INDYCAR’s Grand Prix of Arlington weekend set for Round 2 in March 2027
By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio
INDYCAR’s second annual Java House Grand Prix of Arlington street race has been booked for March 19-21, 2027 in the city’s popular Entertainment District.
The NTT IndyCar Series Java House Grand Prix of Arlington will return to Texas on March 19-21, 2027. Photo Credit: Michael C. Johnson
Renewal of the contract was expected. INDYCAR President J. Douglas Boles confirmed during an interview with racedaySA.com on March 2 that event partners Penske Entertainment Corp., co-owner of sanctioning body INDYCAR and the NTT IndyCar Series along with FOX Sports; the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys and MLB’s Texas Rangers via REV Entertainment were working under “a multi-year deal, typically from three-to-five years.”
Next year’s date was widely reported on television stations in the Dallas-Fort Worth market beginning Monday afternoon.
Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood won the inaugural event on March 15 with a late-race pass for the lead against four-time/reigning NTT IndyCar Series champion Alex Palou of Spain. The 70-lap/191.1-miler was staged on a temporary 2.73-mile/14-turn layout designed by Tony Cotman against the backdrop of AT&T Stadium, home to the Cowboys, and Globe Life Field, home to the Rangers.
Event organizers predicted a three-day total of between 75,000 and 80,000 fans would attend based upon ticket sales spanning all 50 states and 20 countries. However, an exact attendance figure was not announced.
“From the sold-out grandstands to the incredible support from our fans, partners and the Arlington community, the response to the inaugural event was exceptional,” said Bill Miller, GP of A president and a longtime Penske executive. “Building on the momentum from this first year, 2027 will deliver more enhancements and memorable experiences for our guests.”
Inaugural event highlights included:
_ Record merchandise sales for a non-Indianapolis 500 event, albeit without any hard numbers as proof.
_ The largest premium hospitality program fulfilled outside of the Indianapolis 500, with premium experiences and corporate activations across the circuit. Included was a sold-out bank of pit lane suites and two club spaces.
_ A festival-style atmosphere featuring fan zones, live entertainment and interactive experiences that elevated the weekend beyond a traditional race event.
_ Global broadcast exposure showcasing Arlington and the North Texas sports community to millions of viewers worldwide via FOX Sports and its various networks. Race Day TV numbers provided by Nielsen Research confirmed an average of 1,336,000 viewers tuned-in to watch Kirkwood’s winning drive live on FOX. Eyeballs peaked to 1,563,000 from 2 to 2:15 p.m. (EDT).
Recall that FOX Sports purchased 30 percent of Penske Entertainment last summer, and is widely viewed as a prime mover in the plan to take more series races to the streets in a bid to attract a new and younger demographic.
Indeed, the Java House Grand Prix of Arlington went into the record book as “the new standard” for hosting and staging a domestic open-wheel street race.
Dubbed “America’s Street Race” by the FOX Sports broadcast team during its Race Day telecast, the hyperbole began days before Kirkwood’s winning pass. “It’s been an incredible event,” said Kirkwood, Andretti Global’s 27-year-old emerging star. “This event was done right. The track was built properly with the fencing, the walls, the branding. It looked clean, exactly how a premier motorsports race should look like at a street-course.”
INDYCAR previously had competed in North Texas on Texas Motor Speedway’s high-banked/1.5-mile oval in Fort Worth, a run that began under President/General Manager Eddie Gossage during the track’s initial season in 1997. Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden won the series’ PPG 375 at “The Great American Speedway” on April 1, 2023 in what proved to be the 36th and final open-wheel event contracted between the sanctioning body and Speedway Motorsports.
INDYCAR has tweaked its qualifying procedure for pole position for the 110th running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.
NTT INDYCAR Series officials will add an additional round on Sunday during qualifying for the pole position. The Top 12 Round will add another layer of intense competition for the drivers who are attempting to race in this year’s Indianapolis 500. (Photo courtesy of the NTT IndyCar Series)
The update affects PPG Presents Armed Forces Qualifying with Day One scheduled for Saturday, May 16, and Day Two on Sunday, May 17. Both will set the field for “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” on Sunday, May 24 at the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
It begins with Day One of qualifying from 11 a.m.-5:50 p.m. (EDT), which will determine positions 16-33 in the traditional field. The fastest nine cars from Day One also will be locked into the Top 12 qualifying session on Day Two earning the opportunity to advance to the Firestone Fast Six and a spot to compete for the NTT P1 Award and start from pole position on Race Day.
Cars ranked 10-15 on Day One will advance to the Final 15 round on Day Two and will have the opportunity to compete for the three spots remaining to fill the Top 12 round. Starting in reverse order of qualifying speeds based on Day One (15, 14, 13, 12, 11 and 10), each of the six cars will have one attempt to post a traditional four-lap/10-mile qualifying time/speed starting at 4 p.m. The fastest three will advance to the Top 12 qualifying round.
