First Impressions: Portland 2026

1. Pure domination. If you have seen Álex Palou win an IndyCar race before, today's performance was déjà vu. Palou ran a good pace in the opening stint while Felix Rosenqvist led from pole position. Palou remained in touching distance as the first round of pit stops began and, after the pit cycle, Palou was leading and could not be caught. Outside of the first 30% of the race, Palou was in control and took a rather effortless victory in the Grand Prix of Portland. We have known the championship would likely be his back in the season opener. With five races remaining, Palou's championship lead is over 110 points. We are expecting a mid-weekend coronation ceremony in Milwaukee. Could it occur in Washington, D.C.? Maybe we are getting ahead of ourselves. 

There is no reason to talk about the race. We have already covered it. Palou ran better through the first pit cycle and that was curtains. He didn't break a sweat. He didn't have to perform any heroics. Once he was in the lead, it was over. It was a leisurely drive for about an hour and 15 minutes. 

Last year, we were constantly talking about history when it came to Palou. This season it has not been as focused on what he can do in the record book, but perhaps we should turn our focus to the record book over the final month of the season. 

Palou has six victories this season, and today's victory means he joins Mario Andretti and Sébastien Bourdais as the only drivers to win at least six races in consecutive seasons. To match A.J. Foyt's record of ten victories in a single season, Palou would need to win four of the final five races. A reach. Unlikely. Not impossible. If Palou wins out, the record would be his. That is a little much. 

With six victories from 13 races, he is on pace for two more victories before this season is out. That would be eight victories for a second consecutive season. Andretti won eight consecutive races in 1966 and 1967. Palou would form a club with that level of success. It cannot be a club until it has two members. 

This was Palou's 25th career victory, the quarter-century mark and the 18th driver to reach this milestone. Another pair of victories would put him level with Johnny Rutherford for 15th. Another four victories would put him level with Rick Mears. Five victories and he is the 14th driver to reach 30 career victories, and he would end the season one victory behind Paul Tracy, Dario Franchitti and Hélio Castroneves, who are all tied for 11th. 

Palou is thrashing the record book. He is putting legends who took 15 or 20 years to amass their achievements in his rearview mirror in a blink. This is only Palou's seventh full season in IndyCar, and he very well could end this season tied for 15th in victories, not to mention he is about to be third all-time in championships. 

We could go on but that is enough. More history is to come before this season is out. Let's save our breath for when it occurs.

2. Felix Rosenqvist had a great day to finish second. Unfortunately, Rosenqvist races against Álex Palou, and like Long Beach, pole position gave Rosenqvist a great opening stint, but he could not rule the race. It was still a good day. Rosenqvist never put a wheel wrong. What could he have done better? It takes beyond perfection to defeat Palou at the moment. No one is finding that extra gear. Rosenqvist should not feel ashamed he could not ascended to a greater level. No one else is at the moment.

3. Will Power may have spent about 100 of 110 laps in third. Power made a charge for second on new alternate tires, saving those for the final stint. He got close, but once he was within touching distance of Rosenqvist, Power hit a wall and soon his tires wore down and he was unable to make the pass. We haven't seen Power in this position much this season. It was good he could at least hold this ground.

4. Fourth, 18th, four, 12th, fourth. That is the last five-race run for Rinus VeeKay, and VeeKay ran a stellar race for the most part. He was in a top five position the entire race. He didn't have what it took to crack the top three. He had a good battle with Kyle Kirkwood. The final pit cycle gave VeeKay the advantage. The Dutchman deserves all the praise in the world for this season, and raising Juncos Hollinger Racing. 

5. Somehow, Kyle Kirkwood managed a tire puncture for the second half of his penultimate stint. It did cost him a little time and a position as VeeKay leaped frogged him in the final pit cycle, but the fact it didn't derail Kirkwood's race and leave him 19th because he had to make an extra pit stop is stunning. Kirkwood made a push on the alternate tires to gain positions early. It worked other than being slowed behind Sting Ray Robb during a pit cycle. It could have been a spot better but considering how Kirkwood has run at this track in the past, this was a tremendous day.

6. Andretti Global had all three cars in the top six with Marcus Ericsson taking sixth. Ericsson was the first frustrated with Sting Ray Robb, and it cost him a few spots as Ericsson blew the chicane negotiating Robb running on older tires. It was not the end of the world for Ericsson but it did put him behind Kirkwood and VeeKay for good. The opening stint was promising as Ericsson drove up to second until his alternate tires lost pace and he had to stop on lap 24. There are a few things Ericsson would likely want back but overall there is hard to find flaws with this weekend for this organization.

7. Team Penske did pick up ground after all three cars started outside the top ten. Scott McLaughlin led the way and was seventh. This has been the story of McLaughlin's season. He has good days but not great days. McLaughlin was never a factor. He never makes flashy moves, but he finishes in the top ten and runs better than most. It is far from winning a race. It could be worse but there is a lot of work to do.

8. Josef Newgarden was the only driver to stop on lap eight, under the only caution for the race, and turn it into a good result. Newgarden might have finished eighth anyway even if he did not stop under the only caution and make this a four-stop race. It likely helped Newgarden get a few more positions. I think he hoped he would have at least been the top Penske driver with this strategy. He was about 0.6783 seconds short of that. Newgarden did look good even if all three Penske cars were starting behind the eight-ball. 

9. Christian Lundgaard stole the show in the first half of the race. In the first three laps, Lundgaard went from 25th to 15th. He continued to creep forward. Once he got into the top ten, Lundgaard plateaued. It was tougher to make ground. He got ninth. I am not sure he could have done any better. This is a 16-spot improvement. This was a nightmare of a weekend turned around in a blink. Lundgaard made it fun to watch.

10. Kyffin Simpson held on to finish tenth. It is a good result. Simpson kept losing spots over each stint. He wasn't slow. Others were just running a little better and improving. In the final stint, Simpson took on used alternate tires and that is what really cost him ninth to Lundgaard. This was Simpson's sixth top ten finish of the season and he had six top ten finishes over the entire 2025 season. He should be happy with his progress this year. 

11. Let's cover a few drivers in a batch...

Patricio O'Ward wasn't really seen in this race. Eleventh feels generous for his performance. Three sets of alternate tires to close this race helped him, a silver lining to not making it out of the first round of qualifying. 

David Malukas was 12th. He spent the entire race in the middle of the field. It wasn't a terrible day. It wasn't a great day either. Once he was shuffled back due to the grid penalty for the engine change Malukas had extra work to do and he couldn't quite go above and beyond in this one.

Both Dale Coyne Racing cars went backward at the start. Dennis Hauger was just outside the top ten for most of this race. It was a good run. Hauger hasn't had many races like this over his rookie season. 

Scott Dixon's slump is up to seven races without a top ten finish. Dixon started well but he lost time during stints and pit strategy didn't quite go in his favor. It is where he lost spots. He was ahead of O'Ward, Malukas and Hauger for most of this race, only to lose ground in the final pit cycle. This feels like a missed opportunity even if it wasn't a disastrous of the race. Dixon and the team really didn't do anything wrong. It just wasn't this group's day to get off the snide.

12. Louis Foster was the top Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver in 15th, but he lost three spots from the grid. Meanwhile, Mick Schumacher was the second-best RLLR driver in 16th, but he gained six spots from the grid. Foster does this regularly. It is the one thing against him over his two seasons in IndyCar. He has a good start but he does nothing with it. Some of that is the team. 

Schumacher has had a few days like this. It isn't much going from 22nd to 16th. These are at least days where Schumacher is moving forward and not dropping down the order or remaining an anchor at the back of the field.

13. Romain Grosjean was 17th. Grosjean dropped like a rock and was never a factor. 

Nolan Siegel was never a factor and was 18th. Siegel hasn't had many poor races lately. 

Ed Carpenter Racing had another poor day. Alexander Rossi lost a spot to finish 19th. Christian Rasmussen suffered another mechanical issue that inexplicably cost him multiple laps. This is a team that cannot get out of its own way. 

A.J. Foyt Racing was 20th and 21st with Caio Collet and Santino Ferrucci. I am not sure Collet ever got into the top twenty after starting 24th due to a grid penalty. Ferrucci stopped under caution on lap eight. He was hopeful the strategy would work into something positive. It didn't and he cycled off the lead lap.

Sting Ray Robb got a lot of air time for a driving finishing 22nd. We know what Robb is. He was on the lead lap, but he was off-strategy on dozen-lap older tires. 

14. The lone caution was for Graham Rahal going off course in the final corner and bumping the tire barrier. Rahal immediately got going with almost no damage to the car, but the caution was shown. I guess IndyCar is never going to let an incident clear itself. There was no need for a caution. Rahal immediately restarted. It is a shame race control swung this wildly after the Grand Prix of Indianapolis incident with Alexander Rossi. 

It is also a shame IndyCar cannot figure out how to implement a virtual safety car system in the year 2026, over a decade after the FIA first introduced it in Formula One and its junior series, as well as being common in a number of sports car series. Even a local yellow would have been enough. It shouldn't be this hard to slow the cars for a set of corners when another car temporarily needs a moment to get pointed in the right direction. 

