March has been an exciting month of the NTT IndyCar Series. After two thrilling races in St. Pete and Phoenix, it’s time for the first ever Java House Grand Prix of Arlington. The new addition to the schedule is just one out of three brand new tracks that are part of the 2026 IndyCar Season. This year’s event brings IndyCar racing back to Texas for the first time since 2023..
IndyCar has previously raced at the infamous Texas Motor Speedway and the Circuit of The Americas (COTA). They’ve also hosted events in Houston with a street circuit that was a part of the calendar for only two years.
The Track
The Java House Grand Prix of Arlington is a 70-lap street circuit complete with 14 turns and a 0.9-mile straightaway. In Addition, Arlington’s race will celebrate the city by racing through some of its iconic landmarks. While racing, the track will take drivers, and viewers, past the AT&T Stadium, home to the Dallas Cowboys, as well as the Globe Life Field, home of the Texas Rangers.
The 2.73-mile track will include a split pitlane and a horseshoe near AT&T Stadium. The horseshoe is seen as a potentially prime spot for overtaking. The heavy-breaking zone is one of many areas drivers can utilise to their advantage.
Christian Rasmussen, driver of the No. 21 for Ed Carpenter Racing told The Girls Who – Motorsport that he’s excited to get going here in Arlington.
“First of all, I think we have an amazing venue out there, racing right in between the Rangers and Cowboys stadium. From the pictures I’ve seen out there, it seems like it’s going to be really, really, cool. It’s really hard to know what to expect before you’ve actually hit the track, like we were talking about earlier, without really having 100% scans of what the track’s going to feel like with bumps and so on. I think we have an exciting weekend ahead, for sure.”
What To Expect
Arlington promises to bring tons of action against a stunning backdrop. So far, there’s only been one street race on the calendar – the season opener in St. Pete. Álex Palou took home the win and will be looking to bounce back after a crash last week at Phoenix Raceway ended his race early.
Other contenders for the win include Kyle Kirkwood and Pato O’Ward, who have both had strong individual success on street circuits in the recent past. Kirkwood won two of the four street circuits last year. O’Ward won the last street circuit of the 2025 season in Toronto.
Ahead of the weekend, The Girls Who – Motorsport asked Alexander Rossi, driver of the No.20 for Ed Carpenter Racing, if he thinks there are any changes he feels he needs to make ahead of the race. He acknowledged that “street circuits are certainly a focus of the organisation” whilst sharing that what happened in St. Pete was an “isolated incident“. He has no concerns going to the second street race, and is hoping to “close the gap”.
Changes Made to the Weekend
On Monday, a major change was announced to the qualifying format this weekend. “The Firestone Fast Six will go single-car in Arlington”, read a captioned post made to IndyCar’s official Instagram. During the Firestone Fast Six, drivers will run single-car, single-lap qualifying. The knockout format of segment 1 and segment 2 will not be changed for qualifying.
Schedule
The schedule for this weekend is as follows. All times are in CET.
It’s a new track, which drivers will adapt first? Can Josef Newgarden extend his championship lead, or will we get a third winner of the series?