It's Anyone's Guess Who Will Prevail in Exciting Arlington Debut

Seventeen months since its announcement, the Java House Grand Prix of Arlington is set for its debut.

Seldom does the NTT INDYCAR SERIES welcome a new event with this much anticipation, and the excitement for this one appears justified. The track is interesting both in design and décor, and it looks fast and flowing. Cars will zoom around AT&T Stadium, home to the NFL’s prestigious Dallas Cowboys, and drivers will give a fast wave to Globe Life Field, where the Texas Rangers, World Series champions in 2023, play. Plus, the Cowboys and Rangers are all-in with support.

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There is much to like about this 14-turn circuit (above). It has a split pit lane to give the fans a great viewing experience, and at 2.73 miles in distance it is the longest street course – and second-longest of any kind – used by the series this season. Only Road America (4.014 miles) is longer. For the final round of qualifying, each of the Firestone Fast Six participants will go one at a time, building the drama for the NTT P1 Award winner.

Coincidentally, the other two new street races on this year’s schedule also are generating an incredibly high level of anticipation. The Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham will be INDYCAR’s first Toronto-area race not held at Exhibition Place (Sunday, Aug. 16), and the next week the series will help celebrate America’s 250th birthday with the Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington D.C. The latter race, on Sunday, Aug. 23, will feature cars at speed on historic Pennsylvania Avenue and pass in front of the U.S. Capitol.

There isn’t enough data to forecast the winner of this weekend’s race, but recent street course history suggests a Honda driver will be in the mix. Honda-powered cars have won 14 of the past 16 street events. The only Chevrolet victories in that stretch were won by Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward (St. Petersburg in 2024 and Toronto in 2025).

O’Ward is one of four drivers to have finished in the top 10 of both races so far this season. The others are Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin, and Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood. Street circuits have been Andretti Global’s forte in recent years, with Kirkwood winning four races, including the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach and the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear last year.

Sunday will mark the 100th career start for Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Rinus VeeKay. He finished ninth in the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.

Getting a Head Start

Kirkwood (photo, top) took matters in his hands to learn the 2.73-mile Arlington street circuit.

The driver of the No. 27 JM Bullion/Gold.com Honda said he stopped in Arlington on his way home from last month’s Unser INDYCAR Open Test at Phoenix Raceway to get an up-close look at the track.

“We don’t have a lot of (computer) simulation for it because we don’t have an actual scan model,” Kirkwood said. “I went and looked at the track myself and got a little ahead of the field by seeing it in person.”

Kirkwood has five career NTT INDYCAR SERIES race victories, four on street circuits. His first such win came in the 2023 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, and he also won on the Streets of Nashville that season. Kirkwood returned to victory lane in 2025 at Long Beach and later that year won the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear.

“All street courses play into our favor,” he said. “We’re always looking forward to more street courses on the calendar.”

Newgarden Leads the Way

Newgarden (photo, above) arrives in Texas as the series points leader thanks to last weekend’s victory in the Good Ranchers 250 at Phoenix Raceway. It’s unfamiliar recent territory for the two-time series champion (2017, 2019).

Newgarden’s last street-course victory – at Long Beach on April 10, 2022 – coincides with the last time he was atop the point standings. That was 1,432 days ago.

The driver of the No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet now has 33 career series victories, and he will be eyeing his first back-to-back race win since 2023 when he swept the Iowa Speedway doubleheader.

Team Penske also will chase its first street circuit victory since Newgarden won in Long Beach in 2022. McLaughlin enters the weekend third in the standings, 12 points out of the lead in the No. 3 DEX Team Penske Chevrolet.

Palou Still Lurking

Four-time series champion Alex Palou crashed out of last weekend’s race at Phoenix, leaving him fifth in the standings after two races. There should be no reason for concern. It’s early, and the driver of the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda only trails Newgarden by 19 points by virtue of winning the St. Petersburg race, but this situation is still worth noting.

This is the deepest Palou has been in the standings since April 2023. He was fifth in points after the race at Texas Motor Speedway, 22 points off the leader’s pace. He has been first, second or third after every race since then.

And here’s a quirky fact: Only seven drivers since that 2023 race have been ahead of Palou in the point standings. They are: O’Ward, Marcus Ericsson, Scott Dixon, Newgarden, Will Power and now Kirkwood and McLaughlin, the latter two jumping him in Phoenix.

Race 3 of Season

The opening three races of the season certainly have been frenetic. Teams have criss-crossed the country, traveling from Florida to Arizona to Texas.

With the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park still to come Sunday, March 29, this will be the first time the series has had four races in March.

The heavy early schedule is part of a season-long narrative. This calendar has 18 races, the most for the series since 2014. Eight of the past nine seasons, including the past five, have had exactly 17 races.

The Weekend Schedule

It’s back to a three-day show this weekend for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES.

The first practice is at 4 p.m. ET Friday with live coverage on FS2. Saturday’s action opens with the weekend’s second practice at 9:30 a.m. on FS1. Qualifying for the NTT P1 Award is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. on FS2.

Race Day begins with the warmup at 10 a.m. (FS1) followed by the inaugural Arlington race at 12:30 p.m. (FOX, FOX Deportes, FOX One, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls).