Chris Owens/IMS Photo
IndyCar unveils 2025 schedule; Thermal Club becomes points round
Following a new trend set by IMSA, which announced its 2025 racing calendar in March, the NTT IndyCar Series has revealed next year’s schedule at the earliest point in memory. It features 17 races with no additions or deletions to 2024’s venues, and includes the return of The Thermal Club, but as a standard points-paying event.
The shortened 182-day championship carves one week out of the current calendar, which starts one week earlier on March 2 at St. Petersburg and ends two weeks sooner on Saturday, August 31, at Nashville Speedway.
The earlier-than-usual finish is a result of its new TV partnership with FOX, which airs the 17th and final IndyCar race at Nashville and moves directly into its coverage of the NFL season the following weekend.
Where the 2024 IndyCar schedule has been a punishing affair for IndyCar teams, with the series forced to pack its calendar on either side of a three-week television break while NBC airs the Olympics, the move to FOX has given IndyCar the opportunity to restore a more friendly balance to its championship.
The run from March through June has greater spacing — possibly too much prior to the May 4 Barber Motorsports Park race — and sees some changes as World Wide Technology Raceway moves forward to June 15 and Road America returns to its third-week-after-Indy position on June 22.
Road America’s move has bumped WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca to its third different calendar spot in three years at it falls to back July 27th. IndyCar has culled the second Milwaukee race on this year’s schedule to make way for the elevation of The Thermal Club to host its first professional motor race, and with the tally, the 17 races are broken down with four street events, seven road courses, and six ovals, with Iowa Speedway hosting the only doubleheader of the year.
As in 2024 after the loss of Texas Motor Speedway, the first oval of the 2025 season will take place at the Indianapolis 500.
Click here for the full schedule.
Marshall Pruett
The 2026 season marks Marshall Pruett's 40th year working in the sport. In his role today for RACER, Pruett covers open-wheel and sports car racing as a writer, reporter, photographer, and filmmaker. In his previous career, he served as a mechanic, engineer, and team manager in a variety of series, including IndyCar, IMSA, and World Challenge.
Read Marshall Pruett's articles
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