Acura is ramping up its commitment to the NTT IndyCar Series while preparing to step away from prototype racing in IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship after the 2026 season.
The Honda Racing Corporation USA confirmed that Acura branding will feature at the upcoming Indianapolis 500 for the first time, appearing on Marcus Armstrong’s No. 66 car run by Meyer Shank Racing.
The move follows a strong showing at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, where Felix Rosenqvist secured pole position and finished second in an Acura-liveried car — part of the brand’s 40th anniversary activation.
Acura’s expanded push into IndyCar comes at a time of momentum for the series. The championship has recorded rising attendance and its strongest TV audiences in over a decade, boosted further by its broadcast partnership with FOX. The 2025 Indianapolis 500 delivered its highest viewership in 17 years, while early 2026 races have drawn the series’ biggest audiences since 2008.
For Acura, the strategy is clear: align with a growing property where Honda-powered teams are already competitive, and use the platform to elevate brand visibility in North America.
That shift comes with a trade-off. Acura will “pause†its factory-backed GTP prototype program in IMSA after 2026, ending a successful era that began in 2018 with the ARX-05 and continued with the hybrid ARX-06.
Currently, Acura fields two ARX-06 prototypes with Meyer Shank Racing. The No. 60 car is driven by Colin Braun and Tom Blomqvist, while the No. 93 entry features Renger van der Zande and Nick Yelloly, with HRC US directly overseeing strategy and engineering — a first for the manufacturer in the series.
Over its IMSA prototype run, Acura has delivered 25 wins, 34 pole positions and 10 championships, establishing itself as one of the category’s most consistent contenders.
The pivot underscores a broader motorsport strategy: concentrate investment where audience growth, broadcast reach and commercial upside are accelerating — even if it means stepping back from a proven winning platform.