Now that the racing season is officially in full swing for every series—with IMSA starting in January, and many other sports car series, as well as IndyCar, starting just this past month—it’s exciting to be into the 2026 season. But, now that the seasons have all begun, what are drivers and teams doing between events? Some of them have quite a long wait until the next round.
For example, the Mazda MX-5 Cup series had their second event at the beginning of March, and they’re officially off-track until later in April, when they have a series test at Indy. They won’t race again until they head to Mid-Ohio in June. Several other series have gotten their first event in but will have a small pause prior to the next one.
The key element for teams and drivers with a break in their season is to stay focused and to take their summaries from the first event or two and focus on what opportunities lie ahead.
Some teams and drivers might have gotten off to a great start, so how do they keep that momentum going? You can’t expect good results just because you had them in the first race! There’s always somebody trying to work harder than the next person to make progress.
Another key element in prepping during a break is not only focusing specifically on the next event ahead, but for many teams, there are also a lot of logistics to consider. There will likely be a busier time in the season that’s maybe back-to-back events, and teams need to identify the opportunities for how to best manage those events logistically, whether it’s inventory or transport. For drivers, they have to keep perspective on things like risk mitigation: a mistake in one event could keep you from competing in the next!
For both the drivers and teams, no matter how short or long the break, the most important key is to be able to hit the ground running at the next event. That’s not just about preparing the car and team, but it’s also about having the right mental focus. Drivers don’t want to experience a performance gap due to losing focus during the downtime between events, so staying motivated is important.