15. Marcus Armstrong suffered his third engine failure in four races. I am not sure what Armstrong did to have this much go against him. He was the only driver besides Newgarden who appeared to have used that pit stop under the one caution on lap eight to jump up the order. Armstrong looked set to fight for a top ten finish and his race was over before the race was a third of the way through. The speed was there for Armstrong. He just needs to have the car not fail him.

16. The odd thing about this race is the tire compounds did have a good difference between them. The alternate tire was better for at least half a stint. It wasn't a massive advantage, but it was enough for cars to make passes and move up the order. The tires leveled out though, and there was never a swing in pace. There was no advantage to the primary tire at any point. The alternate tire didn't fall off a cliff once it was pass that advantage. That is what this race needed. It was ok if the alternate tire had a 15-lap advantage, but after that it needed to be a colossal swing where teams were skeptical about if they could do five more laps and have teams rolling the dice to run 20 or 22 laps. Firestone was part of the way there. It just needs to solve that second part where the primary tire gets is prime spot to shine.

It also didn't help that the tire advantage was neutralized once in turbulent air. There is no reason why Kirkwood, Ericsson and VeeKay should have been stuck behind Robb when their tires were a dozen or 15 laps fresher. Power clawed back the gap to Rosenqvist but the wake from the Swede neutralized Power's tire advantage and in a few laps, Power's tires were shot and he dropped back. 

Dirty air is always going to exist. It doesn't matter what you do with the cars and how the body work is developed. Running behind another car will be a disadvantage on a road or street course. That is going to be the case with the new Dallara chassis as well. It might not be as bad. It wasn't that bad with the universal aero kit when it was first introduced, but at some point it will be notable. 

A bigger gap between the tires at least makes it possible to overcome track position being the main advantage. We have seen plenty of times Firestone develop a good split and the compound difference can overcome track position. That has been rare this season, and it is the one thing Firestone cannot consistently nail.

17. This wasn't a race that will be celebrated until the end of time, but we have another one next week and it is a completely new circuit. We are off to Markham, Ontario for IndyCar's lone international race. 

Morning Warm-Up: Portland 2026

Felix Rosenqvist won his second pole position of the season as Rosenqvist ran a 58.4828-second lap around Portland International Raceway during Saturday qualifying. This was the fifth time in seven Portland appearances Rosenqvist has made the final round of qualifying, and he started second in last year's race. It is the Swede's eighth career pole position, and this is the third time he has won multiple pole positions in a season. He started first at Long Beach in April and finished second. Long Beach was the first time Rosenqvist had finished in the top five after starting on pole position. His average finish when starting on pole position is 13.428. In six Portland starts, Rosenqvist has two runner-up finishes and five top ten finishes. He is one of five drivers with two runner-up finishes at Portland to never win the race. The others are Paul Tracy, Roberto Moreno, Bruno Junqueira and Justin Wilson.

Álex Palou starts second as Palou was 0.0184 seconds off winning his seventh pole position of the season. This will be 11th time this season Palou has started in the top five. He has never started outside the top five at Portland. Palou enters this weekend fresh off his 24th career victory and his 50th career podium finish in Nashville. He became the 22nd driver to reach 50 podium finishes in IndyCar history. His Nashville victory put Palou tied for 18th all-time in victories with Ralph DePalma and Bobby Rahal. Palou is one victory behind Gordon Johncock for 17th. The only time Palou has won from second starting position was last year at Road America.

Will Power missed out on pole position by 0.0302 seconds, and Power will start third, the same starting position Power won from last year at Portland. This is the fourth time the Australian is starting in the top five this season. His best finish this season was third, which occurred at Arlington and Road America. Power is attempting to win at Portland for the third consecutive race. The only other circuit where Power has won three consecutive races was the São Paulo street circuit, where he won from 2010 to 2012. 

Marcus Ericsson rounds out an all-Andretti Global row two. Ericsson was 0.1901 seconds slower than his fellow Swede Rosenqvist. Ericsson had started tenth in four of his first five Portland starts. This is his best starting position since he was on pole position at Arlington. After finishing sixth at Nashville, Ericsson will look for his third instance of consecutive top ten finishes this season. He was fourth and sixth at Arlington and Barber Motorsports Park respectively. He would finish eighth at Detroit and followed it with a second at Gateway.

Rinus VeeKay is the top Chevrolet starter in fifth position. VeeKay was 0.2873 seconds off pole position, but this is his best grid position for a Portland race. His previous best was 12th in 2022. This is the third consecutive race VeeKay is starting in the top ten. He has not started in the top ten for three consecutive races since a four-race stretch over July and August 2022. While VeeKay was sixth in the 2023 Portland race, his average finish in five Portland starts is 14.2 and he has finished 17th or worse in three of those races. 

Kyffin Simpson has his best starting position of the season in sixth. Simpson had not started in the top fifteen in the last five races. Simpson's ninth-place finish at Nashville was his fifth top ten finish of the season. He had six top ten finishes over the entire 2025 season after his best result was 12th in his rookie season two years ago. Four of Simpson's five top ten finishes this season have come when he has started 17th or worse.

Kyle Kirkwood starts seventh, as Kirkwood was 0.0352 seconds from making the final round of qualifying. This will be his best Portland start. He had never started better than 11th in his first four trips to the Rose City. In his first four IndyCar seasons, Kirkwood's only top five finish in the month of August was his Nashville victory in 2023. His average finish in the month of August is 13th with four top ten finishes in 11 August starts. Kirkwood won from seventh on the grid earlier this season at Arlington.

Graham Rahal has his best starting position since the Grand Prix of Indianapolis with Rahal taking eighth on the grid for the Grand Prix of Portland. Rahal fell 0.0514 seconds shy of making the final round of qualifying. Rahal has finished in the top ten of the last two Portland races and he has finished in the top ten in five of the last six Portland races. He has completed every lap in the last five Portland races after he completed a combined four laps between the 2018 and 2019 races.

Dennis Hauger starts in the top ten for the first time since the St. Petersburg season opener as Hauger will start ninth in Portland. Hauger had not made the second round of qualifying since the St. Petersburg race as well. In the last six races, Hauger's best finish is 13th at Detroit and that is his only top fifteen finish. In the first six races, Hauger had four top fifteen finishes. 

Romain Grosjean completes an all-Dale Coyne Racing row five. St. Petersburg was the only race prior to Portland where both Coyne cars started in the top ten. While Grosjean started sixth at St. Petersburg, his only other top ten start was sixth at Barber Motorsports Park. In four Portland starts, Grosjean's average finish is 23.75, and he finished last in his last two Portland appearances. The 2022 Portland race is the only time Grosjean finished on the lead lap.

Scott Dixon clipped the barrier entering turn one during the second round of qualifying, and Dixon was unable to complete a final flying run. Dixon will start 11th after the incident. This will be Dixon's tenth Portland start, and he has yet to win at the circuit. The only drivers to make at least ten Portland starts and not win there are Paul Tracy (15 starts), Jimmy Vasser (14 starts) and Raul Boesel (11 starts).

Louis Foster fell 0.0216 seconds off advancing out of the first qualifying group. A grid penalty will slide Foster up to 12th starting position despite the Briton not making it out of round one. This is his best starting position since he started 11th at Detroit. He had started 17th or worse in the previous four races. Foster has finished outside the top fifteen in three of the last four races.

Scott McLaughlin did not make it to the second round of qualifying after falling 0.0872 seconds shy of advancing, and McLaughlin will start 13th. This will be McLaughlin's 97th career start, putting him level all-time with former Team Penske driver Juan Pablo Montoya. Compared to Montoya, McLaughlin enters his 97th start with eight fewer victories (7 to 15), two fewer podiums (24 to 26), three fewer top five finishes (35 to 38), but McLaughlin has one more top ten finish (59 to 58).

Josef Newgarden missed out on the second round of qualifying by 0.0271 seconds, placing Newgarden in 14th starting position. This is the seventh time this season Newgarden is starting outside the top ten. He started outside the top ten in seven races all of last season. Newgarden has not had a podium finish on a permanent road course since he was third at Portland in 2024. That came after Newgarden won at Gateway in the previous race. With three podiums already, he has matched his podium finish total from last season.

David Malukas made the second round of qualifying, but a six-spot grid penalty for an unapproved engine change knocks Malukas down to 15th starting position, and it will be three Team Penske cars in a row on the grid. This is the this time Malukas has started outside the top ten this season. While Malukas has led four races this season, the only road/street course he has led was the Grand Prix of Indianapolis. He led a race-high 27-laps in that race.

Nolan Siegel starts on the outside of row eight. This is Siegel's best starting position at Portland. He had started 23rd and 17th in his first two Portland starts. He did finish 16th in last year's Portland race. After failing to finish in the top fifteen in the first four races of the season, Siegel has finished tenth, 11th or 12th in five of the last eight races with only two races outside the top fifteen.

Patricio O'Ward is a spot behind his Arrow McLaren teammate Siegel in 17th starting position, O'Ward worst starting position of the season. O'Ward fell short of the second round of qualifying by 0.0277 seconds. O'Ward has finished 15th and 25th in the last two Portland races after finishing fourth in his previous two visits to the track. His one podium finish, though a victory at Mid-Ohio, is his fewest through the first 12 races of a season. His previously low was three in the first 12 races of the 2020 season.

