Track Walk: Mid-Ohio 2026

The 11th round of the 2026 NTT IndyCar Series season has the series spending Independence Day weekend from Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. This is the sixth consecutive year IndyCar has spent this holiday in Lexington, Ohio. Each year, there has been a different winner, in fact, there has been a different winner in all seven Mid-Ohio races since the introduction of the aeroscreen. Through the first ten races of this season, there have been five different winners. Each winner ranks in the top eight of the championship.

Coverage

Time: Coverage begins at 12:30 p.m. ET on Sunday July 5 with green flag scheduled for 12:52 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: 3:05 p.m. ET (75 minutes)

Saturday:

Second Practice: 10:05 a.m. ET (75 minutes)
Qualifying: 2:30 p.m. ET 
Sunday:
Warm-up: 9:35 a.m. ET (30 minutes)
Race: 12:52 p.m. ET (90 laps)

Lucky Lundgaard

Maybe it is better to be lucky than good. Maybe it is good to be both. Christian Lundgaard straddles that divide. 

At Road America, Lundgaard was last after the opening lap due to front wing damage from contact with Scott Dixon. The pit stop for repairs put the Dane close to a lap down. However, that misfortune, the cautions that fell and the pit strategy that followed allowed Lundgaard to be position for a podium finish, and it put Lundgaard in the right position to benefit when another driver stumbled. Marcus Armstrong lost his engine, and Lundgaard was there to inherit the lead. 

The record book will say it was a victory from 12th on the grid, only the second time a Road America race has been won from outside the top ten, but it was for more difficult than that. 

The triumph was Lundgaard's second of the season, and this one kept him fourth in the championship. It was his second victory of the season when combined with the Grand Prix of Indianapolis in May. Since the end of March, Lundgaard has been alternating top five finishes, and two of those results in-between have been finishes outside the top fifteen. The good is counterweighting the bad. Lundgaard is 40 points clear of his Arrow McLaren teammate Patricio O'Ward, who has six top five finishes this season, tied for the second-most in IndyCar. 

Lundgaard has been pulling out some incredible results. For starters, he has not been qualifying well. Only twice this season has he started in the top five. On both occasions, he finished in the top five, including going from fourth to first in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis. Road America was the fourth time this season Lundgaard has made up at least eight spots from his grid position. In three of those he has driven into the top five. His average starting position is 12.2, tenth-best in IndyCar, but his average finish is 7.9, fourth-best in IndyCar.

In each of the three natural-terrain road course races this season, Lundgaard has finished second, first and first. Even Álex Palou is not quite keeping up with that output, though Palou has finished first, fifth and fifth in those three events, and Palou has started on pole position for all three events. 

Now Lundgaard will look to break a pattern. He has not had consecutive top five finishes since last season when he was runner-up in consecutive races at Laguna Seca and Portland. Back in May, Lundgaard became the first Arrow McLaren not named Patricio O'Ward to win for the organization since its IndyCar return in 2020. Lundgaard has now won twice, and he will look to become the first McLaren driver to win consecutive IndyCar race since Johnny Rutherford swept the 1979 CART doubleheader at Atlanta. It would be the first time a McLaren driver won consecutive races at different tracks since 1977 when Rutherford won at Texas World Speedway and Milwaukee.

In four Mid-Ohio starts, Lundgaard's worst finish is 11th. He has twice finished in the top five, including last year when he was third after starting second.

Armstrong Seeking Redemption

It will be difficult for Marcus Armstrong to shake the Road America result. Leading with only four laps remaining, Armstrong's engine ran out of steam and brought the New Zealander to a halt. Instead of standing on the top step of the podium, Armstrong was relegated to 24th in the record books with 14 laps led from third grid position. 

It was a rather tough punch to the gut for Armstrong. While he does have a pair of top five finishes and five total top ten finishes, he has been on the edge of victory. Armstrong led the field to the green flag for the final restart, a one-lap dash at the Indianapolis 500. He spent much of that lap side-by-side with his Meyer Shank Racing teammate Felix Rosenqvist. At the checkered flag, Rosenqvist was first by 0.0233 seconds. Armstrong had dropped to fifth, falling only 0.0155 behind fellow Kiwi Scott McLaughlin for third. 

There is plenty for Armstrong to be positive about. He has an average starting position of 9.9, only one of seven drivers to average a starting position better than tenth through the first ten races. He is ahead of the likes of Kyle Kirkwood, Scott Dixon, Christian Lundgaard, Josef Newgarden and Will Power in this category. 

Regardless, losing as he did at Road America is quite a shock, and history shows first time winners are usually coming off an encouraging result.

Ten of the last 11 first-time winners in IndyCar finished in the top fifteen in the race prior to their first career victory. The only exception is Kirkwood, who was 27th at Texas in 2023 after an accident before he took victory at Long Beach in the following race. 

Of those other ten first-time winners, five had finished in the top ten of the race prior, two had finished 11th, one was 12th, another was 13th and the other was 15th. Even with those driver, none of them were leading and within five laps of victory in the race prior to their first career victory. Looking back since the CART-USAC split in 1979, there has never been an instance of a driver, who was looking for a first career victory, losing the lead with five laps or fewer remaining, and then winning the next race. 

Armstrong has started in the top ten in the last three races, but he has finished worse than his starting position in each of those three races. He has actually finished worse than his starting position in all six races he has started in the top ten this season. The race where Armstrong fell the least was at Barber Motorsports Park, starting fourth and finishing sixth. His only two top five finishes this season have come in race where he has started outside the top ten.

This will mark Armstrong's 57th start of his career. Twenty-one drivers have taken at least 57 starts to get their first career victory. The only driver to take exactly 57 starts was Buddy Lazier, whose first career victory was the 1996 Indianapolis 500. The only driver to pick up a first career victory at Mid-Ohio was Charlie Kimball in 2013.

All-Americans

Not only is its Independence Day weekend, but it is the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. For this year's holiday festivities, eight American drivers are entered for this race from Mid-Ohio.

The top American in the championship is David Malukas in second, but Malukas is still looking for his first career victory. The Illinois-native has finished runner-up three times this season. The only other driver with multiple runner-up finishes this season is Florida's Kyle Kirkwood, who is third in the championship. Only a point separates these two drivers. 

For Malukas, this will be his 72nd career start. Only 12 drivers in IndyCar history have taken at least 72 starts to get their first career victory. The last driver to have their first career victory fall on Independence Day weekend, which for this sake we will consider when Independence Day falls between Thursday and Monday, creating at least a four-day weekend, was Bobby Rahal at Cleveland on July 4, 1982. That was Rahal's fourth career start. 

Malukas does have the second-best average starting position this season at 5.9, and he is tied with Álex Palou for second-best average finish at 6.4. Kirkwood holds the best average finish through the first ten races. The Andretti Global driver has an average finish of 5.9. He has finished outside the top five in four of the last five races after opening the season with five consecutive top five results. 

Kirkwood does enter this weekend with six career victories, but he is still looking for his first victory on a permanent road course. In fact, he has never finished on a podium in a permanent road course race. His best finish was fourth at Road America last summer. 

