A racing series, a football team, and a baseball team walk into a bar… and they order a, street race? Penske Entertainment announced today that IndyCar, in partnership with the Dallas Cowboys and Texas Rangers, will bring a new street race on the streets of Arlington, Texas come March 2026. The Grand Prix of Arlington will run on a 2.73-mile track that weaves through the city’s sports and entertainment district.
Oddly enough, IndyCar did not release more information in its announcement, instead pointing to a “celebration ceremony” taking place Tuesday at a venue near AT&T Stadium and Globe Life Field. Per the press release, the “ceremony will unveil additional details about the proposed event, including a video that showcases the full track layout.” So that makes today’s surprise announcement a teaser to the big surprise, I suppose.
It’s worth highlighting the timing of this proposed race as I’m curious if it’ll be set to run before or after the traditional season-opener in St. Petersburg, Florida. Or maybe it’ll replace the Thermal fiasco? IndyCar has long been criticized for having a lengthy gap of over one month between its first and second races of the season, which it tried to fix this year by heading to Thermal for a non-points race with a podium celebration fitting for a local karting track.
It’s likely that the Arlington race could finally give the series a proper start to the season with two full-on, points-paying races in March, and bring back the dearly beloved street action that the Downtown Nashville race blessed us with for two years in a row. And not to mention, birth the IndyCar equivalent to the Miami Formula 1 GP.
It looks like we’ll have to wait until tomorrow for some answers to these questions.
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