Alexander Rossi was 0.038 seconds too slow to make it out of the first qualifying group, and Rossi will start 18th, his worst starting position for a Portland race. Rossi has two podium finishes, three top five finishes and five top ten finishes in seven Portland starts. His most recent top five finish on a road/street course was last year at Portland when he was fifth. 

Christian Rasmussen qualified 19th. While Rasmussen will start outside the top ten for the ninth time this season, the Dane has never started outside the top twenty. Rasmussen has finished outside the top twenty in five of the last seven races with two top ten finishes mixed in-between, third at Gateway and seventh at Mid-Ohio. The Gateway result came after he started 19th. He has finished worse than his starting position in nine of the first 12 races this season.

Marcus Armstrong had been fastest in the Saturday morning practice, but Armstrong was 0.0541 seconds off advancing from the first qualifying group, and he will start 20th. Armstrong hopes to avoid a fourth consecutive finish outside the top ten. The New Zealander has never gone four consecutive starts without a top ten finish in his IndyCar career. This current slump is the third time in his career he has gone three consecutive races without a top ten finish. 

Santino Ferrucci takes the inside of row 11. It is the sixth consecutive race Ferrucci will start outside the top ten. This will be the fifth time Ferrucci has participated in the 13th race of a season. He has finished 12th in three of his four times participating in the 13th race. Last year, Ferrucci was unable to start the 13th race as a morning warm-up accident prevented him from making the grid at Toronto. 

Mick Schumacher will take 22nd on the grid. This is the sixth time this season Schumacher will start outside the top twenty. He has started outside the top fifteen in 11 of 13 races, including this Portland race. Schumacher picked up his first career top ten finish at Nashville three weeks ago with an eighth-place finish.

Sting Ray Robb will start 23rd. It is the ninth time this season Robb is starting outside the top twenty.  Robb scored a 15th-place finish at Nashville, his second top fifteen finish of the season. His other top fifteen finish was 14th at Detroit. Last year, he did pick up his best Portland finish when he was 14th. Robb has never had consecutive top fifteen finishes in his IndyCar career.

Caio Collet drops to 24th on the grid after being issued a six-spot grid penalty for an unapproved engine change. Collet had started inside the top twenty in five consecutive races and he had started in the top fifteen in the last three races. Collet is still looking for his first top ten finish this season. On permanent road courses, his average finish is 16.75, and he did have his best finish occur at Mid-Ohio where he was 11th.

Christian Lundgaard had a disastrous qualifying session and he will start 25th, dead last for the Grand Prix of Portland. This is Lundgaard's second consecutive race starting outside the top twenty. He started 24th at Nashville. It is the ninth time he has started outside the top ten. It is the Dane's worst starting position since he was 25th for the second race of the 2024 Milwaukee doubleheader. Lundgaard has four consecutive top five finishes on road and street courses, and he has seven consecutive podium finishes on permanent road courses dating back to last season. 

Fox's coverage of the OnlyBulls Grand Prix of Portland begins at 4:00 p.m. ET with green flag scheduled for 4:27 p.m. ET. The race is scheduled for 110 laps.

Track Walk: Portland 2026

The 13th round of the 2026 NTT IndyCar Series season has the series returning from its summer break with a round at Portland International Raceway. It will be the first of five consecutive race weekends that will see six races take place during a span of 29 days. This is the run-in for the 2026 season. The next off-weekend will be the first one of the 2026-27 offseason. Time is running out for results. Through the first 12 races, six different drivers have won a race. Thirteen drivers have made a trip to the podium. Twenty-four drivers have picked up a top ten finish. There have been four different winners in the last four races.

Coverage

Time: Coverage begins at 4:00 p.m. ET on Sunday August 9 with green flag scheduled for 4:27 p.m. ET.
Channel: Fox
Announcers: Will Buxton, Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe will be in the booth. Kevin Lee, Georgia Henneberry and Jack Harvey will work pit lane.

IndyCar Weekend Schedule

Friday:

First Practice: 5:30 p.m. ET (75 minutes)

Saturday:

Second Practice: 1:00 p.m. ET (75 minutes)
Qualifying: 7:00 p.m. ET 

Sunday:
Warm-Up: 1:00 p.m. ET (30 minutes)

Race: 4:27 p.m. ET (110 laps)

Palou Loves Portland

Another trip to the Pacific Northwest sees Álex Palou firmly in control of the championship. Palou enters the Rose City with an 83-point championship lead over David Malukas. Palou is guaranteed to leave Portland with the championship lead. With only 324 points left on the table, 23 drivers remain mathematically eligible for the championship. Mick Schumacher and Sting Ray Robb were the first two full-time drivers to be mathematically eliminated from the championship after the Nashville round.

Palou will clinch the championship as long as he scores 242 points over the final six races. That is an average of 40.333 points per race. Essentially, if Palou finishes second in each of the final six races and scores at least two bonus points at any point over the final six races, he will be champion regardless if Malukas wins each of the final six races with the maximum 54 points. 

This will be the sixth visit to Portland for Palou. It is his fourth consecutive year he is entering as the championship leader. He has never entered Portland worse than fifth in the championship. He has left Portland as the championship leader after four of his first five visits to the circuit. 

This is one of Palou's best tracks, but it isn't even close to being his best track. Though he has an average finish of 3.8 at Portland, it still ranks fourth among tracks where he has made at least three starts. It is behind Laguna Seca (1.6), Barber Motorsports Park (2.5) and Long Beach (3.0). Portland is one of seven circuits where Palou has at least four podium finishes. The Catalan driver has finished on the podium in the last three trips to Portland. He has led a lap in four of his five starts here. The one time he did not lead at Portland is when he had his worst finish, his only finish not on the podium, a 12th in 2022. It is also the only time Palou left Portland not as the championship leader. 

When it comes to starting position, Portland is at the top for Palou. He has never started worse than fifth in the Grand Prix of Portland. With an average starting position of 3.6, it ranks third-best among tracks where he has made at least three starts. Only the Detroit street circuit (2.333) and Barber Motorsports Park  (3.333) are where he has a better average starting position. Palou enters this weekend having started every race this season in the top ten. Only twice has he started outside the top five. Palou has not started outside the top ten since the 2024 IndyCar finale at Nashville, a race where he started 24th partially because of a nine-spot grid penalty for an unapproved engine change.

Palou enters this weekend with five victories this season. He is one of six drivers in IndyCar history to win at least five races in three seasons. A.J. Foyt has the most seasons with at least five victories with six. Mario Andretti, Michael Andretti, Sébastien Bourdais and Al Unser each had four seasons with at least five victories. 

One more victory could make Palou the first driver to win at least six races in consecutive seasons since Bourdais won seven in the 2006 season and eight in the 2007 season. The only other driver to win at least six races in consecutive seasons is Mario Andretti, who won eight races in each 1966 and 1967.

Power Also Loves Portland

While Palou enters Portland attempting to win the Grand Prix of Portland for a third time, which would match the all-time record, Will Power already has three Portland victories, and Power has won this event the last two years.

Last year, Power became the fifth driver to win in consecutive years at Portland. In 2026, he could become the second driver to win three consecutive years at Portland. Michael Andretti won from 1990 to 1992 in the Rose City. Al Unser, Jr. scored his first career victory at Portland in 1984 before he won in consecutive years in 1994 and 1995, the other driver with three career Portland victories. 

In his first two Portland victories, Power won from second on the grid. Last year, he started third but still drove to victory. In the last two Portland races, Power has led a combined 179 of 220 laps. In each of his three Portland victories, he has led at least 50 laps. Since IndyCar returned to Portland in 2018, Power has started in the top three in five of seven races. His track record has been hit-or-miss at Portland during that timespan. While he has three victories and he was also second in the 2022 race, in the other three Portland races since 2018, Power has finished outside the top ten with two results outside the top twenty. 

Hit-or-miss has been the story of Power's first season with Andretti Global. There have been a lot more misses. Power does have two podium finishes, but he has also finished outside the top fifteen in six of the first 12 races. This has Power ranked 14th in the championship on 220 points. At no point this season has Power been ranked in the top ten. The best he has been was 11th after Arlington in March. He did have three consecutive top ten finishes before he was 20th at Nashville. Power had only one top ten finish in the first eight races this season. Qualifying pace has not improved. He has started in the top ten in five races while he has also started 19th or worse in five races. 

Power is the bottom of the three Andretti drivers in the championship.

Kyle Kirkwood continues to lead the way for Andretti. Though he has slipped to third in the championship, Kirkwood has five consecutive top ten finishes, and his only finish outside the top ten remains 16th in the Indianapolis 500. Portland has not been a great place for Kirkwood. His best finish is tenth, where he finished in 2023 and 2024 editions of this race. He has never started better than 11th at the circuit. He has also never led a lap.

Though he has as may top five finishes as Power, Marcus Ericsson is eighth in the championship and 30 points clear of the Australian. Ericsson's top five finishes were fourth at Arlington and second at Gateway. His sixth at Nashville was his sixth top ten finish of the season. Entering the 13th race of the 2025 season, Ericsson had one top ten finish. In five Portland starts, Ericsson has started tenth in four of those races. He started 18th in 2022. He has three top ten finishes, but he was 22nd last year.

Andretti Gloabl had a driver finish on the podium in the first three Portland races after its return to the schedule in 2018. It has not been on the podium since, and in two of the last three years the best Andretti finisher at Portland has been in tenth position. 