While Malukas and Kirkwood are the top two Americans in the championship, Josef Newgarden is the only American driver with multiple victories this season. Newgarden won at Phoenix and Gateway. However, his only other top five finish was fourth on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course in May. The Tennessean has not had a podium finish on a permanent road course since he was third at Portland in 2024. He has finished outside the top twenty in his last two Mid-Ohio visits, and he has three consecutive results outside the top ten at the circuit. 

Graham Rahal was about three corners away from his fourth podium finish of the season at Road America. Instead, Rahal enters his home race off the back of consecutive 23rd-place finishes. In three of the last four Mid-Ohio races, Rahal has finished outside the top ten. 

Alexander Rossi heads to Mid-Ohio off matching his best finish of the season in sixth. Rossi had finished 17th or worse in the previous four races. he has not finished on the podium since Laguna Seca in June 2024. 

Santino Ferrucci scored his third top ten finish of the season at Road America, where he finished ninth. Ferrucci has not had a top five finish since he was third at Road America last year. In seven Mid-Ohio starts, his best finish was ninth in 2021. 

This will be Nolan Siegel's 39th career start, and the Californian has finished 20th and 11th in his first two Mid-Ohio trips. Siegel's only top ten finish this season was tenth in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis. 

Rounding out the American lineup is Sting Ray Robb. Robb had finished outside the top twenty in the first five races of the season. He has since finished in the top twenty in four of the last five results, but only one of those has been a top fifteen finish. He was 14th at Detroit.  

American drivers have combined to win four of the last ten Mid-Ohio races. Prior to this stretch, American drivers had combined to win only two of the previous 18 Mid-Ohio races, including going 14 consecutive races without a victory at this circuit. 

Dixon's Slump

Scott Dixon's woes have been well-documented.

In the last four races, Dixon has failed to crack the top ten, his longest slump in over 20 years. He has only one top five finish this season, and he has only one top five start this season. Surprisingly, despite this string of results, Dixon's 11th-place finish at Road America lifted him to tenth in the championship. That was also helped due to some other results. 

While Dixon enters on a historic low, IndyCar heads to the location of Dixon's most recent victory. A brief off-track excursion cost Álex Palou the lead in last year's Mid-Ohio race after leading 75 of the first 84 laps. Dixon was the man on the scene to sweep on through and hold off a reeling Palou to take the victory. It was a record-extending seventh victory for Dixon on the 2.25-mile road course, but it does follow a pattern for the New Zealander. 

Last year's victory ended a 22-race winless streak for Dixon. It was the third time since the start of the 2021 season Dixon had a winless streak greater than 15 races. He went 22 races between victories at Texas in 2021 and Toronto in 2022. He had a 16-race slump from Nashville in 2022 to the summer Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course race in 2023. This current dry-spell is up to 17 races. 

There isn't a better place for Dixon to be heading than Mid-Ohio. Along with having a record seven victories, Dixon has nine podium finishes in 22 races. He has 14 top five finishes at the circuit, including in four of the last five starts. Only three times has he finished outside the top ten at the track. 

He has started outside the top five in his last three Mid-Ohio races, however, four of Dixon's seven Mid-Ohio victories have seen him start outside the top five, including his last three victories from the circuit. He started sixth for his first victory in 2007. In 2014, he won from 22nd before he won from eighth in 2019. Last year, he won from ninth on the grid. 

Only one of Dixon's last seven victories have come from a top five starting position. He won from fifth at Detroit in 2024. Four of his last seven victories came from a starting position outside the top ten.

Dixon led 11 laps in last year's race, but he had only led two laps in his previous six Mid-Ohio starts. While the results have not been brilliant this season, Dixon has led 78 laps, the sixth-most in IndyCar through ten races. He led exactly 32 laps in the Indianapolis 500 and at Gateway. However, he has only led two laps on road and street courses this season, and those two laps were at St. Petersburg. His other 12 laps led were at Phoenix. 

In each of the last two seasons, Dixon has led 98 laps and 91 laps respectively. In the previous nine seasons, he had led at least 100 laps. With ten more laps led, he would reach the 7,000 laps led milestone in his career.

This weekend will mark the 430th start in Dixon's IndyCar career, and it will be his 367th consecutive start.

Road to Indy

The Road to Indy fills the holiday weekend with another seven races alongside IndyCar's main event. 

Nikita Johnson extended his Indy Lights championship lead with finishes of sixth and third at Road America, and Johnson is six points ahead of Tymek Kucharczyk, who was eighth and second in Elkhart Lake. A cut tire in the first race left Enzo Fittipaldi 22nd, and Fittipaldi recovered to fourth in the second race, but he dropped to third in the championship on 323 points, 27 points behind Johnson. 

Max Taylor had a dismal Road America weekend with finishes of 12th and 17th, and Taylor is now on 289 points in fourth. That is still 20 points ahead of Lochie Hughes, who won the first race from Road America before finishing 20th in the next race. Myles Rowe had finishes of ninth and fifth and that places him on 264 points. 

Alessandro de Tullio was first on the road in the second Road America race, but de Tullio was disqualified after it was found he had the wrong tires mounted on his car. A.J. Foyt Racing had the tires mounted on the wrong cars for de Tullio and Nicholas Monteiro. Monteiro was also disqualified. De Tullio won pole position for both Road America races, and he has won seven pole positions this season. De Tullio is seventh on 249 points. 

Juan Manuel Correa was seventh on both Road America races, and he has 224 points. Matteo Nannini inherited the Road America victory after de Tullio's expulsion. Nannini had scored his first top five finish of the season in the first Road America race when he was fifth. Nannini has 209 points, two more than Josh Pierson in tenth, who was second in the first Mid-Ohio race. Jack Beeton is on 200 points.

The first Indy Lights race will be at 1:00 p.m. ET on Saturday July 4. That race is scheduled for 35 laps or 55 minutes. The second race on Sunday July 5 at 10:00 a.m. ET will be 30 laps or 55 minutes. 

It will be a triple-header weekend for USF Pro 2000.

Jack Jeffers maintained the USF Pro 2000 championship lead with finishes of fourth and second at Road America, but G3 Argyros took a chunk out of the deficit as Argyros swept the Road America weekend. Jeffers has 155 points, 20 clear of Argyros. Leonardo Escorpioni was fifth in both races, and he is third in the championship on 131 points, one more than Frankie Mossman, who was third and fourth.

Michael Costello could not finish better than eighth and 12th in Road America, and Costello is fifth on 125 points. Andrés Cárdenas was second and third in Road America, and Cárdenas is now on 113 points. Thomas Schrage scored a pair of sixth-place finishes last round. This has Schrage seventh in the championship on 100 points, 12 points clear of Teddy Musella, who was seventh in both Road America races.

Brady Golan is back after skipping Road America. Golan has 80 points this season, two points ahead of Christian Cameron.

The first two races of the USF Pro 2000 triple-header will be run on Saturday July 4, first at 11:40 a.m. ET and then at 5:15 p.m. ET. The final race will be at 8:00 a.m. on Sunday July 5. All three races are scheduled for 30 laps. The Saturday races have a 50-minute time limit and the Sunday race has a 45-minute time limit.

