After 12 of 17 races in 2023, eventual NTT IndyCar Series champion Alex Palou arrived for the 13th race with a stout lead of 80 points over Josef Newgarden. It would grow to 91 points by the penultimate round, which allowed the Chip Ganassi Racing driver to be crowned early in a crushing display of dominance over his rivals.
But as he arrives for the 13th race this season, Saturday night’s 260-lap Bommarito Automotive Group 500 (6:00pm ET, USA network) on the 1.25-mile World Wide Technology Raceway oval, the Spaniard isn’t blanketed in the same comfort. He holds a more modest lead of 49 points over Team Penske’s Will Power, and compared to last year, Palou can be reeled in without his pursuers needing to perform miracles.
In fact, Palou — who is still seeking his first oval win — is being chased by a tight cluster of fierce competitors including teammate Scott Dixon in third (-53 points), Andretti Global’s Colton Herta (-57 points), and slightly farther back, Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward (-71 points) in fifth, who know the final stretch of oval-heavy events are a prime opportunity to halt his march.
Palou can’t lose the championship lead at WWTR; a last-place finish would add five points to his tally and bring it up to 54. And even with a perfect event with a full measure of 54 points accrued by taking pole, leading a lap, leading the most laps, and the victory, Power can only draw level with the driver of the No. 10 Ganassi Honda. But Power and the rest won’t have to hope for calamity to continually strike Palou; they have enough races left to run where simply beating the Ganassi drivers by a few positions at most events will bring them into true title contention.
Of the four tracks and five races waiting to be run, only Portland, which follows the week after WWTR, has Palou’s name entered in the win column. The rest, starting with WWTR on the outskirts of St. Louis, then the doubleheader on the Milwaukee Mile, and the championship closer at Nashville Speedway, could favor those who are trying to prevent Palou from earning back-to-back titles, which hasn’t been done in IndyCar since Ganassi’s Dario Franchitti reigned from 2009-11 with three straight championships in the No. 10 Honda.
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O’Ward’s outlook on the busy run ahead from WWTR to Nashville is just what you’d expect for someone set on toppling Palou.
“I’m looking forward to getting going with this last stretch of the season,” he said. “St. Louis is always an exciting race, and I’ve had some success here in the past. Hopefully we can kick off this last stretch with a bang and fight our way closer to the top of the championship.”
On the Rookie of the Year front, it’s another Ganassi driver leading the contest as Linus Lundqvist holds a 40-point advantage over teammate Kyffin Simpson.
The stampede to make it into the top 22 in the entrants’ championship by the end of the season to earn one of Penske Entertainment’s 22 $1 million contracts is also going to be a central focus at WWTR.
Of those who are currently on the safe side of the cutoff line, the No. 66 Meyer Shank Racing Honda is 19th with 144 points. In 20th it’s the No. 30 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda (135 points), and in 21st, it’s the No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevy (123 points). On the Leaders Circle bubble with five to go, it’s the No. 41 AJ Foyt Racing Chevy (121 points), and its driver Sting Ray Robb has the No. 78 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevy now driven by Conor Daly on a mission to displace him and others to secure a contract (116 points).
Last among Leaders Circle contenders in 24th is the No. 51 Dale Coyne Racing Honda (115 points). Coyne’s No. 18 Honda, which failed to qualify for the Indy 500, is a distant 25th (91 points).