The Top Ten Tussle

Out of the summer breather, there is a tight fight for tenth in the IndyCar championship, and it is likely involving a few drivers you did not expect to be there. Currently, 12 points cover tenth and 13th in the championship. 

In tenth, maybe the biggest surprise of all. It is Rinus VeeKay! The Juncos Hollinger Racing driver has come on strong since the Indianapolis 500. After opening the season with a ninth at St. Petersburg, VeeKay failed to finish in the top ten in the next five races and he was 16th in the championship. At the Indianapolis, the Dutchman was sixth. He has alternated finishing inside and outside the top ten since, but his other two top ten finishes were each fourth-place finishes, one at Gateway and the other at Mid-Ohio. 

This is the second consecutive season VeeKay has had multiple top five finishes, and it is the fifth time in seven seasons he has had multiple top five finishes. His most top five finishes in a seaosn was three in 2022. VeeKay joined Callum Ilott as the only Juncos Hollinger Racing drivers to have multiple top five finishes in a season.

A point behind VeeKay is Scott Dixon, whose historic slump continues into Portland. Dixon has not had a top ten finish in his last six starts. His only top five finish this season remains a third at Long Beach. Dixon is in danger of having his worst championship finish in over two decades. The bad news is Dixon has finished outside the top ten in the last two Portland races. Prior to that, he had three consecutive third-place finishes in this race.

Graham Rahal is a surprise for the top ten battle. Rahal is eight points behind VeeKay, and Rahal is one of six drivers this season with at least three podium finishes. Rahal had been ranked in the top ten of the championship after three races this season, but with a four-race slump where he has failed to score a top ten finish and where he has retired from three of those events, he has slipped to 12th in the championship. Portland was the location to Rahal's best finish last season. He drove from 22nd to fourth, and he has fourth top ten finishes in the last five Portland races.

Marcus Armstrong is 12 points outside the championship top ten in 13th. Armstrong had four top ten finishes from the first seven races. In the last five races, he has one top ten finish, and he has finished outside the top twenty in two of the last three races, both of which have been retirements due to engine failures, one of which while he was leading at Road America. Armstrong has finished 24th in three races this season. Armstrong's Road America retirement was a 46-point swing in the championship. Forty-six additional points would place him ninth in the championship.

VeeKay has never finished better 12th in the championship in his first six IndyCar seasons. Rahal has not had a championship top ten season since 2021, which was his seventh consecutive top ten championship finish at the time. Dixon has finished in the championship top ten in 20 consecutive seasons, and he hasn't finished worse than sixth during that timeframe. Last year, Armstrong was eighth in the championship, his first championship top ten finish.

Seeking a Top Five Finish

Many have had a taste of success this season. Two-dozen drivers have a top ten finish this season. Over half of those drivers have finished on the podium. While we have run a dozen races, two teams have yet to score a top five finish this season: A.J. Foyt Racing and Dale Coyne Racing. 

For A.J. Foyt Racing, it has been rather competitive in recent years. 

Santino Ferrucci has had at least one top five finish in each of the last three season. Last year, Ferrucci had a career-high four top five finishes. Two years ago, Ferrucci was ninth in the championship. This year, Ferrucci's best finish remains eighth, which occurred at Barber and the Indianapolis 500. While he was eighth at Barber, Ferrucci's average finish on road and street course is 16.5. Last year, his average finish on road and street courses was 14.7. 

Caio Collet has been celebrated at times this season for his speed, but the results have not been following Collet. The Brazilian is 23rd in the championship on 137 points. He has yet to finish in the top ten this season, let alone in the top five. Collet is one of two full-time drivers without a top ten finish. The other is Sting Ray Robb. Collet has only two top fifteen finishes, though his best finish was only two races ago with an 11th at Mid-Ohio. His average finish on road and street courses is 16.75.

This is likely not the season Dale Coyne Racing expected. After having both cars finish in the top ten at St. Petersburg, its two drivers have combined for two top ten finishes over the 11 following races. Neither driver has been close to a top five finish. 

Dennis Hauger does lead the Coyne head-to-head battle. Hauger is on 157 points in 20th, two points ahead of Romain Grosjean. Hauger has not finished in the top ten in the last six races, and each of those results have been 20th or worse. The Norwegian started third in the season opener and that remains the only time he has made it out of the first round of qualifying this season. He has started outside the top twenty in seven of 12 races this season. 

Grosjean was ninth in the Indianapolis 500, but he has not cracked the top ten since. The Frenchman is currently on a pattern of one top ten finish followed by five consecutive results outside the top ten. Grosjean has made it out of the first round of qualifying twice since St. Petersburg, but he has not made it to round two since the Grand Prix of Indianapolis. He has started outside the top fifteen in five of the last six races after having only one start outside the top fifteen in the first six races.

Two years ago, Ferrucci started on pole position at Portland before finishing eighth. In his other four Portland starts, his best finish is 16th. In four Portland starts, Grosjean's best finish is 19th and he has finished 27th in his last two visits. 

Last year, Hauger won the Indy Lights race from Portland with Collet finishing second. Though Collet started on pole position, Hauger led all 35 laps and picked up fastest lap in the process. 

Ferrucci's eighth at Portland two years ago matched A.J. Foyt Racing's best finish at the circuit. Robby Gordon was eighth in the 1993 Portland race, and Matheus Leist was eighth in 2018. Dale Coyne Racing was on the podium in that 2018 race with Sébastien Bourdais in third. That is Coyne's only top five finish at Portland. 

Road to Indy

The Road to Indy Series are also winding down their 2026 seasons, and all three will be on track at Portland. 

For Indy Lights, only four races remain over three race weekends. Nikita Johnson retook the championship lead with a second at Nashville while Enzo Fittipaldi was 11th and Tymek Kucharczyk was 18th. Johnson has scored 451 points and he has finished on the podium in three of the last four races. However, he has not won since the third race of these season, the first race at Barber Motorsports Park. 

Fittipaldi has fallen one point behind Johnson in the championship. Fittipaldi leads all drivers with four victories this season, but he has also finished outside the top ten in four races while Johnson's worst finish is seventh. Kucharczyk is 25 points off the championship lead. His 18th at Nashville was his first result outside the top ten this season. 

Max Taylor is 90 points off the championship lead. Taylor was fifth at Nashville, his first top five finish in five races. Lochie Hughes is 106 points back in fifth. Hughes has only two podium finishes this season. Myles Rowe picked up his third podium finish of the season in Nashville when he was third. Rowe is 115 points behind Johnson. 

Alessandro de Tullio sits on 324 points in seventh as he has three consecutive top ten finishes entering Portland. Jack Beeton has five consecutive top ten finishes, all in the top eight, after having two top ten finishes and not finishing better than ninth in the first eight races this season. Beeton's form has lifted him to eighth in the championship, 25 points behind de Tullio.

Nashville winner Matteo Nannini takes ninth on 297 points with Josh Pierson rounding out the top ten on 282 points. With four races remaining, only 216 points remain available this Indy Lights season. Juan Manuel Correa (271 points), Max Garcia (264) and Seb Murray (245) are the final drivers mathematically alive for the championship. 

There are two driver changes ahead of the Portland round. Bart Harrison will take over the #17 HMD Motorsports Dallara from Salvador de Alba, and Harrison will also contest the Laguna Seca doubleheader. De Alba will return for Milwaukee. Harrison is from the United Kingdom,  and he had competed in the first four rounds of the Eurocup-3 championship, a Formula Regional alternate. He is currently 16th in the Eurocup-3 championship out of 19 drivers who have scored points, and his best finish in ten races is seventh.

Jordan Missig will be unable to complete the season at Abel Motorsports due to his accident at Nashville leaving with insufficient funds. Jacob Abel will return and run the #48 Dallara for the team at Portland. Abel made his Indianapolis 500 debut this past May and finished two laps down in 24th. In 42 Indy Lights starts, Abel won three times, all in the 2024 season, include the Portland race.

The 35-lap Indy Lights race will be held at 2:08 p.m. ET on Sunday August 9. The race has a 55-minute limit. 

There was a change at the top of the USF Pro 2000 championship at the Mid-Ohio round. With a sweep of the Mid-Ohio triple-header, Leonardo Escorpioni took the championship lead as the Brazilian has 228 points, two points more than Jack Jefferes. Jeffers was second, fourth and second that weekend, and he has finished in no worse than sixth in nine consecutive raes, but he has not won since the second race on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. Escorpioni has a streak of six consecutive top five finishes entering Portland.

G3 Argyros is 51 points off the championship lead as he ended the Road America weekend with a pair of top five results after starting with a 15th in the first race of the weekend. Andrés Cárdenas has four podium finishes in the last five races. Cárdenas is still searching for his first victory of the season. The Peruvian is 54 points off the championship lead. Frankie Mossman is also looking for his first victory of the season despite having five podium finishes, the same amount as championship leader Escorpioni. Mossman is 61 points behind the Brazilian.

In the five races since his victory at Indianapolis Raceway Park, Michael Costello has one top five finish. Costello is sixth in the championship, a point behind Mossman. Thomas Schrage has nine consecutive top ten finishes and he is seventh on 151 points. After opening the season with three consecutive results outside the top ten, Teddy Musella has seventh consecutive top ten finishes, five of those finishes have been seventh-place results. Musella has 133 points. Brady Golan and Christian Cameron round out the top ten on 116 points and 109 points respectively. 

