Tire conservation was the focus for many teams at the start of Friday’s lone IndyCar Series practice session on the streets of Long Beach. With five sets of the more durable primary Firestones-one less than in 2024-and five sets of the short-life …
Tire conservation was the focus for many teams at the start of Friday’s lone IndyCar Series practice session on the streets of Long Beach. With five sets of the more durable primary Firestones—one less than in 2024—and five sets of the short-life alternates, the popular call was to sit and limit running on the prized primaries to ensure there are enough new or low-mileage sets for Sunday’s 90-lap race.
Perfect conditions met the field with temperatures in the 70s and blue skies, and after the three-layered session structure was complete, it was Team Penske’s Will Power’s 01m07.3227s lap in the No. 12 Chevy that led the day.
Andretti Global’s Marcus Ericsson was fastest in his group and was second-best with a 1m07.3503s in the No. 28 Honda.
“We just have a really good setup in general to work with, and the team does a really good job preparing the cars and giving us drivers cars that we feel confidence in to drive because that’s [everything] — street course racing is so much about that confidence. It’s being close to those walls and having the confidence to push to the limit,” Ericsson said.
Andretti teammate Kyle Kirkwood was third (1m07.3523s), the Meyer Shank Racing duo of Marcus Armstrong (1m07.3602s) and Felix Rosenqvist (1m07.3875s) were fourth and fifth, respectively, and Penske’s Josef Newgarden completed the top six (1m07.5191s). Other than a spin and prolonged 47-point turn for Louis Foster and a meeting with the wall that kept Pato O’Ward from turning more than a handful of laps, the sessions were clean.
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Fifteen minutes into the session and only 15 of the 27 drivers had made an attempt to set a competitive lap. Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Sting Ray Robb was the fastest at the point with a best tour of 1m10.443s.
After 20 minutes, Penske’s Power brought the speeds up to a more familiar place with a 1m08.0582s lap. Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou was next to take the top spot after 25 minutes had gone by, edging Power with a 1m13.9340s. O’Ward hit the wall with his left-rear corner after completing just five laps, and with the time needed to affect repairs, he lost most of the day.
Palou kept improving and by 30 minutes in, his best was a 1m07.6364s lap, just ahead of Penske’s Newgarden with a 1m07.7858s.
After 44 minutes, Palou and Newgarden remained up top and had Penske’s Scott McLaughlin and Meyer Shank Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist behind them in third and fourth. In the final minute as some drivers put on the alternates to close the full-field session, Arrow McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard vaulted to second with a 1m07.7108s; teammate Nolan Siegel, also on the faster alternates, motored to fourth with a 1m07.8607s.
In the first split 10-minute session, Andretti Global’s Marcus Ericsson was quickest with a 1m07.3503s in the No. 28 Honda, and in the second, Penske’s Power was fastest with a 01m07.3227s to take P1 for Friday.
The fickle and highly competitive state of IndyCar racing was on display during qualifying for The Thermal Club IndyCar Grand Prix. Team Penske earned pole position at the start of the month at St. Petersburg with Scott McLaughlin, but Saturday at …
The fickle and highly competitive state of IndyCar racing was on display during qualifying for The Thermal Club IndyCar Grand Prix. Team Penske earned pole position at the start of the month at St. Petersburg with Scott McLaughlin, but Saturday at Thermal wasn’t nearly as kind.
Josef Newgarden was the best of the Chevy-powered trio in 17th with the No. 2 car, and Will Power, IndyCar’s all-time best in qualifying, was surprised to find himself in 21st with the No. 12 machine. St. Pete’s best was the greatest shock of all as McLaughlin was slowest in the opening qualifying group, which relegated his No. 3 car to a starting position of 25th.
“We just weren’t quick,” Newgarden said. “All of us didn’t look fantastic in our group. I felt really good going into qualifying. Obviously, we have to find some speed now.”
Among the extended Penske-affiliated cars, AJ Foyt Racing’s David Malukas was the fastest of the quintet, earning 12th while teammate Santino Ferrucci was 14th as the Foyt cars made good use of their Penske setup information.
