Honda locked up the 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES manufacturers’ championship in Milwaukee on August 30, with two races still on the calendar. It is the company’s 12th American Open Wheel manufacturers’ title and its eighth in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES specifically — and it arrives exactly 30 years after Honda’s first American open-wheel crowns.
The season’s defining story was street circuits. Honda swept all six of them, claimed 15 of 18 possible podium positions on that surface, and led more than 90% of street circuit laps. That kind of dominance does not happen by accident or by one driver carrying the load. Alex Palou won at St. Petersburg, Long Beach, and Detroit. Kyle Kirkwood took Arlington and the Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C. Marcus Ericsson added the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham. All five Honda-powered teams led laps and finished on the podium on street circuits at some point during the year. That is a depth of performance that manufacturers’ championships are built on.
Away from the streets, Honda was competitive across all four circuit types IndyCar runs. Palou won at Barber on a road course and at Nashville on a short oval. Felix Rosenqvist delivered the marquee result: victory at the 110th running of the Indianapolis 500, described as the closest finish in the race’s 110-year history. Honda has now won the Indianapolis 500 17 times.
Across the full season to date, Honda has scored 10 wins, five podium sweeps, and 13 pole positions. Thirteen of the 15 Honda-powered cars have contributed points to the manufacturers’ total. That last number matters: a manufacturers’ championship padded by one dominant car and 14 also-rans is a fragile thing. A championship built on 13 contributors is structural.
Honda’s title history in American open-wheel racing reads like a list of dominant eras with gaps in between: 1996, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2004, 2005, a four-year consecutive run from 2018 through 2021, and 2025. The 2026 crown makes it back-to-back for the first time since that four-year stretch ended. Chevrolet had won the manufacturers’ title in each of the three seasons between Honda’s 2021 and 2025 championships, making this run feel earned rather than inherited.
Two races remain, and Honda is chasing more than the manufacturers’ trophy. Alex Palou leads the drivers’ championship with a 97-point margin over teammate Kyle Kirkwood. If Palou closes that out, Honda would sweep the manufacturers’ and drivers’ titles for the second consecutive year, matching the Indy 500 win it already has in hand. Rookie of the year is also in play, with Dennis Hauger leading that chase for Honda.
A sweep of all three major IndyCar titles in back-to-back seasons would be a statement about program depth, not just pace. Honda has two races to finish what it started.
Source: Honda. Images courtesy of Honda.