The first USF Pro 2000 race will be held at 8:05 p.m. ET on Friday August 7 with the second scheduled for Saturday August 8 at 5:30 p.m. ET. Both races are 30 laps or 45 minutes.

Despite having his worst result of the season in the first Mid-Ohio race, Sebastián Garzón has a good hold on the U.S. F2000 championship lead with 265 points. Garzón was 12th in the first Mid-Ohio race, but he bounced back with a third in race two. The Colombian has eight podium finishes and ten top five finishes from 11 races. He has not won since the fourth race of the season, the second race of the IMS road course triple-header. 

Brad Majman has closed to within 19 points of Garzón. Majman has eight consecutive top five finishes and ten top five finishes from 11 races this season. Majman's fellow Australian Eddie Beswick is third in the championship, 57 points behind Garzón. Beswick picked up his second victory of the season in the first Mid-Ohio race, but he was 15th in the second race of the weekend. 

After a run of six consecutive top five finishes, Evan Cooley has fallen into a three-race slump. He has finished 23rd, 13th and tenth in that span. Cooley has fallen to 90 points behind the championship leader. João Vergara is fifth in the championship, 96 points from the championship lead. Vergara was second and fifth at Mid-Ohio. His only other top five result prior was second in the St. Petersburg season opener.

Anthony Martella scored his third victory of the season in the second Mid-Ohio race. While Martella has won three times, he has finished outside the top fifteen in five races, including the first Mid-Ohio race when he was 17th. The Canadian is 108 points behind Garzón. Ryan Giannetta was fourth and second at Mid-Ohio, his first top five finishes of the season. Giannetta has 139 points, tied with Ayrton Cahan, but Cahan's best finish this season is sixth.

Gabriel Cahan is ninth on 134 points while Oliver Wheldon rounds out the top ten on 132 points. Wheldon was 18th and 11th at Mid-Ohio. 

U.S. F2000 will race at 7:10 p.m. ET on Friday August 7 and at 3:50 p.m. ET on Saturday August 8. The races are scheduled for 25 laps or 40 minutes.

Fast Facts

This will be the sixth IndyCar race to take place on August 9 and the first since Scott Dixon won at Mid-Ohio in 2009. Dixon has won the last two races held on August 9. He won at Kentucky on this day in 2008. 

Scott Dixon has the most victories in the month of August in IndyCar history with 12. Will Power has the second-most with 11.

Álex Palou has never won an IndyCar race in the month of August.

There have been 17 IndyCar races held in the month of August since Palou entered IndyCar in 2020.

Since returning to the schedule in 2018, five of the seven Portland races have had an opening lap caution and six of the seven races have had a caution within the first three laps of the race. 

The average length of the first caution period when it was an opening lap incident is 7.2 laps.

The only Portland race in the last seven to avoid a caution within the first three laps was 2022, which went 83 laps before a caution... for an incident entering turn one involving Jimmie Johnson and Rinus VeeKay.

The average number of caution in a Portland race is 2.129 with a median of one. The average number of caution laps is 7.933 with a median of 5.5.

There have been six caution-free races at Portland, most recently in 2007.

Six of the last seven Portland races have had at least one top five finisher started outside the top ten. 

In four of those six races, at least one top five finisher started outside the top fifteen.

On race day, it will be 20 years, one month and 22 days since the last time an American driver won at Portland. That would be A.J. Allmendinger in 2006. It was Allmendinger's first career victory. Allmendinger is the only American winner at Portland in the last 30 years. Portland did not host a race from 2008 to 2017, and it did not host a race in 2020 due to the global pandemic.

Allmendinger is one of four drivers to have their first career victory occur at Portland. The others are Al Unser, Jr. (1984), Alex Zanardi (1996) and Mark Blundell (1997)

The average starting position for a Portland winner is 3.806 with a median of second. 

There have been nine consecutive different pole position winners at Portland (Bruno Junqueira, Justin Wilson, Will Power, Colton Herta, Álex Palou, Scott McLaughlin, Graham Rahal, Santino Ferrucci and Christian Lundgaard). 

Six different teams have won the last six Portland pole positions (Andretti Global, Chip Ganassi Racing, Team Penske, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, A.J. Foyt Racing, McLaren).

Six consecutive Portland races have been won from a top five starting position. Four of those six have been from the front row.

Twice has a Portland winner started outside the top ten (Mark Blundell from 11th in 1997, Takuma Sato from 20th in 2018).

The average number of lead changes in a Portland race is 6.387 with a median of six. 

Nine consecutive Portland races have featured at least seven lead changes.

Last year's race featured 11 lead changes, the second-most in a Portland race. The most was 12 in 2021.

Every Portland race has featured at least two lead changes.

The only Portland race to feature less than three lead changes was the 2001 race, which had two lead changes.

Through 12 races, the driver who has led the most laps has won five times. Álex Palou is responsible for four of those victories. The other was Kyle Kirkwood at Arlington, where Kirkwood, Palou and Will Power all finished tied for the most laps led and they finished 1-2-3 respectively. 

Only three times this season has the race winner had fastest lap, and it happened in three consecutive races with Álex Palou at Detroit, Josef Newgarden at Gateway and Christian Lundgaard at Road America.

Predictions

Álex Palou... but if it isn't Álex Palou, and it will probably be Álex Palou, Christian Lundgaard gets his third victory of the season, and Lundgaard is at least seven spots ahead of his Arrow McLaren teammate Patricio O'Ward. Josef Newgarden scores a top five finish. Kyle Kirkwood moves ahead of David Malukas in the championship. Louis Foster starts outside the top fifteen and finishes inside the top ten. Will Power does not lead a lap. Mick Schumacher will be the top finishing rookie and he will leave as at least the second-best rookie in the championship. Sleeper: Alexander Rossi.

2026 Midsummer Catch-Up

We are at the halfway point of summer, and we are coming off a break for some. IndyCar, NASCAR, MotoGP and Formula One were all off last week. MotoGP is back after a month off. IndyCar had two weeks off and now has a five-week run-in to close its season. NASCAR gets just the one week off. Formula One will be on break for a few more weeks. Sports cars have remained busy. Every series has established itself. We know how things stand, and over the next few weeks and months, series will conclude their seasons. 

This isn't really a catchup in the traditional sense. It is more some thoughts and where things stand for a few series.

Formula One: This is Fine

It sounds odd to say a season where one driver won five consecutive races and has won over half the races run to this point has been rather competitive, but that has been the case, and the playing field has leveled out a little more recently. 

Andrea Kimi Antonelli leads the championship with 219 points, and he is 50 points clear of Lewis Hamilton in second. Antonelli has been the best driver this season, and he is really one mechanical issue and an off-track excursion away from having a slightly better lead. The championship is still within his control, but it feels like a strong second half from Ferrari could see him challenged.

Even with Antonelli winning six of 11 races, Ferrari has been up to the task and both its driver have won. George Russell has won twice. Lando Norris put McLaren on the board in Hungary. Red Bull isn't great but we all believe Max Verstappen could work something brilliant to win a race or two. A few races have been good. A few have been dull. It is a Formula One season like many Formula One seasons before it. There are still 12 races scheduled after the summer break! Remember when we got to August and there would be five races left? 

MotoGP: It is Marc Márquez's lose

This is a slightly more common belief around MotoGP. Despite Márquez's sloppy start to the season where he failed to stand on the podium in the first seven grand prix, two of which he missed due to injury, it feels like he entered the summer break as the best rider. 

In the last four races he has gone first, first, seventh and first with a pair of sprint victories in there. He did win two of the first four sprint races as well. He reached the summer break 18 points behind Jorge Martín. Martín's one grand prix victory was the French Grand Prix. Martín has two sprint victories, Austin and Le Mans. Ai Ogura is four points ahead of Márquez in the championship and has been rather strong the last few races. Marco Bezzecchi has unraveled ever since his retirement in Hungary with an exclusion for pushing a marshal at Brno and a broken collarbone in Germany in the interim. 

No Ducati rider is going to consistently beat Márquez, and it does not appear any competitor can match him on pace over the final 11 races. It really comes down to Márquez not tossing away results, something we cannot dismiss him doing. If he can accept days where he is going to fourth or fifth and not be desperate, he will take the title because more times than not the race will come to him.

NASCAR: Isn't it ironic how few surprise winners there are?

We are four races until the playoffs begin in the Cup Series, and all ten race winners this season rank in the top 15 of the championship. How about that in the first season since the reversion to the "Chase" format where the top 16 drivers in points will compete for the championship after the 26th race and there are no scheduled eliminations?

After the first 22 races last season, three winners were outside the top 16 in the championship. 

It should be acknowledged it pays more to win a race. Winning a race now pays 55 points as a base versus 40 points. The maximum points for a victory is now 76 points! A winner can now earn up to 41 more points than second place. That is one reason. 

Another is Shane van Gisbergen has improved mightily on ovals. Van Gisbergen has won twice, both on road courses, but his most impressive races have been the Coca-Cola 600, where he finished 11th but spent most of that race in the top ten, and he was fifth at North Wilkesboro and was legitimately a top five car. Add in finishing sixth in both Atlanta races and just showing more top twenty pace versus struggling to crack the top 25, and he is in the playoffs on points. 

