For the first time in the history of the division, NASCAR Trucks will compete on a street course. When NASCAR unveiled the schedule for all three national divisions on Wednesday, the new included hidden gem among the expected changes. IndyCar and NASCAR have partnered like this before, but never at St. Pete.
As both races will be broadcast by FOX Sports, a deal came together to bring the NASCAR Truck Series to St. Petersburg in 2026. The event will partner with IndyCar for the series’ opening weekend of 2026 with the Trucks racing on Saturday, February 28th. IndyCar will race the following day on Sunday, March 1st, opening its season on the streets of St. Pete for the 16th consecutive year.
Colton Herta, Andretti Global
Photo by: Penske Entertainment
“What a great new racing addition to the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg to include the NASCAR trucks into Saturday’s show next year,” said Kim Green, co-owner, chairman and CEO of Green Savoree Racing Promotions, organizers of the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. “Saturday will be packed for our fans with entertainment. We have INDYCAR qualifying and now an historic first with the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race. And, as usual, it all culminates on Sunday with the NTT INDYCAR SERIES season-opening event on the downtown streets of St. Petersburg.”
On that same weekend, the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series will be racing at the Circuit of the Americas in Texas.
More collaborations in the future?
Answering a question from Motorsport.com NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Venue & Racing Innovations Officer, Ben Kennedy, discussed the potential for working more closely with IndyCar in the future.
“Yeah, potentially,” Kennedy told Motorsport.com. “We’re going to collaborate with them on the St. Pete race next year, and the good news is we have such a good relationship with Doug, with Bud, with Roger, the entire team over at IndyCar, and there are a lot of synergies as well, with them having FOX as a broadcast partner, we have FOX for the first part of our season. There are a lot of natural opportunities for us to work closer together, in particular on some of those races in the season.
“Something that we’ll continue to explore with them. I think St. Pete next year will be a good kind of case study for us. We’ve had examples of it, of racing at Indianapolis in the past, and even though we didn’t have as big of a presence there, IndyCar going to Iowa for a number of years, they came and raced at Richmond for a handful of years as well.
“Really important for us to continue to have the relationship. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were more opportunities for us to work closer together with them.”
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