In U.S. F2000, Sebastián Garzón had three top five finishes at Road America, and Garzón has scored 234 points, 30 more than Brad Majman, who was second, second and first in Elkhart Lake. Eddie Beswick won the first race at Road America, and he is 64 points behind Garzón in the championship. 

Evan Cooley was fourth and third in the first two races, but a nasty accident that saw Cooley flip ended his weekend. Cooley is fourth in the championship on 156 points, 29 points ahead of João Vergara. Anthony Martella won the second Road America race, his second victory of the season. Martella is on 121 points. 

Oliver Wheldon was third, sixth and fourth over the Road America triple-header, and Wheldon has 119 points despite missing the opening round. Wheldon is ahead of Ayrton Cahan and Garbiel Cahan, who have scored 115 points and 101 points respectively. Liam Loiacono rounds out the top ten on 98 points, two ahead of Wian Boshoff and five ahead of Ryan Giannetta. 

U.S. F2000 will race at 4:45 p.m. ET on Friday July 3 with the second race at 4:20 p.m. ET on Saturday July 4. Both races are scheduled for 20 laps or 40 minutes. 

Fast Facts

This will be the 17th IndyCar race on July 5th, and the first since Justin Wilson won at Watkins Glen in 2009. That was Dale Coyne Racing's first IndyCar victory. 

Twice previously has the state of Ohio hosted a race on July 5. Emerson Fittipaldi won at Cleveland on July 5, 1987, and Sébastien Bourdais won on July 5, 2003 from Cleveland. 

This year's Mid-Ohio race falls on the 89th anniversary of the only IndyCar race with a German winner. On July 5, 1937, Bernd Rosemeyer won the Vanderbilt Cup race from Roosevelt Raceway from Westbury, New York. Rosemeyer was driving an Auto Union and finished ahead of the Mercedes of Richard Seaman and the Alfa Romeo of Rex Mays.

The most recent American to win on July 5 was Bobby Rahal, who won on that day in 1992. It was the first race held at New Hampshire International Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire. 

Chip Ganassi Racing won its 13th Mid-Ohio race last year, breaking a tie with Team Penske for most at the circuit. 

The only other active teams that have won at Mid-Ohio are Andretti Global, which won in 2018 and 2020, and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, which won in 2015.

Chip Ganassi Racing has won consecutive Mid-Ohio races on two occasions. It won in 1996 and 1997 with Alex Zanardi. The team also won in six consecutive years from 2009 through 2014.

The fewest laps led for a Mid-Ohio winner is ten by Bobby Rahal in 1986. In only five Mid-Ohio races has the winner led fewer than 20 laps (Johnny Rutherford 1980, Rahal 1986, Roberto Guerrero 1987, Al Unser, Jr. 1995, Scott Dixon 2025).

Last year, Scott Dixon taking the lead with six laps remaining was the first time since 2016 the final lead change in a Mid-Ohio race came with fewer than 20 laps remaining. 

Last year was the sixth Mid-Ohio races where the final lead change occurred with ten laps or fewer remaining (1986 - ten laps to go, 1987 - ten laps to go, 1995 - four laps to go, 2007 - nine laps to go, 2016 - six laps to go).

The average starting position for a Mid-Ohio winner is 3.547 with a median of second. 

Eight of the last 11 Mid-Ohio races have been won from the front row. 

Sixteen of 42 Mid-Ohio races have been won from pole position. Twenty-five Mid-Ohio races have been won from the front row, including five of the last seven races.

The average number of lead changes in a Mid-Ohio race is 4.7857 with a median of five.

Last year's Mid-Ohio race had a record-tying eight lead changes. The other Mid-Ohio races with eight lead changes were in 1988, 2007 and 2017.

Every Mid-Ohio race has had at least one lead change.

The average number of cautions for a Mid-Ohio race is 1.9024 with a median of two. The average number of caution laps is 7.17 with a median of seven. 

Seven Mid-Ohio races have been caution-free. Another ten Mid-Ohio races have had only one caution, including the last two of the last three Mid-Ohio races. Ten of the last 11 Mid-Ohio races have had two cautions or fewer.

Predictions

Álex Palou, and if it isn't Álex Palou, it will be Álex Palou. If you twisted my arm and made me pick someone else, give me Felix Rosenqvist and the feel-good story of a Meyer Shank Racing home victory. Will Power and Graham Rahal will not make contact. Kyle Kirkwood is the best Andretti Global driver but never factors for the victory. Christian Lundgaard will be the best Arrow McLaren qualifier, but the second-best Arrow McLaren finisher. Josef Newgarden makes it through lap one. Scott Dixon ends the top ten finish slump. At least two Chevrolet engines fail before the completion of qualifying. Sleeper: Dennis Hauger.

Best of the Month: June 2026

Halfway! We are halfway through 2026. It is hot and only getting hotter in the Northern Hemisphere. The days are getting shorter though. That is the crux of summer. We are losing daylight from the start. The good time is already over. It is all a con. 

Either way, it is the heart of the motorsports season, even if we are starting to enter the second half of seasons and we are running out of races. Most of the big races are behind us. I guess we have championships to watch. It is all a con. It is just going to end in loss anyway.

IndyCar Tidbits

As we like to do at the end of June, when the IndyCar season is at its midway point, we like to pick at some pieces of the season so far, and look at some of the overlooked portions of the season. You know, the tidbits that aren't going to be noticed by anyone except someone crazy enough to look closely. You know... me! 

That is where we stand. With plenty that has happened over the first ten races, let's look over what has occurred and dig in!

New Winning Number

Every Indianapolis 500 is a historic Indianapolis 500. What a pretentious sentence. That is an obnoxious viewpoint. It is no historic than any other race that occurs. However, the year's Indianapolis 500 did see a bit of IndyCar history, and why I did not get to this at the end of May? Because that is a busy period, but this history extends beyond the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway. 

Felix Rosenqvist made history when he took the checkered flag. Rosenqvist did something never done before. His victory was the first for car #60. 

Yeah! It had never happened before. For a series whose history book stretches back to 1909, there aren't many numbers that have never won a race, but there is still a healthy number. We don't see new winning numbers that often. 

Since reunification, there have only been nine new numbers. 

Two of those aren't really new numbers. They are, but they aren't. In 2008, Graham Rahal won in car #06 at St. Petersburg and Justin Wilson won in car #02 at Belle Isle. Technically, those numbers never won before, but adding a zero in front of another single-digit, as was a trend at the start of the 21st century, isn't really another number. The value of #2 and #02 is the same. It is two! But, I digress, and they count, and that fad of running #0-something has died expect for Hélio Castroneves running #06 at the Indianapolis 500.

Fun fact: It wasn't that long ago it was against the rules to run a car #0-something. 

Those two count. What are the other new numbers we have seen?

Car #37 - Ryan Hunter-Reay at Long Beach in 2011.

Car #67 - Ed Carpenter at Kentucky in 2011.