We have had some close calls. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. was second in the Daytona 500 to Tyler Reddick in what was somewhat a toss-up coming to the checkered flag. Alex Bowman missed four races due to vertigo-like symptoms, and then he nearly won at Talladega. Brad Keselowski was second at Darlington after winning the first two stages. Drivers currently outside the top 16 were close to victory this season. It just didn't break their way.

FIA World Endurance Championship: There is greater intrigue

BMW has won two of four races. Le Mans was rather compelling with Toyota beating BMW with Cadillac not far off. Ferrari has been good, but not as quick as it has been in previous seasons. The #20 BMW and the #7 Toyota are tied in the championship through four races. It has felt like WEC races have been a little more open this season, and it is not surprising to see deeper competition. 

The next round is at Circuit of the Americas in about a month, and there could be nine cars that have a plausible shot at winning. That isn't a bad thing. It feels like we are bound to see a proper championship fight until the final round.

The WEC calendar has always been eight or nine races in length. I feel like we are a few rounds too short. I wish there were more opportunities to see this championship. 

IMSA: Something is Missing

I cannot put my finger on it. It has been a fun IMSA season. 

Laurin Heinrich stole the show early. Whelen Racing has been near-bulletproof. Acura has won a race. Wayne Taylor Racing finally ended its slump. We have a fun two-driver championship battle because Heinrich has pieced together a full season and Jack Aitken had a different co-driver at Long Beach because Earl Bamber had WEC responsibilities. Something is missing though. 

It might be the IMSA season is too quick, but it has been this way ever since Grand-Am and the American Le Mans Series merged. 

The schedule is front loaded... kind of. There are still six weeks between the first and second rounds, but IMSA becomes a once-a-month series for the top class starting in Detroit. 

May 30, June 28, August 2, September 20, October 3. That is the schedule for the top class, and you only see the class compete nine times all year. I don't know if another two or three races over the summer would make the season feel more full or make the championship more compelling. It isn't going to change. IMSA is set on this being the schedule length and this is what the teams can budget toward in terms of mileage over a full season. 

Maybe I am just not feeling it this year.

Super Formula: Kakunoshin Ohta is doing enough for Honda to take him to IndyCar

Seven races are in the books in the Super Formula season with five races remaining, Sportsland SUGO this weekend and a pair of doubleheaders at Fuji and Suzuka, and Ohta has 95 points and a 50.5-point lead over Ayumu Iwasa. Ohta has won four of seven races and finished in the points of all seven events. There are 115 points left on the table. 

It has been rather quiet on Ohta's possible move to North America. He has expressed interest in both IndyCar and IMSA, but the Acura program is leaving the grid at the end of this season. That leaves IndyCar and Ohta is probably ready for it. That second Meyer Shank Racing could be a good introduction.

Ohta was third in the Super Formula championship last year and he has won ten times in his Super Formula career. He is 27 years old. The last guy to come to IndyCar from Super Formula has done pretty well. Joining next year would mean one year in a lame-duck car. Holding off until 2028 could be the wiser move. Ohta is certainly fit for the challenge should he want it, and Honda will help facilitate it.

The Super Formula season goes until November 22. News could come deeper into the offseason than we are accustomed to hearing.

Indy Lights: I am not sure anyone is great

It speaks for itself. It has been a while since this series has had a three-driver championship fight with this little between the top drivers. Nikita Johnson is on 451 points, one point ahead of Enzo Fittipaldi and Tymek Kucharczyk is 25 points back. Nobody wows me. 

Johnson is 18 years old and was strong throughout his Road to Indy career. Fittipaldi spent the previous three years in Formula Two and won two races in that span with a pair of top ten championship finishes. Kucharczyk was Euroformula Open champion last year, but it was a series that had eight full-time drivers and had about 12 cars at most competing in any race. I don't know if these are good drivers or the best the series car attract. 

It doesn't help that Indy Lights does not have a historically great record of producing drivers. Drivers make it to IndyCar and then they are gone. There hasn't been a driver in the Road to Indy system that has ever wowed a team into fully supporting from their first race until they make their IndyCar debut. The closest we have is Kyle Kirkwood with Andretti Global being behind him and loaning him to A.J. Foyt Racing for his rookie IndyCar season. The rest are here today, gone tomorrow. Some do not even get that chance (We still remember you, Kyle Kaiser). 

Beyond the top three, Max Taylor is 18 years old and started strong but has had ups and downs. There is promise there. Lochie Hughes hasn't been as good as he was last years and the same can be said for Myles Rowe. Outside of the top six, there is no one to really mention. 

Somebody is going to be champion and we will have to discuss where that driver will race next year in IndyCar... which actually becomes tougher because of the charter system. 

We haven't discussed how the charter system makes it all-or-nothing for the Indy Lights champion. The prize was enough for an Indianapolis 500 entry and a few other races. There aren't going to be a few other races as grids are going to be restricted to chartered entries. That basically means full-time or just Indianapolis unless a team (Dale Coyne Racing) wants to split a car among multiple drivers. 

It only becomes more difficult to break into IndyCar for these drivers, and in recent years, rookies have struggled even when full-time and with a proper testing program entering a rookie season. We may need to discuss this further in the future.

Formula E: It looks good on paper

One round remains, a doubleheader from London, and nine drivers are still alive for the championship. 

A strong end to the season has seen Jake Dennis re-take the championship lead. With four podium finishes in the last five races, Dennis is on 146 points, two points ahead of Mitch Eavans. Pascal Wehrlein makes its five points covering the top three drivers. Oliver Rowland has an outside chance of defending his title, as Rowland is 14 points behind Dennis. It gets a little harder to believe Edoardo Mortara (116 points) and António Félix da Costa (113 points) have a chance. Nick Cassidy (104), Nico Müller (102) and Nyck de Vries (94) will require some good fortunate. 

There are multiple drivers alive for the championship entering the final round and it will likely be decided in the final race. 

It is unfortunate how buried Formula E has been. It has been that way for a while. It is a series without any demand. No one is lining up to broadcast the series because it is a can't-miss property. It can have some close races and multiple teams have a chance at winning. Eight of ten teams have won a race this season entering the final two rounds, and one of the winners is the worst time in the championship. Quality drivers are competing as well. It is a rather deep group. If only it was a little more accessible. 

Musings From the Weekend: Uniform Free Agency

Here is a rundown of what got me thinking...

Sami Pajari won his home rally, Rally Finland, his second career victory after winning his first career rally two weeks ago. Sébastien Ogier had a massive accident while in the lead, and it appears Ogier's title defense has come to a halt. Road America held an endurance race with a few notable accidents and inconsistent officiating. Honda had a good weekend in Toyota's backyard. Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan and Dario Franchitti each own a part of Legacy Motor Club. Maverick Viñales could be on the outs at KTM. Alexander Rossi and Álex Palou had to work this weekend, testing the new Dallara chassis. Talk about a rotten deal, testing on a weekend. That could be done on Monday and Tuesday, or been done Thursday and Friday? However, we start August looking back on news from the start of July.

Uniform Free Agency

A little over a month remains in the IndyCar season, but 2027 occupied much of the discussion in July. The biggest story of the month was not what happened on the racetrack, nor was it the rain-delay at Nashville and the missed opportunity of a race following the FIFA World Cup Final. The biggest story was driver movement. 

We have extensively covered Scott Dixon announcing his departure from Chip Ganassi Racing for Arrow McLaren, and the dominoes that followed. Felix Rosenqvist will join Dixon at McLaren. Christian Lundgaard is without a ride for the moment, as is Nolan Siegel. 

It is not uncommon for driver momvent to generate some attention during the season. Last year, Will Power's future was a weekly discussion, and it wasn't until the very end of the season did we learn Power would not return to Team Penske for 2027, choosing to exit the team he had been a member of since 2009. Simon Pagenaud, Josef Newgarden, Alexander Rossi, Tony Kanaan, they have all generated attention during a season more for where their futures were going than what they were doing on the racetrack. 

Motorsports is in a unique position where a driver can decide his future at anytime. A contract could be signed after a season has been completed. A driver can sign a contract a full year before he or she will be free. Fernando Alonso signed to join McLaren in 2007 before the 2006 Formula One season even began. Even if the announcement has not been made, it doesn't mean the deal is not done.

However, free agency is not the same for all. 

Scott Dixon was free to negotiate and look for a new home in the middle of the season. Christian Lundgaard, initially, wasn't. 

Contracts vary among organizations in every series, IndyCar included. While Dixon was allowed to negotiate midseason, and he could even sign with a team, this was not the same luxury for Lundgaard. Even though his seat was taken, Lundgaard was originally not allowed to start looking for rides for 2027. McLaren removed that restriction to Lundgaard shortly after Dixon and Rosenqvist were officially announced. 

Even the top drivers can face restrictions. Will Power had announced he would be leaving Team Penske and signed with Andretti Global not long after the 2025 season ended, but Power was not free to start working with Andretti until the calendar year was over. Power's replacement, however, David Malukas, not only signed with Team Penske but was testing for the team before 2025 was over. Contracts may have stipulations that a driver's services are retained through the calendar year, but teams are willing to release a driver early, most of the time. 

This is the way it has always been, but it is imperfect system for the drivers.