“I lacked a good out lap to get some good front tire temp,” Power said. “Man, we were good in every single session except the one that counted. When it came time to do it, it wasn’t there.”
Team Penske unveiled a new red livery for Will Power’s familiar dressed-in-black No. 12 Verizon during Sunday’s morning’s NFL on FOX pre-game show. Using an abundance of red with a yellow stripe – reminiscent of the colors found on Chip Ganassi …
Team Penske unveiled a new red livery for Will Power’s familiar dressed-in-black No. 12 Verizon during Sunday’s morning’s NFL on FOX pre-game show.
Using an abundance of red with a yellow stripe – reminiscent of the colors found on Chip Ganassi Racing’s Target-sponsored cars for decades – the Dallara DW12-Chevy with its new look will debut at March’s season-opening race in St. Petersburg, Florida.
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“This bold, new livery reflects a new chapter in our partnership, showcasing the evolution of our brand and enduring connection with race fans,” said Nick Kelly, VP of partnerships at Verizon. “We’re excited to continue this journey with one of the sport’s most accomplished teams.”
The upcoming NTT IndyCar Series season marks 17 years of sponsorship for Verizon with Team Penske.
“It goes without saying that I owe so much of my success to Verizon,” said Power. “They have been with me throughout my time at Team Penske, with a lot of success both on and off the track.
“We have run a variety of paint schemes in that time, but never one that stands out quite like this one. New paint schemes keep things fresh and add an extra level of excitement to an already exciting time to be in the NTT IndyCar Series.”
There’s not much a driver can do when the racing gods decide it’s not your time to take the sport’s greatest spoils. Penske’s Will Power was gracious in defeat on Sunday at Nashville Superspeedway when a fluke occurrence-the main safety belts that …
There’s not much a driver can do when the racing gods decide it’s not your time to take the sport’s greatest spoils.
Penske’s Will Power was gracious in defeat on Sunday at Nashville Superspeedway when a fluke occurrence—the main safety belts that lock his waist into the car became disconnected—required a pit stop just minutes into the 206-lap race to have the problem rectified.
The ace No. 12 Chevy crew led by championship-winning crew chief Trevor Lacasse jumped into action and did their best to minimize the time loss, but the belts put up a fight and five laps were surrendered before the issue was resolved. Call it bad luck, or fate, or just something that wasn’t deserved, but the outcome was the same as Power’s main rival Alex Palou encountered no issues and won the championship.
Power would eventually finish eight laps down, which saw his grasp on second place in the drivers’ standings slip to fourth.
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“I was just driving down the front stretch there, and I just felt a pop on the lap belt, and like, man, that’s weird,” Power said. “It felt kind of loose in the car and the seat. So came out of Turn 2, and I was feeling around, and I felt the end of the belt. I’m like, ‘Man, my belt just came off. We’re gonna have to pit.’ Then it took five laps to [fix].”
It came loose once more.
“We learned after because it happened a second time [before] the end of the race,” Power added. “So we learned how to do it quickly. I don’t know what went wrong. We’ll have to send it back to the manufacturer. A very strange failure. Actually, I do wonder if I hit the wall, if it was going to break and I was going to have a real bad situation. But, yep, never had that before.”
Power was among the first drivers to reach victory lane and congratulate his friend Palou.
“I’ve had engine failures, you have gearbox failures; I had a belt failure, so, yeah, disappointing, but big congrats to Alex — a tough guy to beat,” he said. “He obviously did a fantastic job and it’s been fun racing those guys this year, and now we dropped back to fourth because of this day. But, man, happy with the season, the whole team, so we did well, but we want to win that championship, so we’ll come back fighting next year.”
Team Penske title contender Will Power starts fourth for Sunday’s 206-lap season finale at Nashville Speedway, and with a significant 33-point deficit to championship leader Alex Palou, he’ll need all the help he can get to overcome that gap and …
Team Penske title contender Will Power starts fourth for Sunday’s 206-lap season finale at Nashville Speedway, and with a significant 33-point deficit to championship leader Alex Palou, he’ll need all the help he can get to overcome that gap and secure his third NTT IndyCar Series title.