Car #50 - Dario Franchitti at the Indianapolis 500 in 2012 (The number changed from the usual #10 to honor sponsor Target's 50th anniversary)

Car #77 - Simon Pagenaud at Belle Isle in 2013

Car #83 - Charlie Kimball at Mid-Ohio in 2013

Car #88 - Colton Herta at Austin in 2019

That's it. That is the list of new numbers to win a race since reunification. If you wanted to cover the last 50 years, only three other numbers would be added.

Car #30 - Danny Sullivan at Cleveland in 1984

Car #91 - Buddy Lazier at the Indianapolis 500 in 1996

Car #97 - Cristiano da Matta at Chicago Motor Speedway in 2000.

Of the remaining two-digit numbers, only 18 have not produced an IndyCar race winner.

Car #13, #53, #59, #64, #65, #70, #71, #72, #74, #79, #80, #84, #85, #86, #87, #90, #93, #94. 

I guess, if you wanted to add car #0, and for the sake of it car #00, there are 20. I am not going through the other #0-somethings. I can acknowledge #00. If it is good enough for Robert Parish it is good enough for me. 

There are plenty of numbers out there for a driver to make their own and standout with. If you noticed, none of the remaining winless numbers are currently used full-time in IndyCar. For the moment, it looks like Rosenqvist has made history, and it will be awhile until someone else gets a chance to replicate it. 

It would be nice if a driver embraced car #59 or car #72. Somebody who has an appreciation for offensive linemen. 

Something Álex Palou-Related

We must acknowledge something about Álex Palou, because of course you have to! Where do we begin? 

Four victories this season. Those put him up to 23 victories in his career, tied for 20th all-time with Tommy Milton. Another three victories in the final eight races would put Palou tied with Rodger Ward for 16th all-time on 26. If Palou wins four of the final eight races, he would end the year tied with Johnny Rutherford for 15th all-time. 

Palou has six pole positions this season, including in the last five races. One thing at a time... six pole positions moves Palou into tied for 18th all-time with Rex Mays and Bobby Rahal on 18. Enjoy it while it last because soon 18th all-time will not be 18 pole positions. He has won ten times from pole position making Palou one of 12 drivers with at least ten victories from pole position. 

This is only the sixth time since 1946 a driver has won five consecutive pole positions. One more and Palou would be just the fourth driver to win six consecutive pole positions. If he gets to 20 career pole positions, he will crack the top fifteen all-time.

Earlier this season, Palou surpassed 2,000 laps led in his career. After Road America, his career total is up to 2,130 laps led. He is the 25th driver to crack 2,000 laps led in his career. There is some breathing room until he starts moving up places in the record book. Palou is 246 laps behind Juan Pablo Montoya. That feels achievable before 2026 is out.

Newgarden's Oval Ovation

With his victory at Gateway, Josef Newgarden reached a special milestone. Gateway was Newgarden's 20th oval victory. He is only the 11th driver in IndyCar history to reach 20 oval victories. 

For context, Hélio Castroneves, Dario Franchitti, Tony Kanaan, Michael Andretti, Bobby Rahal, Will Power and Al Unser, Jr. did not reach 20 oval victories.

About four years ago, we pondered what drivers could reach 20 oval victories. At that time, Newgarden was on ten oval victories. Will Power had nine oval victories. Power is currently on ten. Besides Scott Dixon, who has 25 oval victories, Power is the only full-time driver with more than three oval victories. Patricio O'Ward has won three times on ovals. Graham Rahal has won twice, as has Alexander Rossi and Scott McLaughlin. Marcus Ericsson, Kyle Kirkwood, Álex Palou and Felix Rosenqvist have all won once on an oval. Those eight drivers don't even combine for 20 oval victories! They only combine for 13! 

There is a lot of time left in the future. Someone... Álex Palou could go on a run. Would anyone be surprised if over the next 15 years Palou averages 1.5 oval victories per season? That would put Palou beyond the 20 oval victory milestone. However, it does not appear anyone is close to joining Dixon and Newgarden in that club anytime soon.

Most Pole Positions without Winning From Pole Position

I don't remember what led me to writing down this note to research. It was probably Felix Rosenqvist's pole position at Long Beach. It was Rosenqvist's seventh career pole position. In the race, Rosenqvist started first, however, he finished second. Seven pole positions, zero converted to victories. 

Where does that rank Rosenqvist?

Seven is not the most. But it is close. 

Let me cut down the possibilities. Every driver who won at least ten pole positions in their career won at least one from pole position. 

The driver with the most pole positions to never win from pole position...

Only won once in this IndyCar career...

Won an Indianapolis 500 pole position...

Had 2/3rds of his career pole position come in the same season...

Have you figured it out? 

The driver is Billy Boat! 

Boat won nine pole positions in his career, but never won a race from pole position. 

He won six pole positions in the 1998 IRL season, and only once in those six races did he finish in the top ten. Boat was ninth at Pikes Peak. His average finish in his nine races starting on pole position was 16.8889. He started first in the 1998 Indianapolis 500 and finished 23rd. 

As for Boat's only victory, he won at Texas in 1998. Where did Boat start? Second, qualifying 0.097 seconds off Tony Stewart's fastest lap. 

That is the all-time leader. How do the rest of the drivers rank?

1. Boat - 9

2. Alex Tagliani - 8

T3. Patricio O'Ward - 7

T3. Felix Rosenqvist - 7

T5. Scott Sharp - 6

T5. Marco Andretti - 6

T7. Emil Andres - 5

T7. Paul Russo - 5

T7. Scott Pruett - 5

These are all the drivers with at least five career pole positions to never win from pole position. Rosenqvist isn't even in sole possession among active drivers. Did you realize Patricio O'Ward had not won from pole position? I had not. But he came close to victory from his first pole position.

It was the second race of the 2020 Road America doubleheader, O'Ward started first, lead vast majority of the race... only to have Felix Rosenqvist pass him with two laps remaining! Because of course that is how it would play out. O'Ward would finish second.

In his other pole position starts, O'Ward has finished fourth, third, fifth, 24th, second and 24th. Not a bad track record. 

In case you are wondering what Rosenqvist's track is, his finishes from pole position are eighth, 21st, ninth, 26th, 19th, ninth and second. 

Most Victories without Leading the Most Laps in a Victory

This one I know where it came from because it came during the Gateway race. Marcus Ericsson probably had his best race in IndyCar that night. From 12th on the grid, Ericsson led 114 laps and he pushed Josef Newgarden only for Ericsson to finish second. 

Entering that race, Ericsson had led 195 laps in his career. In his four victories, he has led five laps at Belle Isle, 37 laps at Nashville which sounds like the most laps led but Colton Herta led 39 laps in that race, 13 laps in the Indianapolis 500, and four laps at St. Petersburg. Prior to Gateway, there had never really been a race where Ericsson dominated. Then in the first race he is arguably the driver to beat, he leads the most laps and finishes second. 

Four victories is a fair number to win without leading the most laps in any of them. But is it the most? 

Like his fellow Swede Rosenqvist, Ericsson is not the all-time leader.

The all-time leader will probably stun you because not only is it a past champion but a two-time champion, and a driver who won consecutive titles.

