A Look at Numbers That Defined 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES Season

Numbers can help tell a story, and in the case of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES they serve as a reflection of the success experienced in the 2026 season.

From competitive on-track action to increased television viewership, the series had one of its best seasons on record.

Here are five numbers that had a significant impact on that success.

10

Begin with what occurred on the track. It was as thrilling as it was competitive, and every team had a shining moment.

All 10 full-time teams led laps, and each made at least one appearance in a Firestone Fast Six qualifying round staged on road and street races. Nine teams earned a podium finish.

Eight drivers won races, the most since 2022. Eight also celebrated NTT P1 Awards as top qualifiers for races.

Sixteen drivers earned a top-three finish, tied for the highest total since 2015.

The 25 full-time starters represented 14 nations.

.0233

That was Felix Rosenqvist’s record-setting margin of victory in the 110th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge. The separation between Rosenqvist and Team Penske’s David Malukas (photo, above) broke the 1992 mark of .043 of a second (Al Unser Jr. holding back Scott Goodyear).

This “500” featured a sellout for the second consecutive year, and it featured a race-record 70 lead changes, the third-highest total in INDYCAR SERIES history.

Fourteen of the 33 drivers led the race, a total that ranks third all-time. Rosenqvist led 25 laps. Only Palou (59), Scott Dixon (32) and Malukas (30) led more laps.

A record total purse of $30,906,400 was distributed.

5

That’s how many poles Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou won in a stretch of races during a seven-week stretch between the Sonsio Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course and the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America, and it included the NTT P1 Award for being the fastest qualifier for the “500.”

Now, the five poles didn’t earn Palou (photo, above) an award, but it was the run that effectively put his championship challengers on severe notice. In that stretch, Palou gained 43 points on second place, the fuel he needed to win a fourth consecutive series title and fifth overall. Palou ended the year with eight poles and six race wins, leading both categories. At one point he led the standings by 133 points en route to an 86-point final margin.

At 29, Palou became the sport’s youngest five-time series champion.

18

Few could have predicted Team Penske’s total number of INDYCAR SERIES championships – 17 – would ever be broken, but it was this year.

Palou delivered Chip Ganassi Racing its record-setting 18th series title (photo, above), and remarkably all have come since 1996 when Jimmy Vasser scored the organization’s first. Team Penske has won eight in that span.

Palou now has five championships – all with CGR. He stands one behind Dixon’s career total, and Dixon also earned them all as a Ganassi driver.

Dario Franchitti won three season titles with CGR, Alex Zanardi two. Vasser and Juan Pablo Montoya added one championship each to Ganassi’s total.

1.68 million

The NTT INDYCAR SERIES reached its largest television audience in nearly two decades, averaging 1.68 million viewers on FOX (photo, above) across the 18 races.

Viewership increased more than 23 percent over the 2025 season and more than 57 percent against 2024. The two years formed one of the most impressive growth curves in sports.

Nine races averaged at least 1 million viewers, the most since the 2008 season. The Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C. averaged 3.28 million viewers, the most for a series race other than the “500” since 1995.

The XPEL Grand Prix at Road America averaged 1.8 million viewers, which at the time was the highest non-Indy 500 race since 2011.

All 18 races, plus four additional events, aired live on network television.