It wasn’t the pole position he’d hoped for, but Power was the recipient of a significant gift as Palou stumbled in qualifying. And with a grid penalty of nine positions looming ahead of the race for an unapproved engine change, the Chip Ganassi Racing driver will start 20 spots behind Power — deep in the field of 27 cars — and be forced to motor forward to maintain his championship lead.
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All Power can do is try and race his way to the front and hope Palou stays mired back in the midfield — or worse — and see where the fortunes fall for his No. 12 Chevy team.
“We’re just gonna do our thing tomorrow, and hopefully have great cars in the race,” Power said. “Couldn’t do any more than I did in qualifying there. That’s all it had. And you know, obviously wasn’t good enough for pole, but we’ll attack tomorrow. It’ll be what it’ll be, and whoever wins deserves it.”
The end to an exhausting NTT IndyCar Series season is days away and before it’s over, two generational talents will settle the drivers’ championship where one will become a three-time king of IndyCar. For championship leader Alex Palou, his …
The end to an exhausting NTT IndyCar Series season is days away and before it’s over, two generational talents will settle the drivers’ championship where one will become a three-time king of IndyCar.
For championship leader Alex Palou, his formidable lead of 54 points over Will Power entering the Milwaukee doubleheader was trimmed to 33 points prior to Sunday’s 206-lap Big Machine Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Speedway. With a maximum of 54 points available to any driver, Power can overtake Palou, but it won’t be easy.
IndyCar’s point structure awards 50 for a win, one for pole, one for leading a lap and two for leading the most laps, and barring a weird scenario where a disqualification takes place and the runner-up is given the win, it’s almost impossible to claim an IndyCar victory without leading at least one lap — the last — to then come away with 51 points.
Since we can’t predict who will win the point for pole and who will lead the most laps, we’ll set those three points aside and work with 51 while looking at what Palou and Power need to do to become IndyCar’s newest three-timer.
The points scenarios for Palou, who could reach the lofty territory of winning his third title in four seasons, aren’t complicated. If the Chip Ganassi Racing driver finishes ahead of Power, no matter where they are in the field, the title obvious goes to the Spaniard.
If Power wins (51 points), Palou has the luxury of needing to place 11th (where he’d lose 32 of his 33 points and win by one point) or better to defeat the Team Penske driver.
If Power isn’t on pole and runs second all day and finishes second (40 points), Palou needs to finish 22nd (where he’d lose 32 of his 33 points and win by one point) or better to earn the Astor Cup.
If Power finishes third (35 points), he can’t beat Palou, who will earn five points once he crosses the starting line on the opening lap and bring his tally from 33 to 38 points.
For Power, it’s win, a second, or bust. If that sounds like a tall task, it is, but we’re also dealing with someone driving for the best oval team in IndyCar, one of the few drivers in the field with experience at the 1.33-mile Nashville Speedway, and a person who’s thrived in medium- to large-size ovals.
Take Power’s wins at Fontana, Texas, Pocono and at the Indianapolis 500, plus all of his trips to victory lane Milwaukee, Gateway, and Iowa, and the driver of the No. 12 Chevy is the perfect candidate to face the long odds of beating Palou to the championship.
Palou has yet to win on an oval, but that doesn’t mean he’s easy prey for the Australian. When things go normally for the driver of the No. 10 Honda on ovals, he’s somewhere on or near the podium, which serves as Palou’s super power and could act as Power’s kryptonite.
At Milwaukee, Penske drivers held an advantage over Ganassi’s drivers, and yet, Power’s run to second in Race 1 was shadowed by Palou, who finished fifth. The last thing Power needs is for Palou to sit a few cars back and cruise home in Nashville, but that’s what tends to happen.
And then we have Milwaukee Race 2 where the rarest occurrence for Palou — poor reliability struck on the parade laps — and he had his second-worst finish of the year, a 19th, which should have handed the championship lead to Power. But Power spun, gave up the advantage and finished 10th.