It is Joe Leonard!

The 1971 and 1972 champion won six times in his career, but he never led the most laps in any of those victories!

Leonard's first victory was at Milwaukee in August 1965. He led 69 laps, but Parnelli Jones led 80. His next victory would not come until nearly five years later, again at Milwaukee. In that race, Leonard took the lead with nine laps to go, the only laps he led, and he finished ahead of Roger McCluskey, who led 81 laps, and Al Unser, who led 60 laps. In 1971, Leonard won the California 500 from Ontario. He led the final 40 laps. Al Unser led 84 and Mark Donohue led 49. 

In 1972, Leonard won three consecutive races at Michigan, Pocono and Milwaukee. He led the most laps in none of them! In Michigan, he led only the final two laps after Mel Kenyon ran out of fuel. At Pocono, he led the final 37 laps. Mario Andretti led 105 of 200 laps before a gearbox issue on his final pit stop left him stuck in the pit lane, causing Andretti to lose 12 laps. At Milwaukee, Leonard led the final 93 laps, taking the lead after Andretti led the first 107 laps before retiring with a wheel issue. 

Someday, we will double back and see how many drivers have won three consecutive races and led the most laps in none of them, but Leonard won a half-dozen times in his career and never led the most laps in any of those victories. Leonard led the most laps only once in his career. At Hanford in 1968, he led 93 of 167 laps but finished fourth. 

How do the rest of the drivers rank?

1. Leonard - 6

T2. Al Rogers - 4

T2. Marcus Ericsson - 4

Now, we should make something clear, Rogers won four times in his career, and all four victories were when the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb counted toward the championship. His victories were from 1948 through 1951. Technically, there are not laps to lead on the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. Rogers is tied for second on a technicality. 

There is also an issue of missing data. Gaston Chevrolet and Joe Boyer are each listed with three victories in their careers, but there is no information on laps led for a few of their victories. They may have led the most laps in those races, but there is no official information. 

What we can say is Leonard, Ericsson, and technically Rogers, are the only drivers with more than three victories in IndyCar history to never lead the most laps in any of those victories.

Scandinavia!

There are no statistics to this, but I wanted to take a moment to recognize the level of Scandinavian participation in IndyCar. 

Denmark's Christian Lundgaard has won twice this season, including the most recent race. Sweden's Marcus Ericsson was runner-up in the race before that with Denmark's Christian Rasmussen finishing third, and Rasmussen had a great chance of victory at Phoenix in March. Sweden's Felix Rosenqvist won the Indianapolis 500 a little over a month ago. Norway's Dennis Hauger is the top rookie after ten races. 

All we need is a Finn or two and we will have the region covered! 

This is reminiscent to a little over a decade ago when we had five Colombian drivers on the grid: Juan Pablo Montoya, Carlos Muñoz, Carlos Huertas, Sebastián Saavedra and Gabby Chaves. 

IndyCar has these periods where a country or a region has increased participation. 

Back in the 2000s and 2010s, there were a lot of Brits in IndyCar, Dan Wheldon, Dario Franchitti, Justin Wilson, Mike Conway, Darren Manning, Alex Lloyd, James Jakes, Jack Hawksworth, Max Chilton, Pippa Mann, Jordan King. The numbers of Brits have decreased noticeably in recent years. We have Louis Foster, and Jack Harvey is part-time. Callum Ilott maybe wants to be in IndyCar. It isn't like how it was.

For a moment, we had three French drivers regularly competing: Sébastien Bourdais, Simon Pagenaud, Romain Grosjean. Before that, Tristan Vautier was around. Théo Pourcharie was here for a minute and then shown the door. Now, Grosjean is the last Frenchman standing and that is after a year away from full-time competition. 

Brazil had an extended presence on the grid essentially from the arrival of Emerson Fittipaldi in the mid-1980s through the latter days of Tony Kanaan and Hélio Castroneves. Castroneves still shows up for Indianapolis. Kanaan hung it up only a few years ago, but Brazilians aren't as numerous as we once experienced. There is Caio Collet presently, and we just had Pietro Fittipaldi run full-time, but it does not feel like a given Brazilians will always be around.

The only other region that has a long stake in the IndyCar grid is the Antipodes. Australia and New Zealand has been featured full-time for over 20 years, all thanks to Will Power and Scott Dixon. Then we had Scott McLaughlin and Marcus Armstrong enter, which has been good for New Zealand. Power had fellow Australian Ryan Briscoe compete regularly for about a decade. McLaughlin and Armstrong suggest New Zealand will be represented on the IndyCar grid into the future. Australia is a bit of a question mark. It is funny that 20 years ago, IndyCar raced in Australia, and with how well all of the Antipodeans have done, a race could have stuck. It is more challenging than that.

It is cyclical. I don't think this is a case of we are always going to have a Swede or a Dane on the grid. I think it is just the moment. Sweden and Denmark have each produced outstanding talents in the first quarter of the 21st century. Denmark's talent is spread around the world, especially in sports car racing. It was natural one or two would end up in IndyCar, but it doesn't always work out that way. Remember all the Germans that have succeeded around the world of motorsports, and yet, none of made a home in IndyCar with Mick Schumacher being the first full-time German in over 20 years since Timo Glock was in Champ Car. 

As for now, let's just enjoy our Scandinavian participants for the moment... and maybe we find a Finn for the sake of posterity. 

Same Name - First and Last

At Road America, Christian Lundgaard took his second victory of the season. In last place was Christian Rasmussen. You can see where this is going. 

When was the last time the race winner and the last place driver shared the same first name? 

This must have happened before, right? Road America could not have been the first time. It wasn't, but it has been a while. 

Try August 14, 2005. It was the Indy Racing League race from Kentucky. Scott Sharp took the victory, the final of his career. Last place? Scott Dixon! 

Get this, prior to Road America, the last three times first place and last place shared a first name, it involved Scotts.

March 2, 2003 at Homestead: Scott Dixon won, Scott Mayer was last.

April 13, 2003 at Motegi: Scott Sharp won, Scott Mayer was last.

You must go back to July 19, 1998 at Toronto to find the last time it happened to a name other than Scott. Alex Zanardi won while Alex Barron was in last.

Prior to the Zanardi/Barron occurrence at Toronto, you must go back to the 1984 Grand Prix of Cleveland. The winner was Danny Sullivan and last was Danny Ongais. Two races before that, Al Unser, Jr. won at Portland on June 17, his first career victory. Who was last in Al Unser, Jr.'s first career victory? Well, wouldn't you believe it was Al Unser!?!? 

During that 1984 season, there was also a case of Bobby Rahal winning at Phoenix and Roberto Guerrero finishing in last. It doesn't fit the spirit of criteria, but it is pretty close. In that same vain, Tony Kanaan won at Texas in June 2004 and A.J. Foyt IV was last. Close, but not within the spirit. We are not counting those.

Just going back to the start of 1976, those are the only seven times it has happened in IndyCar. I guess that sounds right. Some names are odd. We have hadn't more than one Hélio and there hasn't been more than one Simon lately. Josef is just unique enough to keep it from happening. We have drivers named Sting Ray now. How many Sting Rays can you expect to be competing? What are the odds of two Sting Rays competing at once? That is what this really comes down to. You need two drivers with the same first name competing in the same race.

