all see it and know it is happening before the two sides become public with the relationship. It is safe to say 2027 will not look much different from 2026 whether you like to hear that or not.
There have been rumors. There are always rumors in IndyCar, especially monumental rumors. Every year an event that is completely outside of IndyCar's modus operandi is rumored and they never occur... expect for Washington, D.C., again a massive exception to everything IndyCar ever does. If it is an international race, or an oval race, or a race in a most-populated area of the United States that would spread IndyCar's footprint in its home country and could benefit the series, it probably isn't close to happening. It is easy to throw out it could happen and pull at a thread of a minor conversation seen across the catering tent, but we know IndyCar isn't desperate for races even if we believe it should be.
IndyCar will wait until the right deal comes along, even if it may never come, because it wants to do what is best for the series and not chase short-term gains but look for successful long-term events that will grow the series... or the series will decide an event is worth spending $35 million for one race.
Either way, we know the schedule will basically be identical. How will that look in 2027?
Let's start with the dates we know.
Another one came out last week when it was announced IndyCar and the NASCAR Truck Series will race again at St. Petersburg and the date was announced for the weekend of March 7. It is expected that will be the season opener. We already knew Arlington was announced for a March 21 return. Long Beach will be on April 18. Indianapolis will host the Grand Prix of Indianapolis on May 15 and the Indianapolis 500 on May 30. Detroit remains the week after the Indianapolis 500 on June 6.
That is a third of the schedule set.
With St. Petersburg and Arlington have a week-off in-between, it suggests that is when Phoenix will fall with the NASCAR weekend. That weekend is dependent on NASCAR, but this race weekend fell on the second Sunday in March earlier this year, three weeks after the Daytona 500. The 2027 NASCAR calendar suggests Phoenix will fall on this date with the 2027 Daytona 500 scheduled for February 21 and March 8 being three weeks after.
Easter will be March 28. After three consecutive weeks of racing to open the year, taking the holiday off makes sense, and Barber Motorsports Park can shift back to April 4. We know Long Beach will be April 18.
Then comes a gap that appears to be inevitable. Based on the 2026 schedule, there was nothing between Long Beach and the Grand Prix of Indianapolis. The problem is in 2027 that would mean three weekends without races because May has five Sundays in 2027. We will circle back to this.
We know May and the first Sunday in June. If Gateway Motorsports Park remains as the capper to five consecutive weekends at a racetrack, it would be June 13. That would suggest June 20 would be off. It could line up where IndyCar decides it will give the teams off after Detroit but that means Gateway moves to June 20 and it also means Road America will be June 27. Road America on June 27 feels locked in regardless of when Gateway is run. It does line up for possibly three consecutive race weekends to start summer with Gateway on June 20, Road America on June 27 and Mid-Ohio and July 4.
It would be 11 race weekends in the book by Independence Day weekend.
With no World Cup Final in 2027, at least not one that Fox is broadcasting that could lead into an IndyCar race, does Nashville remain July 18? Would it still be a night race? It is hard to think it should move. I guess it works there.
August has five Sundays in 2027, and I think IndyCar will spread out these races a little better. The weekend after Nashville could be off with Portland on August 1, Markham on August 15, Milwaukee on August 29 and possibly remain a doubleheader, and the season concluding at Laguna Seca on September 5, Labor Day weekend. That is a much better run in for IndyCar than 2026.
You will have noticed the omission of Washington, D.C. Plenty has been said to suggest this year's race will be a one-off though it may stick around. In a Racer article from Marshall Pruett, Penske Corporation president Bud Denker said, "We've put together most of our calendar for 2027 knowing we're going to keep things at 17 races, not 18." That sounds pretty definitive, but then again we didn't think IndyCar would add a race four moths after the initial 2026 schedule was released. Anything is possible. The hurdle is the series is paying for the race at a price of $35 million. Can the series afford to spend $35 million year for one event?
There is a good chance this is what the 2027 calendar will look like, and it is essentially no different from the 2026 calendar. With the movement of Easter and the extra Sunday in May, a three-week gap is created during spring. At that point, IndyCar will at least be five races in rather than having only raced once or twice before an extended gap. There is an opening for another race. That race will not come.
It would be nice if IndyCar recognized the opening and decided to fill the space. There are plenty of places it can go and organize a race for much less than $35 million. But it is not going to be Richmond, Pocono, Watkins Glen, Loudon, Michigan, Chicagoland, Kentucky, Iowa, Homestead, Texas, Circuit of the Americas, Virginia International Raceway, Road Atlanta, Charlotte, Mosport, Montreal or Cleveland just to name a complete alternate reality schedule worth of racetracks.
By the way, if IndyCar knew what was best for itself, it would probably move Nashville into that open space between Long Beach and Indianapolis. May 2 in Nashville would probably do very well compared to mid-July. The weather would be very favorable compared to the middle of summer, and wouldn't another oval race be a good lead-in to the Indianapolis 500? It makes sense to me, but what do I know? July would be open. That time would be more favorable to a northeast trip. Again, what do I know as a resident of that area for my entire life?
Maybe IndyCar surprises us and takes a greater initiative in building its calendar to increase its reach and expanding its footprint. It doesn't feel that will be the case. Look on the bright side, IndyCar is always 18 months away from the next big thing.