If Palou can take the green flag and get those five points, the remaining 205 laps become an anxiety-filled affair as concerns for more reliability issues, engine malfunctions, pit stop issues, stalls, and risks of spins and contact will rule the afternoon or racing for both drivers. One needs to soar to earn the crown, the other needs to be good, but not great, and how might the racing gods intervene?
After the pre-race primer begins at 3pm ET on NBC, the drama plays out starting at 3:30.
Before we look at the Leaders Circle competition, let’s quickly divert to another factor that has impacted the championship.
Looking to the start of the season and the disqualifications that set St. Petersburg polesitter and race winner Josef Newgarden and third-place teammate Scott McLaughlin back, Newgarden earned 54 points for his complete domination of the event, which were voided when the push-to-pass cheating penalties was levied. McLaughlin lost his 35 points as well.
For Newgarden, returning the 54 points he surrendered would make no difference in his ability to vie for the championship at Nashville; his deficit today of 160 points to Palou would be reduced to 106 which, with that 54-point maximum at every event, still eliminates him from the championship fight by a wide margin.
His season full of great-or-terrible results — independent of the push-to-pass points forfeiture — took him out of contention a while ago, and where McLaughlin has risen into title contention, Newgarden has been stuck fluctuating between seventh and ninth in the standings since winning the Indianapolis 500. He’s eighth at the moment.
Scott McLaughlin’s consistency has been nearly a match for Palou’s, but his St. Petersburg DQ has him still needing a miracle to pull off a championship. Brett Farmer/Motorsport Images
By contrast, McLaughlin would be second in the championship if the scandal didn’t happen and his points from St. Pete were returned. He’s 50 points shy of Palou, and while he’d need a miracle to win the championship, if those 35 points were added back to his tally, he’d be a close second to the leader in the drivers’ standings and need just 16 points to overtake the Ganassi driver at Nashville. Without the DQ, McLaughlin would be vying for his first IndyCar title, which speaks to his amazing consistency since joining the series as a full-timer in 2021.
He was Penske’s top driver in last year’s championship after placing third behind Palou and Ganassi’s Scott Dixon, and he’s third again, 17 points shy of Power. Depending on how Power’s fortunes fall, McLaughlin — a force on ovals as well — could climb to second in the final standings.
Only one Penske driver has a semi-realistic chance of demoting Palou, so it would be a surprise if McLaughlin and Newgarden aren’t running in his draft, but if Power has any issues in the race, the New Zealander is poised to secure his best championship finish if he has a competitive run.
With the Rookie of the Year championship over and done and decided in Linus Lundqvist’s favor, the Leaders Circle scrum to place inside the top 22 in the entrants’ championship and receive one of the 22 $1 million contracts will reach its end in Tennessee.
On the bubble in 22nd, it’s the No. 41 AJ Foyt Racing Chevy of Sting Ray Robb (175 points). But those in front of the No. 41 are by no means in clear water. The No. 30 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda with Pietro Fittipaldi sits in 21st, but he’s only two points ahead the No. 41 (177 points) and needs to beat Robb.
The No. 66 Meyer Shank Racing Honda driven by David Malukas is safer in 20th (187 points), but an early issue could wreak havoc for the team in the Leaders Circle. The cluster of the Nos. 66, 30 and 41 and their efforts to remain on the good side of the line is the first theme to follow.
The second story centers on the No. 41 and the No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevy driven by Christian Rasmussen, who had the car on the bubble entering Milwaukee 2 and lost it by one point (174). With the razor-thin separation between the Foyt and Carpenter entries, those 206 laps on Sunday will have a Robb vs Rasmussen watch in motion.
Last again among Leaders Circle contenders in 24th is the No. 51 Dale Coyne Racing Honda (160 points), and with 14 points to gain, Katherine Legge would need to have an excellent day while those in front of the No. 51 falter. Coyne’s No. 18 Honda sits 25th and last (137 points) and has no hope of claiming the last contract.
