Yahoo Autos Breaking Down the Points: Alex Palou Remains in Driver's Seat for IndyCar Championship
With 443 points, Alex Palou leads second-place Colton Herta by 59, third-place Scott Dixon by 65.
Palou’s 59-point lead is tied for the fourth-largest point margin with four races remaining since the 2008 season.
A maximum of 54 points is available to any driver per race. The minimum for any driver who starts a race is five points.
The IndyCar Series rolls into Portland, Oregon this weekend with four races remaining on the schedule and several remain in the hunt for the series championship.
Although the championship-eligible list is technically long, two-time champion Alex Palou has a significant edge over those in his wake. With 443 points, Palou leads second-place Colton Herta by 59, third-place Scott Dixon by 65 and fourth-place Will Power by 66. Fifth-place Scott McLaughlin, who trails by 73 points, is arguably the final driver in the standings with a realistic shot at the title.
Palou has had a remarkably consistent season, with two wins, two seconds and 11 top fives in 13 races. His only finishes outside the top five are a 16th at Detroit and a 23rd after a crash in the first of two races at Iowa. He has led the point standings after eight of the 13 races and has been in front since the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey in June. He also led the points with four races to go in his 2021 and 2023 championship seasons.
Palou’s 59-point lead is tied for the fourth-largest point margin with four races remaining since the 2008 season. Since that year, the largest deficit overcome by the eventual champion was also 59 points, by Dario Franchitti in 2010.
It's noteworthy that just four drivers—Herta, Dixon, Power and McLaughlin—are within even that 59-point threshold this time around.
Technically, 14 drivers are still eligible to win the championship. However, 14th-place Marcus Armstrong would need to win all four remaining races and have Palou fail to even start any of the four remaining races. And that scenario would be just to tie Palou. Any driver who exceeds Palou's current point total would obviously be beyond Armstrong's maximum points.
In 2021, champion Palou led Pato O’Ward by 21 points with four races remaining. In 2023, Palou led Newgarden by 84 with four to go.
A maximum of 54 points is available to any driver per race. The minimum for any driver who starts a race is five points.
Of the sport’s top names entering Sunday’s race on the 1.96-mile Portland International Raceway road course, Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden faces a difficult, if not insurmountable, road toward another championship. He is in eighth place, 126 behind Palou and will need excellent finishes combined with trouble from just about all of the frontrunners to have a shot at reaching first place.
Newgarden was criticized for his slow late-race restart on the way to victory last week at World Wide Technology Raceway.
Palou won last year’s race at Portland. The only other former Portland winners entered this weekend are Scott McLaughlin and Will Power.
The weekend’s first practice is scheduled at 5:55 p.m. (ET) Friday. Second practice will be at noon Saturday, followed by qualifying at 3:30 p.m. The BITNILE.COM Grand Prix of Portland is scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m. Sunday.
IndyCar Championship Contenders
Four races remain, with a total of 54 points maximum available to one driver each race (includes bonus points for most laps led, pole, lead a lap), 216 for the remainder of the season. Drivers earn a minimum of five points for simply starting the race. Click here to see the points format chart.
Alex Palou 443 points
Colton Herta 384
Scott Dixon 378
Will Power 377
Scott McLaughlin 370
Pato O'Ward 345
Kyle Kirkwood 322
Josef Newgarden 317
