IndyCar ‘close to adding’ major event for 2026, says CEO Mark Miles

• ‘Irons in the fire’ for up to three additional races in 2026
• No timeline for return of series’ shelved Nashville race down Broadway
• International expansion remains of interest as organisers visit South American circuit

IndyCar chief executive Mark Miles has revealed that the series is “close to adding” a new major event for the 2026 season.

The series had explored the option of a new city centre race for next season, but negotiations did not come to fruition in time for it to be added to the calendar. Working towards 2026, though, has allowed the finer details to be ironed out.

“We’re close to adding [a key market] for 2026,” Miles told BlackBook Motorsport. “And we’ve got irons in the fire with at least one more – potentially two – in that same timeframe.”

He added: “We need to have our schedule evolve to include more up-and-coming, dynamic cities. If you have the right partners and the right promoters, it’ll be one of our tentpole events.

“We won’t bestow a specific status in that regard, but it’s more about the market and the urbanisation and growth of the series through that sort of addition to the calendar.”

One city centre event that had been planned for the 2024 season was a new configuration of the Nashville event, initially planned to take the cars down the famous Broadway. However, this shifted to the Nashville Superspeedway due to ongoing construction work around the new stadium for the National Football League’s (NFL) Tennessee Titans.

Miles confirmed there is no timeline for a return to the original proposal, as Nashville is still working on plans around “not just the new Titans stadium, but an area around where [IndyCar] raced initially”. Miles added that a return to the initial temporary circuit in Nashville is an option if Broadway proves unfeasible.

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International expansion, however, appears some way off. Plans to race in Argentina have been shelved for the time being, and Miles emphasised that IndyCar will remain a North American series. But racing further afield continues to be a point of interest.

“The idea of creating something new that would be more of an international series in the months available to us after the IndyCar championship is decided continues to be something that we think about and work on,” he noted.

As the series usually finishes at the end of August, there are four months that organisers can play with – but IndyCar is only interested in expanding if it can guarantee a package of races.

Miles explained: “We continue to have conversations with places that are interested. We had our track guy visiting a South American opportunity last week, but we’ll see.

“It’s hard enough to find one great event where you know you have a base of IndyCar fans and there’s brand recognition and there’s some recognition of our drivers. To find three or four of them and introduce them at the same time? It’s a long putt but we’re working on it.”