Palou vs Power, with McLaughlin the longest of long shots. Robb and Foyt vs Rasmussen and Carpenter, along with Robb and Rasmussen vs everybody in their vicinity. Let’s go.
Will Power was disappointed with the mistake he made in Milwaukee on Sunday that went from leveling the NTT IndyCar Series championship battle with Alex Palou to handing back a big helping of points to his rival. Returning to green after the caution …
Will Power was disappointed with the mistake he made in Milwaukee on Sunday that went from leveling the NTT IndyCar Series championship battle with Alex Palou to handing back a big helping of points to his rival.
Returning to green after the caution for Sting Ray Robb’s spin and stall in Turn 2, Power was trying to get a good shot out of Turns 3 and 4. Dipping into the No. 12 Chevy’s throttle too aggressively, Power was sixth at the time and trying to get back to the lead where he spent 64 laps earlier in the race, but the burst of horsepower was too much and sent him spinning and into the wall with a light touch of his front wings against the barrier.
He’d pit twice in the ensuing laps, losing a lap, and returned in 13th place before rallying to get to 10th at the checkered flag.
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“That might have been one of the wildest races I can ever recall,” Power told RACER. “Kicking myself for that spin. I did it because I was like, ‘Alright, I gotta get a good jump here,’ because on the last restart, I got eaten up by Marcus Ericsson. Ericsson always jumps it very well, very well. He’s just on the border of being legal, but he gets it.”
Palou had bigger struggles of his own as an electrical problem shut down his car on the parade laps, and after trying to resuscitate the car, the battery was fried. With the system rebooted and a new battery installed, Palou started his race 29 laps down, but thanks to all of the crashing and adversity, he recovered to place 19th and restore his championship lead to 33 points thanks to Power’s problems.
With a maximum of 54 points on offer at the Nashville Superspeedway season finale, Power can catch and pass Palou if another sizable dose of misfortune hits the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, but it’s a long shot.
“It’s not insurmountable, but it is,” Power said. “It is him having some sort of deal like today and me winning, basically. That’s what it is. We let a chunk of points go today. Too many. A bit frustrating. What we had there, the yellow fell, but that’s just life, man. It’s just the way it goes, and I can’t complain.”
The recent signing of David Malukas to A.J. Foyt Racing could be a signal of where Roger Penske’s NTT IndyCar Series team is headed in the future. Through its technical alliance with Foyt, Team Penske has an increasing influence with its affiliate …
The recent signing of David Malukas to A.J. Foyt Racing could be a signal of where Roger Penske’s NTT IndyCar Series team is headed in the future. Through its technical alliance with Foyt, Team Penske has an increasing influence with its affiliate program, and with the addition of Malukas to the Foyt team in 2025, the Illinois native has a perfect opportunity to show he deserves an invitation to the big team when a seat becomes available. The “when” is an interesting item to consider.
Penske veteran Will Power is returning to the No. 12 Penske Chevy in 2025, the final year of his current contract, and wants it to be known that he has no intention of voluntarily stepping aside.
“I want to continue. I’m not retiring. I’m just simply not retiring. Yeah, I know people probably like to spread that around, rumors or whatever, in the hope that they can take my seat. Yeah, I’m staying here for a while,” he said after winning last weekend’s race in Portland.
Will Power has been a Team Penske driver since 2009, when he won in his fifth start for the team. Perry Nelson/Motorsport Images
The victory, Power’s 44th, moved him to fourth on the all-time IndyCar win list. He already owns first place on the all-time IndyCar pole position list with 70. And yet again, and despite being in the twilight of his career, Power is Penske’s best challenger in the championship.
The thought of farewelling Power in 2026 for a promising young talent like Malukas, albeit one with zero poles and zero wins, would make sense if the driver of the No. 12 Chevy was showing a decline in speed and overall prowess. But as Penske’s most recent championship winner in 2022, and his most effective star in 2024, Power’s output has him sitting atop the team’s depth chart.
Retirement is in his future, but there’s no evidence to suggest it should be in 12 months’ time.
