IndyCar Eyes Return To South America With Brazil Or Columbia Possible

IndyCar hasn’t raced outside of the U.S. and Canada since 2013, but that could soon be changing as the open-wheel series continues to increase in popularity.

The popularity of IndyCar hasn’t been this high in the U.S. since the days of CART. With FOX Sports investing in the series and the addition of jewel events such as last week’s Freedom 250 street race in Washington, DC, the sport has been on an incredible upswing. The Freedom 250 was the most-watched non-Indy 500 race since the IRL/CART merger in 2008, with 3.282 million viewers.

Heading into the race this weekend at the Milwaukee Mile, the IndyCar series on FOX and FS1 is averaging 1,875,000 viewers through 15 races, up 32% vs. last year’s season to date (1,416,000), up 70% vs. 2024’s season to date (1,106,000 for races on NBC/USA/CNBC) and good for the best start to any IndyCar season since the post-merger in 2008.

IndyCar’s upswing also comes at a time when Formula 1’s viewership is in steep decline over 2025 in America. It was expected that viewership would drop when Apple TV picked up the rights to all practices, qualifying, and races, but since leaving ESPN, one report shows a decline of -68%, although Liberty Media Corp, the parent company of Formula 1 said that total viewership minutes were up.

Apple does not release streaming information. This story was unable to independently verify the decline or total viewership minutes for F1 on Apple TV.

Now, it appears IndyCar is preparing to race outside the U.S. and Canada somewhere in South America.

RACER reports that IndyCar “has been telling its teams and drivers over the past few weeks to be prepared for a possible trip to the FIA Grade 2-certified road course in Goiania, Brazil, in 2027.” The report continues to say that “Penske Entertainment CEO Mark Miles has made three trips to meet with circuit officials at Autodromo Ayrton Senna and regional leaders in the state of Goias, where ongoing motivation to bring IndyCar to the 2.4-mile, 14-turn track is held.”

At the same time, Bogotá, D.C., Colombia news outlet Semana is reporting that the mayor of Barranquilla, Alejandro Char, acknowledged that negotiations are in an advanced stage to host either IndyCar or F1.

“Mark Miles, who is the CEO of IndyCar, received my team 45 days ago and this week, a few days ago, the top brass of IndyCar arrived in Barranquilla,” said Char (translated to English for this story). “We are already on the route, it is already in the design, which will be 4.3 kilometers, a part along the Malecón, another part along Vía 40 and some curves that are being designed.”

It is possible that Formula 1 could be the one looking at Colombia, as Juan Pablo Montoya, who has ties to racing in Formula 1 and IndyCar, has also visited. Montoya is currently an analyst for F1TV.