At approximately 5 p.m., Top 12 Qualifying will begin with the three advancing cars from Final 15 _ slowest to fastest _ followed by the cars, from ninth to first, that advanced to the round based on speeds from Day One. Like in previous years, the fastest six will advance to the Firestone Fast Six to determine positions one through six and compete for the NTT P1 Award. Those finishing seventh through 12th will fill out starting positions seven through 12 according to their time and speed.
In the Firestone Fast Six at approximately 6:35 p.m., each entrant will again be given one attempt and will qualify in reverse order based on their Top 12 qualifying results. The fastest driver earns pole position and the accompanying $100,000 prize, while the remaining five drivers complete the first two rows of the starting grid.
“Next to Race Day, Indianapolis 500 qualifying weekend is a can’t-miss moment on the NTT IndyCar Series and Indianapolis Motor Speedway calendar,” INDYCAR and Indianapolis Motor Speedway President J. Douglas Boles said. “As the past few seasons have proven, INDYCAR has an incredibly deep and world-class field filled with current and rising stars. This expanded format, which includes all rounds on FOX, will shine a massive spotlight on the remarkable skill it takes to start toward the front of our sport’s biggest event.
“Winning pole position for the 500 carries with it one of the most prestigious honors in all of motorsports, and we know our fans _ whether spending the day with us at the track or watching on FOX _ will look forward to celebrating this year’s pole-winner.”
Series championship points will be awarded for those who advance to the Top 12 qualifying session. The Indy 500 pole-winner will receive 12 points, the second-fastest will receive 11 and points awarded will decrease by one-point increments down to the 12th-fastest (one point).
PPG Presents Armed Forces Qualifying Schedule (All times EDT, subject to change):
Saturday, May 16
8:30-9:30 a.m. Pre-Qualifying Practice: FS2, INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls
11 a.m.-5:50 p.m. NTT IndyCar Seres Qualifying (Determining positions 16-33): 11 a.m.-2 p.m. on FS2, 2-4 p.m. on FS1, 4-6 p.m. on FOX; INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls
Sunday, May 17
1-2 p.m. Final 15 Practice (Positions 10-15 from Day One): FS2, INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls
2-3 p.m. Top 12 Practice (Positions 1-9 from Day One): FS2, INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls
4 p.m. Indianapolis 500 Final 15 Qualifying (Positions 13-15 determined, fastest three advance to Top 12): FOX, INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls
Fans will be able to salute the advancing teams during a cool-down period, which will include laps behind the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1X Pace Car. Traveling at 100 mph, the laps will allow air to flow through the air ducts to help cool the engines before the dramatic next round.
5 p.m.* Top 12 Qualifying (Positions 7-12 determined, fastest six advance to Firestone Fast Six): FOX, INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls
Fans will be able to salute the advancing teams during a cool-down period, which will include laps behind the Chevrolet Corvette ZR1X Pace Car. Traveling at 100 mph, the laps will allow air to flow through the air ducts to help cool the engines before the dramatic next round.
6:35 p.m.* Firestone Fast Six: FOX, INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls
7 p.m.* NTT P1 Award Presentation: FOX, INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls
*Times are approximate
A practice session for the Indianapolis 500 field is scheduled for 1-3 p.m. Monday, May 18, with live coverage on FS1.
Live coverage of the 110th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. Sunday, May 24 on FOX, FOX Deportes and FOX One, with audio coverage available on INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls on SiriusXM Channel 218 and the INDYCAR App powered by NTT DATA.
INDYCAR and INDYCAR Officiating have announced an operating practice and process update following a review of the on-track incident involving the No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet driven by Alexander Rossi during the Saturday, May 9, Sonsio Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course.
INDYCAR and INDYCAR Officiating have announced that an operating practice and process update following the review of the on-track incident involving car No. 20 during the Saturday, May 9 race on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. (Photo courtesy of the NTT IndyCar Series)
On Lap 21, car No. 20 lost power and stopped on the front straightaway on drivers’ right of the track _ off the racing line. Course marshals followed standard flagging protocol and deployed a standing yellow condition at Marshal Panel 14, with a corresponding waving yellow condition at Marshal Panel S/F (start-finish) to alert competitors to the stationary car. The escalation to a full-course yellow (FCY) was made on Lap 22 as the driver began to exit the race car.
Following race control practice, the assessment of whether and when to escalate a local yellow to a FCY included the weighing of the following standard factors: driver egress, vehicle position, recovery vehicle access, safety team locations, laps remaining and the timing of approaching traffic to the incident. Additional factors on timing of a FCY also included pit windows and the running order of cars on track.
Effective immediately, INDYCAR Officiating will no longer take into consideration pit windows and the running order of cars on track before deploying a FCY. While there is no change to local yellow procedures, initiation of a FCY will be based primarily on: driver status, vehicle position and condition, the location and readiness of safety personnel, recovery access and the speed differential between affected cars and approaching traffic.
“The Lap 21 incident on Saturday made clear that there needs to be a cleaner standard for how race control moves from a local to a full-course yellow,” said INDYCAR Officiating’s Independent Officiating Board Chair Raj Nair. “INDYCAR Officiating, with INDYCAR’s full support, has made this change of approach to ensure that the only inputs to the full-course yellow escalation are safety ones. Streamlining the assessment will also save time as competitive considerations are no longer a factor.”
