Written by Garin Turner
The 2026 IndyCar Series is well underway as four races have been completed with the next race scheduled for April 19 at 5:30 PM EST. It’s the Grand Prix of Long Beach. Let’s take a look at where things stand so far this year.
2026 Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix: Barber Motorsports Park-March 29
Alex Palou won the Pole and the race. He qualified with a speed of 125.011 mph. This was his first Pole win of the season and his second win on the season. Palou led for 79 of the 90 laps and earned 54 points for the win. Christian Lundgaard finished second (led 10 laps), and Graham Rahal finished third (led one lap). Palou and Rahal drive Honda’s while Lundgaard drives Chevrolet. Palou races for Chip Ganassi Racing. It was Rahal’s first podium since the 2023 Gallagher Grand Prix. He is with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. Lundgaard drives with Arrow McLaren. Lundgaard had the fastest lap time at 1:08.6127 (lap 19).
Java House Grand Prix of Arlington: Streets of Arlington-March 15
Kyle Kirkwood won the race while Marcus Ericsson won the Pole. Ericsson qualified with the fifth best time at 104.158 mph. He finished fourth in the race and lead for 15 laps out of 70. Alex Palou finished second in the race at 01:55:43.3782. He led for 16 laps. Kirkwood led for 16 and received 53 points. Palou got 41 points and Ericsson 34. Kirkwood is the inaugural winner of this event at 01:55:43.0642. Kirkwood’s team is Andretti Global with Curb-Agajanian. Ericsson is also with Andretti Global.
2026 Good Ranchers 250: Phoenix Raceway-March 7
The March 7th race saw David Malukas driving a Chevrolet car, win the Pole while Josef Newgarden also driving Chevrolet, won the race. Malkus won the Pole with a time of 175.383 mph. The track had 250 laps. Malkus led for 73 laps and finished with 39 points. Kirkwood was the runner up, leading for 47 laps and earning 41 points. Newgarden led for eight laps and winning 51 points. Will Power had the fastest lap at 21.8686 on lap 192. Both Newgarden and Malukas are Team Penske. The race had four cautions and 18 different lead changes between nine drivers.
Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg: Streets of St. Petersburg-March 1
The first race in 2026 saw Palou win the race and Scott McLaughlin win the Pole in the Chevrolet car. McLaughlin also finished second in the race. He led for 34 laps and earned 42 points. Palou led for 59 and received 53 points. The race had 100 laps. McLaughlin is with Team Penske. The fastest lap of the race belongs to Kirkwood at 1:02.2131 on lap 68.
(Image Credit : Mitch White)
|
Rank |
Driver |
Points |
Wins |
Poles |
Top 5 |
Top 10 |
|
1 |
Kyle Kirkwood |
156 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
4 |
|
2 |
Alex Palou |
154 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
3 |
|
3 |
Christian Lundgaard |
121 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
|
4 |
David Malukas |
116 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
5 |
Josef Newgarden |
113 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
|
6 |
Pato O’Ward |
106 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
3 |
|
7 |
Marcus Ericsson |
99 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
|
7 |
Scott McLaughlin |
99 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
|
8 |
Marcus Armstrong |
98 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
|
9 |
Scott Dixon |
85 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
|
10 |
Alexander Rossi |
83 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