I guess the surprise is it did not already happen with Álex Palou and Alexander Rossi, which aren't identical, but kind of counts. Should we count it? Alexander Rossi is referenced as Alex.  It counts more than Bobby and Roberto. Álex Palou is not Alexander or Álexander. There were a few Ryans. Ryan Hunter-Reay and Ryan Briscoe didn't do us any favors.

We kind of saw history in Road America, whether we realized it or not.

No Repeat Finishes

An annual tradition, we track every driver and see which driver has yet to have a repeat finish. Last season, Scott Dixon went the furthest, not having a repeated finishing position over the first ten races. Road America was the tenth race. How do we look?

Dennis Hauger (Tenth, 15th, 16th, 23rd, 11th, eighth, 19th, 13th, 25th, 20th)

That's it! That is the list! 

Every other driver has had a repeat finish, but rookie Dennis Hauger is the last driver standing. 

It isn't even just the number of driver with repeat finishes but drivers with consecutive repeat finishes.

Álex Palou won at Barber and Long beach. 

David Malukas was second at both Indianapolis races.

Felix Rosenqvist opened the season with a pair of 12th-place finishes. 

Graham Rahal has finished 23rd in the last two races.

Rinus VeeKay was 14th at Arlington and Barber. 

Kyffin Simpson was 20th at Arlington and Barber. 

Romain Grosjean was 21st at Long Beach and the Grand Prix of Indianapolis.

Nolan Siegel was 20th in the first two races of the season.

Sting Ray Robb opened the season with three consecutive finishes of 21st, and he has finished 19th in the last two races.

Nine drivers have had consecutive repeat finishes, and it has happened ten times thanks to Robb having it occurred twice. 

Let's see how far Hauger can take it. Plenty of top ten finishes remain out there, but Dale Coyne Racing has not shown great speed on a consistent basis. His only other top fifteen finishes left available are 12th and 14th. Those are two spots but eight races remain. He has three other finishes outside the top twenty (21st, 22nd and 24th). That would still leave three positions, and he hasn't finished 17th or 18th yet. That would mean one more spot. If it can be a top ten result that isn't eighth or tenth, Hauger could go 18-for-18 with a different finishing position. 

July Preview

It has already begun, but most of NASCAR's In-Season Challenge takes place in July. The first round was held at Sonoma, and we saw far fewer upsets than last year when Atlanta hosted the opening round. Only three upsets occurred, and they all happened on one side of the bracket. 

The top quarter of the bracket saw Tyler Reddick eliminated as the #1 seed after he suffered mechanical issues at Sonoma. Alex Bowman moved on as the #32-seed. Bowman will face #16 Austin Cindric. The #25-seed Todd Gilliland knocked off the #8-seed Daniel Suárez, and Gilliland will face the #9-seed Carson Hocevar.

While we had chalk in the next quarter with Chase Briscoe and Ty Gibbs advancing, the #20-seed Michael McDowell advanced over Bubba Wallace, and McDowell will face the #4-seed Chase Elliott in the next round.

The bottom of the bracket was straight chalk, and we will see Denny Hamlin vs. Erik Jones (#2 vs. #15), Chris Buescher vs. Christopher Bell (#7 vs. #10), William Byron vs. Kyle Larson (#11 vs. #6) and Shane van Gisbergen vs. Ryan Briscoe (#14 vs. #3). 

The next round will be at Chicagoland Speedway, the first visit to the track since 2019. Atlanta will host the quarterfinals before North Wilkesboro's first points race in nearly 30 years hosts the semifinals. The final remains at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Brickyard 400. 

I still think there should be more at stake for this tournament than a cash prize. We don't have playoff points, but give the drivers bonus points. It will increase the incentive. Give 50 points for the champion, 25 points for the runner-up, 10 points for the semifinalists, five points for the quarterfinalists, and a point for the drivers that got out of the first round. It would be big for the tournament champion, but unless a driver won the entire thing, the points earned likely wouldn't change much other than flipping a few positions. We wouldn't see the tournament champion go from 27th to 15th and make the Chase at the end of the 26-race regular season.

How does this shape up after round one? Atlanta is a wild card, but I think you are feeling good if you are Denny Hamlin. One of Bowman, Cindric, Gilliland or Hocevar will make the semifinals. That is big for them.

Other events of note in July:

Formula E has two rounds, both doubleheaders, from Shanghai and Tokyo.

World Superbike will race over the weekend of July 11-12 at Donington Park, and then not race again until September. 

Formula One has a few races before its summer break: Silverstone, Spa-Francorchamps, Budapest.

MotoGP has won round, Germany, before its summer break.

FIA World Endurance Championship returns to competition at São Paulo. 

IndyCar races at Mid-Ohio and then Nashville.

Musings From the Weekend: Why Do We Want to be Lied To?

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

For the first time in over 22 years, a Japanese rider won a MotoGP race as Ai Ogura won the Dutch TT ahead of Trackhouse teammate and sprint race winner Raúl Fernández. Marco Bezzecchi took a spill, and Jorge Martín took the championship lead. There were some endurance races. Some calendars were released. Circuit of the Americas is getting more races. I guess yellow flags are not that important for safety. That's fine. Don't throw stones at race cars. NASCAR's in-season tournament began! However, there was news at the start of the week that I think we should discuss and look at closer.

Why Do We Want to be Lied To?

In the aftermath of IndyCar's trip to Road America, there was some celebration. It wasn't because of the race and the thrilling finish that saw Christian Lundgaard take advantage of misfortune Marcus Armstrong suffered. It was down to viewership, and the numbers were good. 

Road America had 1.803 million viewers, a significant increase from last year's race, which only drew 781,000. It was the most watched non-Indianapolis 500 race for IndyCar since the 2011 season opener from St. Petersburg. Through the first ten races, ratings this year is are up 14%. 

There should be a semi-critical lens though. 

This race benefitted from a World Cup lead-in. Spain played Saudi Arabia at noon, leading right into the IndyCar broadcast. The peak viewership number was 2.943 million viewers. That was between 2:29 p.m. ET and 2:30 p.m. ET. 

That is the sweet spot of soccer viewers realizing the World Cup was not on and getting around to changing the channel and IndyCar viewers realizing the race is starting and tuning in fashionably late. 

There are positives we can draw, especially when we look at the season in it entirety so far, but let's recognize when a thumb is on the scale. 

Peak viewership essentially for the opening lap of the race isn't a victory. That number is better if it is in the later stages of the race or the closing laps. It happened, but that isn't truly the number of people who invested their time in watching the race, whether they are regular viewers or people tuning for something new. 

The problem is there is an urge from some to just be lied to, take the big number and run. We see it in people suggesting this broadcast partnership with Fox could lead to races occurring during the NFL season and following a 1:00 p.m. window of games when Fox only has one or two games in the 4:00 p.m. window and those are local broadcasts only meant for those markets. 

