First IndyCar Grand Prix of Arlington delights fans from Mansfield to Austin
Fans were gripping fences all Sunday morning as the sounds of racecars serenaded the tens of thousands who flocked to IndyCar’s inaugural Java House Grand Prix of Arlington.
Kyle Kirkwood won the race, conducted through the entertainment district around Globe Life Field and AT&T Stadium.
No official attendance figures were available Sunday. Organizers had said they expected about 80,000 people to attend over the three days of events starting Friday.
Jay Strong moved to the Metroplex from New York and had attended Formula One’s Miami Grand Prix in the past, which made him interested in seeing the race. After experiencing it, he said he hopes to bring his kids in the future.
“Pretty nice. Yeah, they did a good job out here,” Strong said. “So now we’ll bring them next year. I just came out with some friends, so we just checked it out the first year. Now we can tell them. They got a lot of events for the kids, the game, video games and a couple of different things I saw.”
The event was free for kids under 12 years old, for general admission, and also had autograph sessions for fans with IndyCar drivers as well as a fan zone with activities ranging from photo booths to even Texas Rangers-themed games to play.
Strong joked that the race was at home in Texas and was the second favorite he had attended.
“We like fast driving down here, so it’s fitting,” Strong said.
Not all fans were racing aficionados. Kirk Nembhard was attending his first race, and the Mansfield resident was impressed by how the event was run.
“Fantastic. Easy to get in. All the shuttles that helped you get to the where you needed to go. Very well-organized and really enjoyed it,” Nembhard said. “Just the spectacle of it all. I live in Mansfield, so Arlington is my next-door backyard, so I wanted to see, and I’ve been down to AT&T Stadium several times. Wanted to see how they would do it.”
“It’s a spectacle. It’s fantastic. I would definitely come again. It’s great,” he added.
Austin resident Elizabeth Caserta said she came to support her brother, an engineer with Chevrolet’s engine company. She said she has attended races all over Texas and said the openness of the Grand Prix of Arlington was special.
“Oh, it’s huge,” she said. “There’s a ton of things around. I feel like the way that they’ve set it up is just really cool. I was recently at the [IndyCar season opener in St. Petersburg, Florida], and this one just feels a lot bigger. I think they did a really nice job.”
Caserta was also a fan off the other offerings besides the races.
“I think that that’s, like, one of the fun parts,” she said. “We like to go see my brother and see what they’re doing and stuff. But then as soon as the race starts, we get to, like, sit in front of one of the TVs, walk around, get food, look at the shops and see the other things that are going on.”
Caserta has been to races in Austin and the Texas Motor Speedway and talked about her love for Texas auto racing and how happy she was that Arlington was now involved.
“I’m very excited that they got to come to Arlington,” she said. “I’ve been to the Texas Motor Speedway. I feel like it’s such a cool event, like everything bigger in Texas. It’s just, it’s been really cool to see, just even to be at the Cowboy Stadium and stuff like that, see the Texas A&M team with some of the drivers and stuff like that. So I think it’s been like a cool collaboration, especially living in Austin.”
This story was originally published March 15, 2026 at 1:32 PM.