INDYCAR President J. Douglas Boles added, “The most important job in race control is to ensure the safety of our drivers, crews, safety workers and fans. Saturday highlighted that we must not waver from that central mission and aligning everyone on that philosophy was critical to discuss over the last 48 hours. The Independent Officiating Board, the new managing director of officiating, race director and INDYCAR are all in agreement and the metrics used to determine when to initiate a full-course yellow will now ensure that when there is any risk to driver safety that race control will initiate a full-course yellow.”
Denmark native Christian Lundgaard’s victory in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet on the 2.439-mile/14-turn IMS Road-Course stands as posted. The updated flag escalation standard has been communicated to teams and drivers.
NTT IndyCar Series Point Standings _ 1, Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing, 237; 2, Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global, 210; 3, David Malukas, Team Penske, 185; 4, Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren, 182; 5, Josef Newgarden, Team Penske, 162; 6, Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing, 148; 7, Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren, 148; 8, Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 141; 9, Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske, 141; 10, Marcus Armstrong, Meyer Shank Racing, 123;
11, Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank Racing, 116; 12, Marcus Ericsson, Andretti Global, 112; 13, Alexander Rossi, Ed Carpenter Racing, 110; 14, Will Power, Andretti Global, 107; 15, Dennis Hauger, Dale Coyne Racing, 100; 16, Rinus VeeKay, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 94; 17, Kyffin Simpson, Chip Ganassi Racing, 93; 18, Santino Ferrucci, A.J. Foyt Racing, 90; 19, Louis Foster, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 86; 20, Nolan Siegel, Arrow McLaren, 76;
21, Caio Collet, A.J. Foyt Racing, 70; 22, Romain Grosjean, Dale Coyne Racing, 69; 23, Christian Rasmussen, Ed Carpenter Racing, 65; 24, Sting Ray Robb, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 55; 25, Mick Schumacher, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 54.
FOX SPORTS’ 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES BROADCAST SCHEDULE/(RACE WINNER)
Note _ All times Eastern
Sunday, March 1 _ Streets of St. Petersburg, Fla., (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)
Saturday, March 7 _ Phoenix Raceway, Avondale, Ariz., (Josef Newgarden, Team Penske)
Sunday, March 15 _ Streets of Arlington, Texas, (Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global)
Sunday, March 29 _ Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Ala., (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)
Sunday, April 19 _ Streets of Long Beach, Calif., (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)
Saturday, May 9 _ Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course, (Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren)
Sunday, May 24 _ 110th Indianapolis 500, Indianapolis Motor Speedway Oval, 10 a.m.
Sunday, May 31 _ Streets of Detroit, 12:30 p.m.
Sunday, June 7 _ World Wide Technology Raceway, Madison, Ill., 9 p.m.
Sunday, June 21 _ Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis., 2 p.m.
Sunday, July 5 _ Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio, 12:30 p.m.
Sunday, July 19 _ Nashville Superspeedway, Lebanon, Tenn., TBA
Sunday, Aug. 9 _ Portland (Ore.) International Raceway, 4 p.m.
Sunday, Aug. 16 _ Streets of Markham, Canada, Noon
Sunday, Aug. 23 _ Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C., TBA
Saturday, Aug. 29 _ The Milwaukee Mile Race 1, West Allis, Wis., 2:30 p.m.
Sunday, Aug. 30 _ The Milwaukee Mile Race 2, West Allis, Wis., 1 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 6 _ WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, Calif., 2:30 p.m.
Note _ Dates and times subject to change.
2026 INDYCAR NXT BY FIRESTONE SCHEDULE/(RACE-WINNER)
Sunday, March 1 _ Streets of St. Petersburg, Fla., (Nikita Johnson, Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR)
Sunday, March 15 _ Streets of Arlington, Texas, (Max Taylor, Andretti Global)
Saturday, March 28 _ Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Ala., (Nikita Johnson, Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR)
Sunday, March 29 _ Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Ala., (Alessandro de Tullio, A.J. Foyt Racing)
Friday, May 8 _ Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course Race 1 (Enzo Fittipaldi, HMD Motorsports)
Saturday, May 9 _ Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course Race 2 (Tymek Kucharczyk, HMD Motorsports)
Sunday, May 31 _ Streets of Detroit
Sunday, June 7 _ World Wide Technology Raceway, Madison, Ill.
Saturday, June 20 _ Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis., Race 1
Sunday, June 21 _ Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis., Race 2
Saturday, July 4 _ Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio, Race 1
Sunday, July 5 _ Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio, Race 2
Sunday, July 19 _ Nashville Superspeedway, Lebanon, Tenn.
Sunday, Aug. 9 _ Portland (Ore.) International Raceway
Sunday, Aug. 30 _ The Milwaukee Mile, West Allis, Wis.
Saturday, Sept. 5 _ Weather Tech Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, Calif., Race 1
Sunday, Sept. 6 _ Weather Tech Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, Calif., Race 2
