INDYCAR and NASCAR are holding a joint weekend at Phoenix Raceway, marking a major U.S. motorsports event.
Alex Palou, the three-time defending INDYCAR champion, is the driver to beat after winning the 2026 season opener.
The INDYCAR race at Phoenix is its first at the track since 2018, creating a quick turnaround for teams.
Drivers like Marcus Ericsson acknowledge the need to improve to challenge Palou's dominance.
Palou notes fan sentiment has shifted from rooting against him to more support, despite his success.
📖 Full Retelling
Phoenix Raceway (Avondale, Ariz.) — The venue is kind of new but it’s the same old INDYCAR question heading into the second race of the season. How are teams going to beat Alex Palou? "We need to improve and be better — but I think the whole field needs to try and do that for sure," said Marcus Ericsson, who finished sixth in the season opener last Sunday at St. Petersburg. The INDYCAR teams made a quick turnaround and race Saturday at Phoenix Raceway, a 1-mile oval that last played host to an INDYCAR race in 2018. Why the rush? To join NASCAR in what is a mega weekend of U.S. motorsports in the desert at a track where both NASCAR and INDYCAR have rich histories. Here’s what to know going into the event, including comments from drivers from their chats today with me and other reporters, the day before practice and qualifying Friday for the 250-lap Good Ranchers 250 on Saturday (3 p.m. ET, FOX) followed by NASCAR's Straight Talk Wireless 500 on Sunday (3:30 p.m. ET, FS1). Are fans and drivers rooting against four-time INDYCAR champion Alex Palou? Palou has won the title the last three years, including in 2025 when he won eight races, and now is 1-for-1 in 2026 after his St. Pete win. "I can feel it when there's driver intros, and there's some people that just come at me and be like, ‘Can you stop winning?’ But I feel like we're past that," Palou told me and other reporters. "There's people that used to say that, they now are cheering for us. So it's good." [PHOENIX WEEKEND: INDYCAR as Support Series Makes Sense] Palou isn’t concerned about people outwardly rooting him to lose "Last year was magical and this year, that was great [at St. Pete]," Palou said. "But it's not that we have an edge on everybody. We have an amazing team, and we execute very well. "But it's not like we go out and it's like, ‘Oh yeah, look, it's easy.’" He’s not considering himself a favorite this weekend at Phoenix. "It's going to be a struggle for the 10 car [of me]," Palou said. "We didn't ha
Phoenix Raceway is a 1.000 mi (1.609 km) dogleg oval track in Avondale, Arizona. The track has held a variety of events since its opening in 1964, including NASCAR, IndyCar, and CART races. It has a seating capacity of 42,000 as of 2019.
Marcus Thorbjörn Ericsson (born 2 September 1990) is a Swedish racing driver, who competes in the IndyCar Series for Andretti. Ericsson competed in Formula One from 2014 to 2018. In American open-wheel racing, Ericsson won the Indianapolis 500 in 2022 with Chip Ganassi Racing.
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top-ranked motorsports organizations in the world and is one of the largest spectator sports league...
Álex Palou Montalbo (Catalan pronunciation: [ˈaləks ˈpalɔw monˈtalbu]; born 1 April 1997) is a Spanish racing driver who drives for Chip Ganassi Racing in the IndyCar Series, where he won the 2021, 2023, 2024, and 2025 championships and the 2025 Indianapolis 500. He is the first Spanish racing drive...
Auto racing sanctioning body for North American open wheel racing
IndyCar, LLC (stylized as INDYCAR), is an auto racing sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The organization sanctions two racing series: the premier IndyCar Series with the Indianapolis 500 as its centerpiece, and the developmental series Indy N...
- No Data Available - BROWSE BY SPORTS & TEAMS PLAYERS SHOWS PERSONALITIES TOPICS Built on NTT INDYCAR SERIES NTT INDYCAR SERIES Everything To Know About Phoenix Weekend: INDYCAR, NASCAR Take Center Stage Updated Mar. 5, 2026 6:22 p.m. ET share facebook x reddit link Bob Pockrass FOX Motorsports Insider Phoenix Raceway (Avondale, Ariz.) — The venue is kind of new but it’s the same old INDYCAR question heading into the second race of the season. How are teams going to beat Alex Palou ? "We need to improve and be better — but I think the whole field needs to try and do that for sure," said Marcus Ericsson , who finished sixth in the season opener last Sunday at St. Petersburg. The INDYCAR teams made a quick turnaround and race Saturday at Phoenix Raceway, a 1-mile oval that last played host to an INDYCAR race in 2018. Why the rush? To join NASCAR in what is a mega weekend of U.S. motorsports in the desert at a track where both NASCAR and INDYCAR have rich histories. Here’s what to know going into the event, including comments from drivers from their chats today with me and other reporters, the day before practice and qualifying Friday for the 250-lap Good Ranchers 250 on Saturday ( 3 p.m. ET, FOX ) followed by NASCAR's Straight Talk Wireless 500 on Sunday ( 3:30 p.m. ET, FS1 ). Are fans and drivers rooting against four-time INDYCAR champion Alex Palou? Palou has won the title the last three years, including in 2025 when he won eight races, and now is 1-for-1 in 2026 after his St. Pete win. "I can feel it when there's driver intros, and there's some people that just come at me and be like, ‘Can you stop winning?’ But I feel like we're past that," Palou told me and other reporters. "There's people that used to say that, they now are cheering for us. So it's good." Three-time reigning INDYCAR champion Alex Palou continues to have a target on his back. [PHOENIX WEEKEND: INDYCAR as Support Series Makes Sense ] Palou isn’t concerned about people outwardly rooting him to los...
