2027 IndyCar Schedule: Barcelona Joins and 5 Storylines to Watch
Welcome to the Happy Hour Racing IndyCar Race Preview - the Saturday post about the stories behind the racing. The 2026 season is over, so this week we are looking ahead to the brand new 2027 calendar.
The Short Version
The full 2027 IndyCar schedule dropped on Friday, October 23, and it has the biggest change the series has made in years. IndyCar is going to Spain. The inaugural Grand Prix of Barcelona runs Sunday, July 18 at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, a short drive from where five-time champion Alex Palou was born. The season is 17 races in three countries, it opens March 7 in St. Petersburg, it ends September 5 at Laguna Seca, and every race is on FOX.
1. Barcelona Puts IndyCar Back in Europe
This is the headline, and it is a big one. When the field takes the green flag in Montmelo next July, it will be IndyCar's first race outside North America since Sao Paulo in 2013. It is also American open-wheel racing's first trip to Europe since 2007, when Champ Car raced at Assen in the Netherlands. IndyCar has never raced in Spain at all.
The deal is multi-year, so this is not a one-time stunt. The timing works for both sides. Formula 1 has moved Barcelona onto a rotation and will not race there in 2027, which leaves the circuit with a summer opening. The track is 2.894 miles with long straights and a little bit of everything in the corners, which is exactly why F1 teams have tested there for decades.
IndyCar also built the calendar around the trip. Mid-Ohio runs July 4, Barcelona is two weeks later, and Portland is two weeks after that, so the teams get an off-week on each side to ship cars across the Atlantic and back.
2. Alex Palou Gets a Home Race
Palou was born in Sant Antoni de Vilamajor, just outside Barcelona. He has won the IndyCar title in 2021, 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026, and he won the 2025 Indianapolis 500. He is the first Spaniard to win an American open-wheel national championship and the first to win the 500. Reporting from Autosport says he played a key role in Barcelona's push to land the race.
IndyCar did not hide the angle either. The series welcomed him home in Catalan the day it went official:
Benvingut a casa, @AlexPalou
- NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) October 23, 2026
INDYCAR comes to Barcelona in 2027. pic.twitter.com/azsjSxbMz6
What to watch: Palou will be chasing a sixth title, with teammate Christian Lundgaard now in the No. 9 next to him at Ganassi (here is how Lundgaard landed that seat). A home win in the middle of a title run would be the kind of moment the series is clearly hoping for.
3. Nashville and Washington, D.C. Are Gone
The 2026 season had 18 races. The 2027 IndyCar schedule has 17. Two events dropped off and one, Barcelona, came on. The Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C. on the National Mall was always billed as a one-off for the country's 250th birthday, so its exit is no surprise. The bigger loss is Nashville. The Music City Grand Prix started on the downtown streets in 2021 and later moved to Nashville Superspeedway, and it was popular at both. Motorsport Week points out the likely reason it is out: it held the same mid-July slot that Spain now fills.
4. Five Oval Races, and Some of the Best Shows of 2026
For fans who love ovals, the count is five. Phoenix Raceway runs Saturday, March 13 as round two (we broke down Phoenix by the numbers when its return was announced). The 111th Indianapolis 500 is May 30. World Wide Technology Raceway outside St. Louis is June 13, and IndyCar says the 2026 race there had 17 lead changes and a series track-record 268 passes for position. Then the Milwaukee Mile, which opened in 1903, hosts a doubleheader on August 28 and 29.
The street races keep growing too. Markham in Ontario returns August 15 for its second year. IndyCar says the 2.19-mile layout produced 258 on-track passes in 2026, the most of any street circuit last season. Arlington is back for year two on March 21, which means the season opens with St. Pete, Phoenix and Arlington on three straight weekends.
5. One Last Ride for the DW12
The 2027 season will be the last for the Dallara DW12 chassis and the 2.2-liter V6 engines that arrived with it in 2012. In 2028 IndyCar switches to a new Dallara car and a 2.4-liter V6. That new car is already testing, which we covered in IndyCar's IR-28 hits Sebring.
That makes every 2027 race the end of something. The DW12 has run 15 seasons. Barcelona will be the only time it ever races in Europe, and the Laguna Seca finale on September 5 will be its final start.
The Full 2027 IndyCar Schedule
- March 7 - Streets of St. Petersburg
- March 13 (Sat) - Phoenix Raceway
- March 21 - Streets of Arlington
- April 4 - Barber Motorsports Park
- April 18 - Streets of Long Beach
- May 15 (Sat) - Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course
- May 30 - 111th Indianapolis 500
- June 6 - Streets of Detroit
- June 13 - World Wide Technology Raceway
- June 27 - Road America
- July 4 - Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
- July 18 - Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya
- August 1 - Portland International Raceway
- August 15 - Streets of Markham
- August 28 (Sat) - Milwaukee Mile Race 1
- August 29 - Milwaukee Mile Race 2
- September 5 - WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca
Every race airs on FOX, the third straight season on the network. Mid-Ohio will host its 44th IndyCar race, the longest-running road course event on the calendar, and Road America hosts its 37th. Live dates and standings stay current on our IndyCar schedule and standings page.
The Bottom Line
The 2027 IndyCar schedule is mostly familiar, with one giant exception. For the first time in 14 years the series leaves North America, and it is going straight to the backyard of the driver who has won five of the last six titles. Circle July 18.
Shop IndyCar Gear
Palou won the 109th Indianapolis 500 in 2025. Gear from that race, in stock and ready to ship:
- 109th Indianapolis 500 Car Flag Tee - the official 2025 race tee from Palou's first 500 win.
- 109th Indianapolis 500 Back Home Again Tee - fitting for a guy about to race at home.
- Indianapolis 500 Snake Pit Tee - for the infield crowd.
- Indianapolis 500 Logo Long Sleeve Tee - for those March race mornings in St. Pete.
More IndyCar gear is in the IndyCar collection.