“If Will keeps driving the way he is driving now, it will be hard to look elsewhere,” Team Penske president Tim Cindric told RACER.
Being prepared for change and mapping out transition plans is also part of Cindric’s job; there’s no question that Power will eventually stop driving for Penske, but it’s back to that matter of when.
“Right now, he’s on top of his game, so it’s hard to speculate,” Cindric said. “Our team is always looking to put the best players in the seats. You have to look to the future. Whether it’s Malukas or any of these other young guys, you have to be looking at that. And you continue to see some of these guys get chances before they’re ready. So there’s that balance, too.”
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Cindric and Penske kept an eye on young Josef Newgarden when he arrived in the series in 2012. Fast and raw in a small team, Newgarden’s potential was evident, but he lacked mileage and seasoning. He’d continue developing at the Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing outfit for a total of three years before the outfit merged with Ed Carpenter Racing.
At the renamed CFH (Carpenter Fisher Harman) Racing squad, Newgarden had a deeper program to work within and flourished in his fourth season, winning twice, and by his fifth year in the series at the re-renamed ECR, Newgarden was winning and giving bigger teams like Penske all they could handle on the way to placing fourth in the championship.
Altogether, Newgarden spent a half-decade learning and growing and readying himself for the big time, and with his readiness to graduate, Penske signed a razor-sharp young veteran who was instantly effective and went on to win the championship on his debut with Team Penske.
Newgarden’s journey from being an unproven prospect to someone who, after five years of hardened learning, was worthy of stepping into a title-contending car, could be educational if we assume that’s the path Malukas is on with Penske.
After 2.5 seasons in IndyCar, Malukas has been massively impressive at times, but spending a single year at Foyt might not be enough to be fully prepared for the crushing weight of expectations carried by a Penske driver. Team Penske is notoriously averse to hiring young and incomplete drivers, which is why it waited so long — longer than necessary — to acquire Newgarden. If Malukas needs more than one season at Foyt to get there, Penske will likely wait until he’s truly ready.
And with a new car supposedly on the way in the coming years, there’s another prime opportunity for Power to play a significant role in its development, just as he did for Chevrolet when the Dallara DW12 debuted in 2012, for Chevy again when it was fashioning its manufacturer aero kit in 2015, and more recently as the lead test driver for Chevy with the new hybrid powertrain that came online in June.
Change is coming to Team Penske, but will it rush the process or wait until the time is right for both drivers?
Will team orders come into effect this weekend at the Hy-Vee Milwaukee doubleheader for the two main championship contenders? It’s asking a lot for Saturday’s 250-lap NTT IndyCar Series race, but it’s more possible once we get to Sunday’s …
Will team orders come into effect this weekend at the Hy-Vee Milwaukee doubleheader for the two main championship contenders? It’s asking a lot for Saturday’s 250-lap NTT IndyCar Series race, but it’s more possible once we get to Sunday’s 250-lapper, the penultimate race of the season.
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou in the No. 10 Honda has led the championship for nine of the 14 races run in 2024, including the last seven — since Laguna Seca in June — and has 54 points over Team Penske’s Will Power in the No. 12 Chevy. Palou’s teammate Scott Dixon was in the title conversation until the last race, and now sits 101 points behind Palou.
There’s almost no scenario where Dixon would be able to overcome that big of a deficit in three races, but nonetheless, the team isn’t ready to ask the six-time champion to fall back and become Palou’s tail gunner.
“We’ve never had team orders,” CGR managing director Mike Hull told RACER. “We’ve always left the drivers to have some practical sense about it. We have two 250-lap races, so if we get down to lap 248 of laps, and something has to happen, the drivers can figure it out. But it’s a one-mile flat oval and I don’t think that we can plan on who’s going to do what to whom until we get down to well after the last stop. I can’t imagine that Penske would do it any differently, nor would anybody else do it any differently.”
With a maximum of 162 points available starting at Milwaukee 1, Dixon isn’t completely out of the title conversation with his 101-point gap, but it would take a miracle for him to get back into the game. Power’s teammate Scott McLaughlin, in fourth with a 88-point deficit to Palou, is in a similar situation.
