Review IndyCar Series 2026 (PDF)

Thirty-one seasons at the heart of IndyCar history

The modern history of IndyCar begins in 1996, against the backdrop of the split between the Indy Racing League and CART. For more than a decade, two championships coexisted and each built its own history, before American open-wheel racing was reunited in 2008. Since then, the IndyCar Series has stood as the leading single-seater championship in the United States, with the Indianapolis 500 as its defining event.

Review IndyCar Series 2026 covers this history across thirty-one seasons, from 1996 to 2026, while documenting the 2026 season in detail. The book therefore places the results of every race within a historical continuity that brings together the different eras of IRL, CART, Champ Car and IndyCar.

This history is one of drivers and teams who have become fundamental figures in American open-wheel racing. A.J. Foyt, Mario Andretti, Al Unser, Rick Mears, Bobby Rahal, Emerson Fittipaldi, Jacques Villeneuve, Juan Pablo Montoya, Dario Franchitti, Scott Dixon and Josef Newgarden have all left their mark on different generations of the championship. The results also make it possible to follow the evolution of the teams, manufacturers and circuits that have shaped this history.

The 2026 season adds another major chapter to this timeline. Alex Palou, driving the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, secured his fifth IndyCar championship, following his titles in 2021, 2023, 2024 and 2025. He became only the third driver in championship history to reach five titles, after A.J. Foyt and Scott Dixon. He is also only the second driver to win four consecutive championships, following Sébastien Bourdais’ four-title run in Champ Car from 2004 to 2007.

Palou had already built a substantial lead before the double-header at Milwaukee. His 2026 campaign included six wins and eight pole positions at the point when he secured the championship. Chip Ganassi Racing therefore claimed its eighteenth IndyCar championship, further strengthening its position among the most successful teams in the history of the discipline.

The 2026 season also brought several changes to the IndyCar calendar, including the return of Phoenix Raceway and the addition of new street-course events in Arlington and Markham. The championship features a combination of road courses, street circuits and ovals, preserving the variety that has always been one of IndyCar’s defining characteristics.

Beyond Palou’s championship, 2026 produced new rivalries and new protagonists. Pato O’Ward, for example, made history at Milwaukee by winning both races of the double-header, becoming the first driver since Rick Mears in 1981 to win two IndyCar races on the same day.

The book brings together the essential information from every meeting: practice sessions, qualifying, races, results, drivers, teams, circuits and statistics. The 2026 season is documented session by session, while the results from 1996 to 2025 place every race, driver and performance within more than three decades of American open-wheel racing.

Review IndyCar Series 2026 is not a journalistic account of the season. It is an archive designed to be consulted, compared and preserved: a book through which readers can rediscover the results of IndyCar and its different historical eras, while preserving the record of a season that saw Alex Palou enter the exclusive circle of five-time champions.

Thirty-one seasons. Hundreds of races and results. More than three decades of American open-wheel racing. An archive of IndyCar, from 1996 to Alex Palou’s fifth championship.