Zak Brown asks Roger Penske-led IndyCar for major 'shake-up' in racing calendar

McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown has urged IndyCar to boost its growth by bringing major changes to its racing calendar. The premier American open-wheel racing series owned by billionaire Roger Penske is struggling to swiftly add new race locations to its calendar.

Earlier this week, IndyCar announced that it failed to secure a Mexico race on its 2026 calendar after months of promising build-up. Moreover, it still hasn't covered all bases in the US. In September last year, Zak Brown had penned a letter via McLaren's website, an excerpt of which urged IndyCar to bring back races in Denver and New York's Watkins Glen to bring the series to the East Coast.

In a similar letter this year, the 53-year-old has doubled down on his ask for a more "impactful" racing calendar. He also acknowledged IndyCar's addition of a new race in Arlington, Texas, to the 2026 calendar.

"We need to shake up our racing calendar to be more impactful," Zak Brown wrote. "How can we bring the blockbuster energy of the Indy 500 to the rest of the schedule? What can we learn from other series? The new race in Arlington, Texas, is going to be awesome. But we still have a gap by not having a race in the Northeast, and we need to shift away from some of the smaller markets and trend toward bigger markets where we can turn the whole race weekend into truly unmissable events."

Brown also acknowledged IndyCar's concern about having a short season that ends in August to avoid clashing with the NFL, which is a bigger phenomenon in America.

"I fully get the concern over not going up against the NFL – so perhaps we should look at pulling the calendar forward a bit to avoid a short season with currently too much downtime from September to March."

Zak Brown's Arrow McLaren squad had its best-ever season in IndyCar in 2025. The team's new driver, Christian Lundgaard, lifted experienced driver Pato O'Ward's game, and the duo accounted for 12 podiums combined, including two wins for O'Ward, who finished runner-up to Alex Palou in the championship. Moreover, O'Ward's victory in Toronto was the first time Brown witnessed Arrow McLaren win a race in person.

The team's third driver, rookie Nolan Siegel, had a challenging time finding his groove in the No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevy. Nonetheless, the team will continue with its current driver line-up in 2026.

Zak Brown gives FOX its flowers after an impressive start to IndyCar partnership in 2025

Zak Brown with Pato O'Ward at the NTT INDYCAR Series Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto - Source: Getty

Zak Brown shared a message of respect for FOX for an impressive first season as IndyCar's broadcast partner. The premier American open-wheel racing series witnessed a 27% year-on-year growth in viewership. Moreover, the 109th Indy 500, the biggest race of the year, averaged 7.05 million viewers, the most since 2008.

Brown acknowledged FOX's tremendous efforts and CEO Eric Shank's vision for IndyCar.

"This season, FOX delivered a 27% increase in viewers, averaging almost 1.4 million across the series and - most importantly - attracting a younger audience and more women, making it the fastest growing sport," the McLaren boss wrote.

"It also brought viewers closer to the action with better graphics and camera angles and by using drones in the broadcast, and their Super Bowl campaign was genuinely game-changing. I’m sure we will continue to see FOX raise the bar as we go into next year and beyond."

In July, FOX bought a 33% stake in IndyCar from Roger Penske to deepen its involvement and display its commitment to helping the racing series grow.