Penske’s Josef Newgarden, in seventh with a giant 131-point shortfall, would need three straight miracles to join the championship battle, but that doesn’t mean he and McLaughlin will fall in behind Power on Saturday. As Hull noted, a lot of laps need to be turned before strategy calls to rally an entire team behind the two leading title candidates are made, but Power would welcome the help and encourages the Penske outfit to support its strongest competitor.
“I think if we have the cars to win, and we want to win the championship, yes, that’s probably what we should do with three to go,” Power said. “We should probably be looking at how can we get the 12 car in the best possible position. Really, that’s our only chance. We’ve got three really good drivers — four really if you include (A.J. Foyt Racing’s) Santino (Ferrucci) — that are capable of running at the front that can take up a lot of positions. If I’m the head of that group and we win the race, that starts to make things look possible.”
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If the McLaughlins and Dixons and Newgardens are in a deeper championship hole once Saturday night’s race is done, team orders could become a more formal matter within Ganassi and Penske. Hull is also wary of asking Palou’s teammates to race with an agenda.
“If you don’t race the way you normally have raced all year, if you don’t have that mindset, the odds of you having the same result are pretty slim to start with,” he said. “That’s really how we’ve always looked at it, and it hasn’t mattered how many drivers we have.”
The other strategy for Ganassi to consider — which doesn’t exactly work for Penske with Power’s sizable 54-point gap to Palou — is to have their non-contenders play offense rather than defense.
“If Dixon wins the race over Will Power, he takes points away from Will,” Hull added. “If they’re together at the end of the race, and Scott would be in a position to win, and Will’s in a position to be second, that’s the best thing in the world for us to do if Alex isn’t leading. That’s if you’re trying to look at it strategically.
“Penske has three cars. They’re going to try to take points away from everybody they can, let’s face it, to try to try to help themselves, because the three of them are still in it. There’s two of them in a position to be able to move up in the championship. And why wouldn’t Dixon want to do the same? Those are the main thoughts about it.”
NTT IndyCar Series championship leader Alex Palou will be crowned if he can push his lead to 55 points by the end of Sunday. If his closest title rival Will Power can overtake Palou by the end of the Milwaukee Hy-Vee 250 doubleheader, a fun fight …
NTT IndyCar Series championship leader Alex Palou will be crowned if he can push his lead to 55 points by the end of Sunday. If his closest title rival Will Power can overtake Palou by the end of the Milwaukee Hy-Vee 250 doubleheader, a fun fight will move to the season finale at Nashville Speedway where he’ll give everything he has to become IndyCar’s newest title winner.
And while third-place Colton Herta and fourth-place Scott McLaughlin have a remote chance of vaulting past them to earn the championship, the odds favor the top two aces in the drivers’ standings to achieve a rare feat: Across 100-plus years of IndyCar racing, only 12 drivers have won three or more championships, and with Palou and Power, the run from Milwaukee through Nashville is primed to add a new member to the club.
The race for three is officially on, but the odds are by no means equal as with three races to run, Power is short on time to draw down Palou’s lead prior to the final checkered flag of the season that waves in Tennessee on Sept. 15. To start, Palou holds a 54-point lead over Power, which is the equivalent to a maximum race of points in his favor (50 points for a win, one point for pole position, one for leading a lap, and two for leading the most laps).
There are many ways the Team Penske driver can catch and pass the Chip Ganassi Racing standard bearer, which begins by earning an average of 19-20 points more than Palou at each race. Without getting into bonus points for pole and the rest, Power could take the championship with three wins at 50 points apiece and Palou finishing no better than fifth in each race (30 points).
But that’s a lot to ask of Power to win four races — including last weekend in Portland — in a row. If Power places second at the last three with 40 points apiece, he’d need Palou to finish no higher than 10th each time (20 points), and that would be uncharacteristic for IndyCar’s most consistent driver. If Power delivers a trio of thirds (35 points per race), he’d need Palou to come home in 15th (15 points), which seems unlikely.