It is great for the teams. Some drivers lose out more than others. While Scott Dixon could negotiate in June and July, some drivers cannot start talking until after the last race. That takes a driver out of consideration for certain seats. It is also a disadvantage to a driver who is trying to negotiate staying with a team only for it to not come together early in the offseason. That driver has been focused on staying where he is at only to find out that seat is gone and perhaps a handful of others as well. 

There are a number of reasons why this free agency system in IndyCar is difficult to change, but it is worth considering if it is time for uniformity. 

The drivers should want it, but drivers in any form of motorsports are not great on unionizing and working for the greater good of the group. There is no incentive for IndyCar to step in, but it has never been better positioned to enforce some control. The charter system can be used for behavioral guidance. If a team has a charter, it could be forced to recognize certain standards for contracts and allowances for driver movement. 

For starters, there should be a uniform end date for all contracts, and all drivers should have the same length negotiating period. Some drivers should not get a two- or three-month head start. What we should see is a dedicated free agency period where drivers can negotiate but no one can sign a contract. 

Once a season ends, there should be a testing freeze that way no team nor contracted drivers can get an advantage while others are looking for seats. Two weeks after the season concludes, drivers should be allowed to start negotiating with other teams. A driver can negotiate with his incumbent team at all times, but a fortnight after the final race, teams are open to negotiate with anybody. There should be at least a two-week, if not a month negotiating period, where teams and drivers can talk but no one can be on track to test. This is entirely for negotiating contracts. Once that month is up, drivers are allowed to start testing.

Using 2026 as an example, the season finale is September 6 at Laguna Seca. Free agent negotiating would not begin until September 21. If it is a two-week period, teams could hit the track October 5. If it is four-week, it would be October 19. 

A benefit to this is not only would drivers get greater opportunities to at least interview with teams, but it would allow us to focus on the season as it is happening. There would always be some discussions about a driver's future midseason, but a driver signing would be less likely to overshadow a race weekend. It would also create some stories during the first portion of IndyCar's offseason. How many times do we get to the end of a season and we already know about 80% of the grid for next season before the final race has been run or we know the driver moves within the week following the finale? 

It is beneficial to spread free agency into the offseason. Every other sport does it. It wouldn't solve all of IndyCar's problems. The offseason is six months long. A month or six weeks of free agency will fill some of the void. The subsequent testing where drivers get their first runs with their new teams would be the next wave of attention during the offseason, but this new free agency structure would not fill the entire void of the offseason. 

While it would clearly benefit the drivers, it could also help the teams. They have control, but not all organizations are the same, and having a few weeks or a month of negotiating could help teams when it comes to sponsors. If a team knows it can land a certain driver or if a team at least wants to chase a certain driver, it can incorporate a sponsor or two in those negotiations and help get a deal over the line. It could allow some of IndyCar's bottom rung teams a better chance to compete for drivers.

There is a flaw in motorsports is not a ubiquitous entity. Just because IndyCar does one thing doesn't mean all other forms of motorsports will follow. None will. What do you do about drivers not in IndyCar? What about a Formula Two driver or a sports car driver or even a NASCAR driver? When can a team speak with them? 

It will come down to control and teams being barred from negotiating and signing anyone, regardless of where they are racing, until the negotiating period is complete. I am sure some drivers could be turned off, but I doubt having to wait until October 21st to test versus testing September 21st when the first race of the next season isn't until March 7 isn't that much a deal breaker. It would be different for some to have to work within these parameters, but it would likely not change much for a driver entering the series. It would be different once a driver is in a series. 

How do you manage drivers looking to race elsewhere? That might be the one out for the drivers. A driver cannot negotiate with an IndyCar team during the season, but if he is ready to go sports car racing next season, he can sign a deal with the Ford Hypercar program or take on a AF Corse GT3 ride in June or July. If a driver wants to go to NASCAR, he can sign with Trackhouse on May 25th for the following season. 

Does that hurt the teams? Only if they believe they could keep a driver in the series. This isn't a regular occurrence in IndyCar. I don't think it is actually a problem that could hurt the series and see talent leave. IndyCar attracts drivers. It wasn't that long ago it brought in a Supercars champion and a NASCAR Cup champion in the same season. The champion from Argentina's best series came to IndyCar! There is always going to be someone interested. Mick Schumacher joined the series when no one thought he would be an option.

This change would be unlike anything we see in any other form of motorsports, and it would be a significant departure from how business has been done. It would help current IndyCar drivers and level the playing field when it came to contract restrictions. All drivers would have the same negotiation periods and nobody would have a head start while others would be at a significant disadvantage. Free agency would become a clear offseason subject, and it would allow for more news to be made when IndyCar is not competing. It would require a willingness to change and embrace a new way of handling driver movement, a difficult concession from the teams, and the drivers are not going to push for it. 

It could be for the better, but that doesn't mean it is going to happen. Everyone should at least have the discussion. 

Winners From the Weekend

You know about Sami Pajari, but did you know...

The #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac of Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor won the IMSA race from Road America. The #43 Inter Europol Competition Oreca-Gibson of Jeremy Clarke, Tom Dillmann and Bijoy Garg won in LMP2. The #9 Pfaff Motorsports Lamborghini of Andrea Caldarelli and Sandy Mitchell won in GTD Pro. The #57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG of Indy Dontje, Philip Ellis and Russell Ward won in GTD.

The #100 Team Kunimitsu Honda of Naoki Yamamoto and Tadasuke Makino won the Super GT race from Fuji. The #52 Saitama Green Brave Toyota of Hiroki Yoshida and Seita Nonaka won in GT300.

Matt Payne (race one and three) and Broc Feeney (race two) split the Supercars races from Wanneroo Raceway.

The #3 Mercedes-AMG Team Verstappen Racing Mercedes-AMG of Jules Gounon and Daniel Juncadella and the #80 Lionspeed GP Porsche of Bastian Buus and Ricardo Feller split the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup races from Magny-Cours.

Coming Up This Weekend

IndyCar is off to Portland.

NASCAR begins its 14-week run-in in Iowa.

MotoGP is back from break with the British Grand Prix.

Best of the Month: July 2026

And another month is gone. These are the dog days of summer, a period of monotony and the pace of life slowing to a drag, but it has been a rather speedy period. The heat didn't drain that much energy out of us, or so it seemed. We are not through it yet. August tends to be a little longer than July. Only then will summer feel near complete.

More on the Charter Sale

We already touched up Dreyer & Reinbold Racing's purchase of a charter from Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, allowing D&R to return to full-time IndyCar competition for the first time since 2012. This will be the 11th full-time team in IndyCar.

More full-time teams are a good thing for IndyCar. It is another team with a stake in the series. The resources are not contained to a few organizations. It spreads out a little more. D&R will be the lone single-car team, which could poise difficulty. IndyCar hasn't had a single-car team since Juncos Hollinger Racing ran only Callum Ilott in the 2022 season. A technical alliance could be formed with another team. There is a belief this deal with RLLR could mean a partnership between the two teams, which would be somewhat fitting considering the history these two teams have.

D&R isn't an entirely new operation, but it will be an adjustment going from running only Indianapolis to running everywhere. The team hasn't run a street course race since São Paulo in 2013. This will be an unfamiliar territory for the team, and new organization experience growing pains. 

Prema, Juncos Hollinger Racing, Carlin, DragonSpeed, none of these teams came in and showed great strength. They each may have had bright spots, but those were the exceptions. Anticipation should be the same for D&R. Indianapolis will be the one spot it will not have many concerns, but every other race will be an adjustment. 

This entry is coming at an odd time for D&R, and it could be a year too early. D&R is returning to full-time competition in the final season for this ruleset, this engine and this chassis. While a possible technical alliance with RLLR would benefit the team, it would wasteful to flip to Honda engines for a season, especially since the team has been running Chevrolet engines since dropping Lotus ahead of the 2012 Indianapolis 500. Perhaps that is where the partnership helps D&R and it just receives all the equipment RLLR has been using for its third entry. It would help. It would likely also make 2027 a throwaway season. 

The finer details will be sorted out at a later date. For RLLR, this sale caps off what has been a failure of an experiment running as a three-car team. When the team expanded to three cars in 2022, it was two years removed for winning the Indianapolis 500 and in the seven previous seasons at least one RLLR driver finished in the top ten of the championship. 

While Christian Lundgaard was eighth in the championship in 2023, the average championship finish for RLLR entries in the previous four seasons was 17.75, and it had at least one entry finish outside the top twenty in the last three seasons. With six races remaining in 2026, the three RLLR cars rank 12th, 18th and 24th in the championship. 

Perhaps this sale will allow RLLR to focus on its two cars and lift those entries up the field, creating a more competitive battle in the top ten with another team more regularly in the battle for race victories. We know RLLR can do it, though selling one entry may not be the magic bullet back to success.

It's a New Car!

Earlier this week, IndyCar released renderings of the new Dallara chassis due to debut in 2028, the Dallara IR28. 

There were no signs this was coming though we were anticipating some sort of unveil as development testing is scheduled to take place over this offseason. The good news is the car has already been shaken down, and it is scheduled to test this weekend on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course with Álex Palou and Alexander Rossi.

Guess what? It looks like an IndyCar. With a different wing design at the front and the rear and a little less towering aeroscreen, it isn't some revolutionary design, but we were not going to see something earth-shattering, nor would anyone embrace such a concept. 

