‘It’s Going to be Fantastic’: NASCAR-INDYCAR Weekend Brings Excitement to Phoenix

Bob Pockrass

FOX Motorsports Insider

INDYCAR joins the NASCAR weekend at Phoenix Raceway, and drivers from both series seem to hope to enjoy some of the flavor of the year.

In releasing its 2026 schedule, INDYCAR announced Tuesday that it would race Saturday of the March 6-8 weekend on the 1-mile oval. The INDYCAR race will be the same day as the Xfinity race, with INDYCAR most likely kicking off the doubleheader in midafternoon, early evening on the East Coast, followed by an early evening race for Xfinity (night-time in the East).

It marks the first time since 2023 that the series have raced at the same venue (from 2021-23 they both raced the Indianapolis road course on the same weekend), but the way the garage layout was at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, there wasn’t as much interaction between NASCAR and INDYCAR drivers.

“As a fan, I love it just imagining that you get to see different races of different series at the same time, the same weekend, it’s amazing,” four-time INDYCAR champion Alex Palou said during a taping of the Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour podcast. “I would love if we can be a little more together, not like we had two years ago — we were very separate.

“I just wanted to see the NASCAR cars as well. I wanted to be close to that car. I think it’s going to be a lot better. It’s super fun for drivers and fans.”

INDYCAR first raced at Phoenix Raceway in 1964 but hasn’t raced on the 1-mile Phoenix oval since 2018, prior to the reconfiguration that moved the start-finish line.

“It’s going to be fantastic, and I like that INDYCAR is going back to Phoenix,” said 2023 Cup champion Ryan Blaney. “It’s been a while since they’ve run in Phoenix and I think it will put on a really good show.

“I’m looking forward to that in the spring, and it’ll be fun to watch those guys run at least six seconds faster than us around that place. I’m looking forward to going and standing in [Turns] 1 and 2 as those guys are just hauling butt around there. That will be pretty amazing to see.”

Blaney has a close tie to INDYCAR as all of the Team Penske teams work out of the same North Carolina shop.

“We’re all under the same building, and we all root each other on,” Blaney said. “[INDYCAR driver] Scott McLaughlin was out in Phoenix when I won my championship.

“He just came out and wanted to support, and it was a lot of fun. It just speaks to how much we support each other, so I’m looking forward to that.”

INDYCAR President Doug Boles said that discussions with NASCAR in July created the momentum to get Phoenix on the 2026 schedule. INDYCAR wanted more races in March and April and having an oval prior to the Indianapolis 500 also is a plus. Both the INDYCAR and Cup races being televised by FOX Sports also helped the deal happen.

Firestone will conduct a tire test at the track, and INDYCAR is considering a full-field test prior to the start of the season. INDYCAR testing rules also would allow teams to choose additional test dates at the track.

The Phoenix track has a long history of INDYCAR and sprint-car racing and many former drivers live in the area.

“Phoenix is an INDYCAR community, so the fact that INDYCAR is coming back to Phoenix, I think is also going to help the NASCAR event on that Saturday,” Boles said. “I think you’ll see a lot of INDYCAR fans who will come out and experience a NASCAR weekend because INDYCAR is there.

“Our hope is that we’ll get NASCAR fans to understand why we love NTT INDYCAR Series racing so much.”

Boles said if the event is successful from both an attendance and logistical standpoint, the race could continue beyond 2026.

“We need to see how this how this one goes, not just from an overall attendance standpoint, but certainly from a logistical standpoint,” Boles said. “It’s important for us to go back to Phoenix. It’s a racetrack with a whole bunch of history here. I feel like it’s going to be very successful.

Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.

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