It wasn’t that long ago the Honda IndyCar program appeared to be in jeopardy, but in a stunning turnaround, Honda Racing USA will devote more marketing efforts to IndyCar through its Acura brand. HRC USA also announced April 22 that it would “pause” the Acura program in IMSA Sports Car racing following the 2026 season.
Acura’s branding will be featured at this year’s 110th Indianapolis 500 on Marcus Armstrong’s No. 66 Honda at Meyer-Shank Racing. That’s the same team that fields the Acura cars that compete in IMSA.
It will be the first time Acura has sponsored a car in the Indianapolis 500. Acura branding was on Felix Rosenqvist’s No. 60 Honda at this past weekend’s 51st Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach to help celebrate the Acura brand’s 40th anniversary. Rosenqvist qualified on the pole and finished second in the race.
Acura is the luxury performance brand of Honda and has been a stellar competitor in IMSA. Honda is the more mainstream automaker with a large presence of automotive plants based in the United States.
Acura Increasing Its Marketing Footprint In IndyCar
Acura is expanding its presence at a time when the NTT IndyCar Series is seeing record attendance and television numbers in 2025 and thus far in the 2026 season—with new television partner FOX delivering the most-watched Indianapolis 500 in 17 years last season. The first four races of 2026 have generated the largest TV audiences for the series since 2008.
“We’re excited for the Acura brand expansion into the NTT IndyCar Series and we can’t wait to see our Acura livery take on the Indy 500,” said Hundy Liu, manager, Acura Brand Marketing. “We saw a great response to the livery on Felix Rosenqvist’s MSR car last week at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, and I know it will be even more exciting to see the Acura brand on Marcus Armstrong’s car at Indianapolis.
“The IndyCar series has shown incredible growth in the last year and a half and we see it as a powerful opportunity to build awareness for our Acura brand—particularly on a stage where Honda-powered teams and drivers have been so successful recently.
“We look forward to this new chapter for Acura in motorsports.”
Acura’s New Direction Means It Will Park Its IMSA Program
This pivot toward the IndyCar Series keeps the Acura name in motorsports as the brand and Honda Racing Corporation USA (HRC US) pause the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTP program with the Acura ARX-06 following the 2026 season.
Acura currently competes with two electrified ARX-06 GTP class prototypes fielded by Acura Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian. The No. 60 ARX-06 is driven by Colin Braun and Tom Blomqvist for the full 2026 season. On the No. 93 Acura GTP entry, HRC US calls strategy and handles race engineering for the car in IMSA competition—a manufacturer first. Piloting the No. 93 machine in 2026 are full-season drivers Renger van der Zande and Nick Yelloly.
“We are extremely proud of what we’ve accomplished during this era of Acura prototype racing which began back in 2018 with the introduction of the Acura ARX-05, and we are committed to compete for the championship in IMSA’s GTP category through 2026 with the hybrid Acura ARX-06 competing in IMSA’s GTP category,” said David Salters, President Honda Racing Corporation USA.
“We’ve scored 25 wins, 34 poles and 10 championships during this time and look forward to finishing 2026 strong. I want to recognize all the talented women and men of HRC US, Acura, Meyer Shank Racing and Oreca who have worked tirelessly to get us to where we are in this highly competitive GTP field.”
While this is the first appearance for Acura branding this season in the NTT IndyCar Series, Meyer Shank Racing and its driver Jack Harvey did run a special Acura livery in 2019 at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach to celebrate the brand’s first year as title sponsor of the race. It was the brand’s first foray into IndyCar since 1994 when Comptech Racing ran Acura branding on its Honda-powered Lola driven by Parker Johnstone.