IndyCar is cornered because for as much as people want something breathtaking and pushing the limits, most of these people complain that the car does not look like it is not from the 1990s. How can you be revolutionary when everyone is calling for a return of 30 years ago? 

What matters is when it takes to the racetrack and what the performance is like. It doesn't matter how it looks if it cannot race well. 

The car will be about 100 pounds lighter than the current car while the aerodynamics have been designed to optimize the turbulent air from the leading cars to aid passing opportunities. This car will also adopt a single-source damper provider, an area of the car that has been open for development and been one of the key sources for differential between the grid. The IR28 will also see a return of the LED panels, which were last featured on the cars during the 2018 season. The hybrid system will evolve to the Energy Storage System from BOLD Technology, which has developed advanced battery systems for Formula One teams. The ESS will be have 14 times the energy storage as the current supercapacitor-based system. 

We will be learning more about this car as testing take places over the rest of this year and the entire 2027 season. Most seemed pleased with the photos, plenty were always going to be angry, but looks can be deceiving. It will comedown to how it feels, and it will develop. There will be things that do not work and need massive adjustments. Problems will crop up unexpectedly and require everyone to return to the drawing board. It will be a long process, and the good news is there is at least 19 months until the first race, a.k.a IndyCar's sweet spot. 

As we enter the final month of the 2026 season, the new car is here. It is no longer a hypothetical. There is something physical that has been produced, it has been on track, and the wheels are literally in motion. There have been plenty of delays, and now it feels like everything is on course to reach its target debut in 2028. That is progress as long as it may have been to develop.

August Preview

Remember last year when I wrote August doesn't have an event of note? That remains true. It is worse now that the Suzuka 8 Hours moved to July, which I just found out about. Congratulations to Honda, Takumi Takahashi, Jonathan Rea and Somkiat Chantra on the victory. 

There will be four races to conclude the NASCAR Cup Series regular season, which means four races to determine the Chase/Playoff drivers. I will admit, I was fine calling it the playoffs. It makes more sense. It can be called playoffs and not have rounds and forced eliminations. 

Austin Cindric is on the bubble with 518 points. Five drivers are within 100 points of Cindric, and they are Ryan Preece (-38 points), Erik Jones (-44), Brad Keselowski (-50), Michael McDowell (-76) and Ross Chastain (-82).

The drivers ahead of Cindric are Shane van Gisbergen (+19), Bubba Wallace (+22), Joey Logano (+27), William Byron (+50) and Daniel Suárez (+65). Christopher Bell is tenth in the championship and 91 points clear of Cindric.

How much can things change in four races? If you go back four races to after Sonoma, Ryan Preece was 15th and a point ahead of Cindric, A.J. Allmendinger was only 26 points on the outside, five points closer than Joey Logano. Also, Chase Briscoe was 11th, 67 points to the good and now Briscoe is seventh, 105 points clear of Cindric.

Iowa, Richmond, Loudon and Daytona conclude the regular season. 

Other events of note in August:

The Formula E season will crown a champion after a doubleheader in London.

IMSA has an endurance race at Road America, and then a GT-only race at Virginia International Raceway. 

MotoGP returns from its summer break with races at Silverstone and Aragón. 

Formula One will return from its summer break with the final Dutch Grand Prix for the foreseeable future.

IndyCar has a bunch of races, as we have already mentioned. 

2027 IndyCar Schedule Preparations

We are in the middle of IndyCar's mini summer break. After a weekend off, IndyCar has another one, and at a time when many series are also in the middle of a break. Don't worry, we will have plenty of IndyCar in August with five consecutive weekends and six races to end the season. The end of the 2026 is staring us right in the face. It is a good time turn an eye to 2027. 

A few pieces are already known, as is always a case, when it comes to next year's calendar. Most of the calendar is still a mystery, but as with much in IndyCar we already know how this will play out. 

Nothing happens in IndyCar on a whim... except for the Washington, D.C. race, which may require a greater conversation later, but 99.999% of the time, any addition or change comes after a drawn-out buildup. There is a lot of flirting, track personnel taking trips to other racetracks, publicly canoodling with the series, and then IndyCar and the track announces a date. We all see it and know it is happening before the two sides become public with the relationship. It is safe to say 2027 will not look much different from 2026 whether you like to hear that or not.

There have been rumors. There are always rumors in IndyCar, especially monumental rumors. Every year an event that is completely outside of IndyCar's modus operandi is rumored and they never occur... expect for Washington, D.C., again a massive exception to everything IndyCar ever does. If it is an international race, or an oval race, or a race in a most-populated area of the United States that would spread IndyCar's footprint in its home country and could benefit the series, it probably isn't close to happening. It is easy to throw out it could happen and pull at a thread of a minor conversation seen across the catering tent, but we know IndyCar isn't desperate for races even if we believe it should be.

IndyCar will wait until the right deal comes along, even if it may never come, because it wants to do what is best for the series and not chase short-term gains but look for successful long-term events that will grow the series... or the series will decide an event is worth spending $35 million for one race. 

Either way, we know the schedule will basically be identical. How will that look in 2027? 

Let's start with the dates we know. 

Another one came out last week when it was announced IndyCar and the NASCAR Truck Series will race again at St. Petersburg and the date was announced for the weekend of March 7. It is expected that will be the season opener. We already knew Arlington was announced for a March 21 return. Long Beach will be on April 18. Indianapolis will host the Grand Prix of Indianapolis on May 15 and the Indianapolis 500 on May 30. Detroit remains the week after the Indianapolis 500 on June 6. 

That is a third of the schedule set. 

With St. Petersburg and Arlington have a week-off in-between, it suggests that is when Phoenix will fall with the NASCAR weekend. That weekend is dependent on NASCAR, but this race weekend fell on the second Sunday in March earlier this year, three weeks after the Daytona 500. The 2027 NASCAR calendar suggests Phoenix will fall on this date with the 2027 Daytona 500 scheduled for February 21 and March 8 being three weeks after.

Easter will be March 28. After three consecutive weeks of racing to open the year, taking the holiday off makes sense, and Barber Motorsports Park can shift back to April 4. We know Long Beach will be April 18. 

Then comes a gap that appears to be inevitable. Based on the 2026 schedule, there was nothing between Long Beach and the Grand Prix of Indianapolis. The problem is in 2027 that would mean three weekends without races because May has five Sundays in 2027. We will circle back to this. 

We know May and the first Sunday in June. If Gateway Motorsports Park remains as the capper to five consecutive weekends at a racetrack, it would be June 13. That would suggest June 20 would be off. It could line up where IndyCar decides it will give the teams off after Detroit but that means Gateway moves to June 20 and it also means Road America will be June 27. Road America on June 27 feels locked in regardless of when Gateway is run. It does line up for possibly three consecutive race weekends to start summer with Gateway on June 20, Road America on June 27 and Mid-Ohio and July 4. 

It would be 11 race weekends in the book by Independence Day weekend. 

With no World Cup Final in 2027, at least not one that Fox is broadcasting that could lead into an IndyCar race, does Nashville remain July 18? Would it still be a night race? It is hard to think it should move. I guess it works there. 

August has five Sundays in 2027, and I think IndyCar will spread out these races a little better. The weekend after Nashville could be off with Portland on August 1, Markham on August 15, Milwaukee on August 29 and possibly remain a doubleheader, and the season concluding at Laguna Seca on September 5, Labor Day weekend. That is a much better run in for IndyCar than 2026. 

You will have noticed the omission of Washington, D.C. Plenty has been said to suggest this year's race will be a one-off though it may stick around. In a Racer article from Marshall Pruett, Penske Corporation president Bud Denker said, "We've put together most of our calendar for 2027 knowing we're going to keep things at 17 races, not 18." That sounds pretty definitive, but then again we didn't think IndyCar would add a race four moths after the initial 2026 schedule was released. Anything is possible. The hurdle is the series is paying for the race at a price of $35 million. Can the series afford to spend $35 million year for one event? 

There is a good chance this is what the 2027 calendar will look like, and it is essentially no different from the 2026 calendar. With the movement of Easter and the extra Sunday in May, a three-week gap is created during spring. At that point, IndyCar will at least be five races in rather than having only raced once or twice before an extended gap. There is an opening for another race. That race will not come. 

It would be nice if IndyCar recognized the opening and decided to fill the space. There are plenty of places it can go and organize a race for much less than $35 million. But it is not going to be Richmond, Pocono, Watkins Glen, Loudon, Michigan, Chicagoland, Kentucky, Iowa, Homestead, Texas, Circuit of the Americas, Virginia International Raceway, Road Atlanta, Charlotte, Mosport, Montreal or Cleveland just to name a complete alternate reality schedule worth of racetracks. 

By the way, if IndyCar knew what was best for itself, it would probably move Nashville into that open space between Long Beach and Indianapolis. May 2 in Nashville would probably do very well compared to mid-July. The weather would be very favorable compared to the middle of summer, and wouldn't another oval race be a good lead-in to the Indianapolis 500? It makes sense to me, but what do I know? July would be open. That time would be more favorable to a northeast trip. Again, what do I know as a resident of that area for my entire life?

Maybe IndyCar surprises us and takes a greater initiative in building its calendar to increase its reach and expanding its footprint. It doesn't feel that will be the case. Look on the bright side, IndyCar is always 18 months away from the next big thing.