For example, in week six of the 2025 NFL season, Fox had one local broadcast in the 4:00 p.m. window, and it was Tennessee at Las Vegas. That game was only broadcasted in the Tennessee and Las Vegas markets. For the rest of the country, Fox showed the NHRA event from Texas Motorplex. It drew 2.065 million viewers with a peak of 3.631 million. It was the most-watched NHRA telecast.

The numbers look good, but are they real? You may think it doesn't matter and you take the numbers and run, but there is something disingenuous in believing the best bet would be to take advantage of a situation, televisions remaining on ten or 15 minutes after a prior broadcast had ended to inflate the number, is capturing the true audience. It can be something the series and broadcast can sell, but I think we all know it isn't entirely truthful. 

Growth isn't just one outlier number. It is an increase across the board. This year, IndyCar has seen that, and that is ok to be encouraged, but thinking taking advantage of certain situations and having large increases because of riding the coattails of another event is a true indicator of an increased level of interest is lie. It is good to be following these big events, but it isn't about what those numbers are. It is about what the numbers are when a race is out on its own. 

This is also prep, a warning of sorts or at least setting realistic expectations, for a few weeks from now when Nashville follows the World Cup Final. IndyCar has released a tentative schedule, and the Nashville race is tentatively scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m. ET. That would be about 30 minutes after the final whistle, should the final end within 90 minutes. I would venture to guess this race starts closer to 6:00 p.m. ET, if not after 6:00 p.m. ET. This race shouldn't start until the trophy has been lifted. IndyCar knows that. Fox knows that. Either way, there is a chance that final will draw more than 30 million viewers. 

The 2014 final, held in Brazil and starting at 3:00 p.m. ET, the same time as this year's final, drew 28.8 million viewers in the United States across English and Spanish broadcasts. The 2022 final, held in December in Qatar and with a 10:00 a.m. ET start, had nearly 26 million viewers in the United States. Considering the past, 30 million could be low-balling the estimate, but it will be by far the biggest event an IndyCar has ever followed. Let's not get away if the ratings published afterward are astronomical. 

I highly doubt five million people will be watching the Nashville race. Even three million would be an excessive exaggeration. Some people may stick around. The television will likely remain on Fox in the bars, but that doesn't mean these are invested viewers. It doesn't mean there will be a surge in people wanting to talk about the race afterward. This isn't going to be an Indianapolis 500-level viewership and awareness. It is hopeful that maybe 50,000 people will see something new and think they want to see more. After all, five million-plus watch the Indianapolis 500 and then the race seven days later is back to having just north of a million people watching. 

We will really know the affect of following the World Cup Final not in the Nashville rating but in the rating for every race afterward. If we are honest, we likely will not see anything different even if there is an increase. 

Things can be two things.

It is good to take advantage of an opportunity, and it is not going to change anything overnight. 

Growth is a long game, and it is more than just one race occurring after one soccer match. At no point should anyone look at the Nashville viewership and brush their hands together as if the job is done. The job is only beginning, and real numbers to celebrate are increases for events such as Portland, Markham and every race for the rest of 2026 and into 2027. 

Winners From the Weekend

You know about Ai Ogura and Raúl Fernández, but did you know...

George Russell won the Austrian Grand Prix, his second victory of the season. 

John Bennett (sprint) and Nikola Tsolov (feature) split the Formula Two races from the Red Bull Ring. Ernesto Rivera (sprint) and Noah Strømsted (feature) split the Formula Three races.

David Alonso won the Moto2 race from Assen by 0.024 seconds over Manuel González. Máximo Quiles won in Moto3, his sixth victory of the season. 

Shane van Gisbergen won the NASCAR Cup race from Sonoma, his second victory of the season. Van Gisbergen also won the Grand National Series race.

The #80 LionspeedGP Porsche of Thomas Preining, Ricardo Feller and Bastian Buus won the 24 Hours of Spa.

The #31 Whelen Racing Cadillac of Jack Aitken, Earl Bamber and Fredrik Vesti won the 6 Hours of the Glen, the team's second consecutive victory. The #99 AO Racing Oreca-Gibson of Dane Cameron, P.J. Hyett and Jonny Edgar won in LMP2. The #14 VasserSullivan Lexus of Jack Hawksworth and Ben Barnicoat won in GTD Pro. The #912 Manthey Racing Porsche of Richard Lietz, Riccardo Pera and Ryan Hardwick won in GTD.

Sébastien Ogier won the Acropolis Rally, his 68th World Rally victory.

Coming Up This Weekend

IndyCar will spend Independence Day weekend at Mid-Ohio. 

NASCAR spends the holiday returning to Chicagoland Speedway for the first time since 2019.

It is a sprint weekend at Silverstone for the British Grand Prix.

Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters has a trip to the historic Norisring.

Formula E has a doubleheader from Shanghai. 

The European Le Mans Series will be at Imola.

Let’s Look at the League - June 2026

Since 2019, we have broken IndyCar into a league format, meant for head-to-head matchups occurring during races with the best driver being declared the winner and each driver facing someone new each race. After a regular season, we have a playoff for the champion, while a few teams fight to remain in the top league while others go for promotion to the top tier. 

We set the table before the season started, and since we are already pass the halfway point of the season, we are nearing the end. We are closer to the end of the regular season than the start. The playoff picture and the relegation fight has already shaped up. We know who is in trouble, and we know who is sitting pretty.

League One

We are beyond the halfway point for League One, and for a few teams it is clear they will be fighting for a championship. A few others are hoping to stay alive for top flight competition in 2027. Some are already firmly against the wall. 

Just a reminder, the top four from each conference will advance to the playoffs, fifth from each conference will secure a spot in League One for 2027, sixth and seventh will participate in the relegation playoff, and eighth will automatically be relegated.

