Acura Sponsors Car At Indy 500, But Pauses IMSA Effort After 2026

Felix Rosenqvist in the Acura-sponsored Honda Indy car at the 51st Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.

Honda Racing USA Photo

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."

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