The greatest problem facing Power, and Herta (67 points back), and McLaughlin (a dire 88 points down) is Palou’s aforementioned dependability. From the 14 races completed this season, Palou has 12 finishes of fifth or better. Said another way, Palou’s only had two poor results from 14 tries; that’s a top-five delivery rate of 86 percent, and now his rivals need him to trip and stumble a few more times in consecutive events, which isn’t his forté.
It’s the crushing consistency that makes Palou a perennial title threat and someone who rarely accommodates the needs of a Power, Herta, or McLaughlin by having one bad finish after another.
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One of Palou’s rough oval results was at the first Iowa race where he crashed on his own while running 11th and he was credited with 23rd at the finish, so it’s not impossible for the Ganassi driver to fall short at least once at Milwaukee or Nashville. But two or three times? That would be uncharted territory for Palou.
The other issue facing Power and the other contenders is Palou’s underappreciated rise in oval competitiveness. He was fifth at the Indianapolis 500, crashed at Iowa 1 but shook it off and rebounded the next day to take second at Iowa 2, and placed fourth at the last oval at World Wide Technology Raceway. He’s still chasing his first oval win, and Penske is expected to continue its oval dominance at the final three races, but Palou’s average oval finishing position is 3.6 when he reaches the checkered flag — and he almost always reaches the checkered flag. Reinforcing the point, Palou finished every oval race in 2023 and did so with an average result of fifth.
Power needs to win and win and win and hope Palou doesn’t stick to his oval average of 3.6, or even 5.0 at the finish lines, because if he does, there’s nothing the Penske driver, or Herta at Andretti Global, or Penske’s McLaughlin can do to prevent him from becoming a three-timer.
With 54 points on Palou’s side, the settling of the championship isn’t centered on how well Power and the rest perform. For the pursuers to have realistic shots at the title, Milwaukee 1, Milwaukee 2 and Nashville will be about Palou and whether he’s struck with adversity. For them to win, he needs to fail. Minus the adversity, Palou is on the way to claiming his third championship in five seasons.
In the Rookie of the Year standings, it will be a Ganassi driver winning the award, and with Linus Lundqvist sitting on a 64-point margin over Kyffin Simpson, Lundqvist in total control.
Sting Ray Robb has put Foyt’s No. 41 into the top 22, and his oval form augurs well for his chances of keeping it there. Josh Tons/Motorsport Images
The fascinating squabble to secure Penske Entertainment’s final Leaders Circle contracts — which split the bulk of the season’s prize money into 22 equal contracts worth approximately $1 million apiece for those who finish in the top 22 of the entrants’ championship — is getting down to business time. Landing in Milwaukee, the cluster of teams on the right side and wrong side of the top 22 threshold has evolved.
The No. 66 Meyer Shank Racing Honda driven by David Malukas went into Portland in 19th with 154 points and left in 19th with 164. Barring a dramatic downward turn, Shank’s call to park Tom Blomqvist, hire Malukas and get the No. 66 into the green with the Leaders Circle has worked. Credit is also due to Sting Ray Robb, who took the No. 41 A.J. Foyt Racing Chevy from 21st to 20th (156 points) entering the ovals where he’s particularly solid.
Tied at 156 points, but behind the No. 41 Chevy, is the No. 30 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda, which went to Portland in 20th with Pietro Fittipaldi and exited in 21st after a punishing race.
In 22nd, it’s the No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevy, which holds its spot on the bubble (141 points). In 23rd and tied on points at 141, Conor Daly in the No. 78 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevy is locked in a battle with Christian Rasmussen in the No. 20 ECR car — his former ride — to claim the last contract.
Of the many plot lines to follow this weekend, the ECR vs JHR, Rasmussen vs Daly thread is a big one.
Last again among Leaders Circle contenders in 24th is the No. 51 Dale Coyne Racing Honda (133 points), but it wouldn’t take much for Katherine Legge to join the ECR vs JHR scrap if she has a strong showing in Milwaukee. Coyne’s No. 18 Honda remains a distant 25th (107 points).
