Penske Entertainment adds $11 million to IndyCar Leaders Circle

Penske Entertainment set aside $31.9 million in 2025 for structured payouts to IndyCar Series team owners in possession of Leaders Circle contracts, and has added $11 million to the total for 2026.

Through the Leaders Circle program, which is exclusively available to IndyCar’s 25 charter entries, the top 22 finishers in the annual entrants’ championship are awarded contracts that provide guaranteed prize money in exchange for competing at every race.

Valued at $1.145 million apiece last season, the 25 chartered entries will vie for 22 contracts during the next three seasons that are worth $1.645 million – a half-million more to each recipient – which marks an all-time high since the Leaders Circle initiative was launched in 2002.

“Roger [Penske] made a pretty big commitment to the charter teams and the Leaders Circle by increasing the Leaders Circle by $11 million in ’26, ’27, and 28 from where it was in ’25,” said IndyCar President Doug Boles. "That was just Roger doing the right thing to help IndyCar teams, his partner teams, be more successful and have a little bit more cash to move forward."

The increase comes at a time when IndyCar teams are preparing for the added costs associated with a chassis changeover in 2028, when the brand-new Dallara IR28 is set to replace the long-serving DW12. Pricing has not been set for the IR28, but teams that have spoken with RACER say they’re budgeting upwards of $1 million per car.