Results

	Conference #1	Conference #2
Week #1 (St.Petersburg)	#10 CGR def. #6 McLaren (1-20)	#5 McLaren def. #14 Foyt (5-24)
	#27 Andretti def. #21 ECR (4-19)	#18 Coyne def. #9 CGR (8-23)
	#7 McLaren def. #2 Penske (3-7)	#60 MSR def. #4 Foyt (12-17)
	#12 Penske def. #26 Andretti (13-22)	#3 Penske def. #66 MSR (2-11)
Week #2 (Phoenix)	#21 ECR def. #10 CGR (14-21)	#5 McLaren def. #18 Coyne (4-25)
	#27 Andretti def. #6 McLaren (2-20)	#9 CGR def. #14 Foyt (7-11)
	#12 Penske def. #7 McLaren (3-13)	#3 Penske def. #60 MSR (8-12)
	#2 Penske def. #26 Andretti (1-16)	#66 MSR def. #4 Foyt (5-19)
Week #3 (Arlington)	#10 CGR def. #2 Penske (2-15)	#5 McLaren def. #4 Foyt (5-12)
	#27 Andretti def. #12 Penske (1-6)	#9 CGR def. #3 Penske (8-11)
	#7 McLaren def. #6 McLaren (2-19)	#14 Foyt def. #60 MSR (17-19)
	#26 Andretti def. #21 ECR (3-25)	#66 MSR def. #18 Coyne (10-23)
Week #4 (Barber)	#10 CGR def. #12 Penske (1-4)	#3 Penske def. #5 McLaren (16-17)
	#27 Andretti def. #2 Penske (5-10)	#9 CGR def. #4 Foyt (7-21)
	#7 McLaren def. #21 ECR (2-19)	#60 MSR def. #18 Coyne (13-15)
	#26 Andretti def. #6 McLaren (12-18)	#66 MSR def. #14 Foyt (6-8)
Week #5  (Long Beach)	#10 CGR def. #26 Andretti (1-19)	#5 McLaren def. #66 MSR (5-24)
	#27 Andretti def. #7 McLaren (4-20)	#60 MSR def. #9 CGR (2-3)
	#12 Penske def. #6 McLaren (7-12)	#3 Penske def. #14 Foyt (6-18)
	#2 Penske def. #21 ECR (14-15)	#18 Coyne def. #4 Foyt (21-22)
Week #6 (Grand Prix of Indianapolis)	#7 McLaren def. #10 CGR (1-5)	#5 McLaren def. #60 MSR (18-23)
	#27 Andretti def. #26 Andretti (9-13)	#9 CGR def. #66 MSR (6-11)
	#12 Penske def. #21 ECR (2-24)	#3 Penske def. #18 Coyne (16-21)
	#2 Penske def. #6 McLaren (4-10)	#14 Foyt def. #4 Foyt (14-19)
Week #7 (Indianapolis 500)	#10 CGR def. #27 Andretti (7-16)	#5 McLaren def. #9 CGR (4-15)
	#7 McLaren def. #26 Andretti (17-29)	#60 MSR def. #66 MSR (1-5)
	#12 Penske def. #2 Penske (2-28)	#3 Penske def. #4 Foyt (3-26)
	#6 McLaren def. #21 ECR (11-27)	#14 Foyt def. #18 Coyne (8-9)
Week #8 (Detroit)	#10 CGR def. #6 McLaren (1-15)	#5 McLaren def. #14 Foyt (4-23)
	#27 Andretti def. #21 ECR (2-25)	#18 Coyne def. #9 CGR (20-24)
	#7 McLaren def. #2 Penske (5-10)	#60 MSR def. #4 Foyt (6-16)
	#12 Penske def. #26 Andretti (18-22)	#66 MSR def. #3 Penske (11-19)
Week #9 (Gateway)	#21 ECR def. #10 CGR (3-17)	#5 McLaren def. #18 Coyne (11-15)
	#27 Andretti def. #6 McLaren (6-24)	#9 CGR def. #14 Foyt (12-13)
	#12 Penske def. #7 McLaren (7-10)	#3 Penske def. #60 MSR (5-14)
	#2 Penske def. #26 Andretti (1-8)	#18 Coyne def. #66 MSR (15-24)
Week #10 (Road America)	#10 CGR def. #2 Penske (5-22)	#5 McLaren def. #4 Foyt (12-16)
	#12 Penske def. #27 Andretti (2-10)	#9 CGR def. #3 Penske (7-11)
	#7 McLaren def. #6 McLaren (1-21)	#60 MSR def. #14 Foyt (8-9)
	#26 Andretti def. #21 ECR (3-25)	#18 Coyne def. #66 MSR (15-24)

Conference One Standings

#12 Penske 8-2

#27 Andretti 8-2

#10 Ganassi 7-3

#7 McLaren 7-3

#2 Penske 4-6

#26 Andretti 3-7

#21 ECR 2-8

#6 McLaren 1-9

Conference One is starting to separate between the playoff teams and the non-playoff teams. Three games separate fourth and fifth with five weeks remaining. It is getting late early. The battle to focus on could be for the #1-seed as the four current playoff teams are all within a game of one another. 

We start with a bang at Mid-Ohio as the #12 Penske entry will face the #10 Ganassi entry. The #10 Ganassi entry won its first meeting at Barber, and another victory would give the #10 Ganassi entry the head-to-head tiebreaker. The #10 Ganassi entry will face the #7 McLaren at Portland and the #27 Andretti at Markham. The #7 McLaren and #27 Andretti will face at Nashville.

The #12 Penske has a favorable schedule after Mid-Ohio with its next three matchups against the #6 McLaren, #21 ECR and #2 Penske.

As for the relegation battle, the #21 ECR entry is up a game, but the #6 McLaren's only victory was at the Indianapolis 500 over the #21 ECR entry, and these two will meet again at Markham. 

Conference Two Standings

#5 McLaren 9-1

#3 Penske 8-2

#60 Meyer Shank 6-4

#9 Ganassi 5-5

#66 Meyer Shank 5-5

#18 Coyne 4-6

#14 Foyt 3-7

#4 Foyt 0-10

It is a little closer around the playoff spots in Conference Two. The #5 McLaren is on top and at Mid-Ohio, it will face the #3 Penske. At Barber Motorsports Park, the #3 Penske won the first meeting against the #5 McLaren, and it could claim the head-to-head tiebreaker at Mid-Ohio.

Anyone third through seventh could make it or fall short. The #9 Ganassi entry will face the #60 MSR entry at Nashville and the #66 MSR at Portland. The #18 Coyne has the #60 MSR at Mid-Ohio before facing the #4 Foyt, the #3 Penske and the #14 Foyt over the next three weeks. 

The #4 Foyt entry is against the wall. No victories this season and with five weekends left, it soon will be facing needing to win out with at least the #14 Foyt losing out. The two entries will face at Markham in week 14. 

League Two

The big difference between the two leagues is League Two is a double-round robin, and each teams faces the other twice. There are no playoffs, but 18 weeks and the top three from League Two will be promoted to League One for 2027. As there are an odd-number of teams in League Two with nine entries participating, each team has two bye weeks.

Results

Week #1 (St.Petersburg)	#19 Coyne def. #20 ECR (10-16)
	#8 Ganassi def. #47 RLLR (15-25)
	#76 JHR def. #77 JHR (9-21)
	#45 RLLR def. #15 RLLR (14-18)
Week #2 (Phoenix)	#20 ECR def. #47 RLLR (6-18)
	#8 Ganassi def. #28 Andretti (10-17)
	#19 Coyne def. #76 JHR (15-22)
	#77 JHR def. #45 RLLR (21-23)
Week #3 (Arlington)	#20 ECR def. #77 JHR (9-21)
	#45 RLLR def. #8 Ganassi (13-19)
	#28 Andretti def. #76 JHR (4-14)
	#15 RLLR def. #47 RLLR (18-22)
Week #4 (Barber)	#20 ECR def. #45 RLLR (11-25)
	#15 RLLR def. #76 JHR (3-14)
	#28 Andretti def. #19 Coyne (9-23)
	#77 JHR def. #47 RLLR (22-24)
Week #5  (Long Beach)	#20 ECR def. #28 Andretti (9-25)
	#8 Ganassi def. #77 JHR (10-23)
	#76 JHR def. #47 RLLR (13-17)
	#15 RLLR def. #19 Coyne (8-11)
Week #6 (Grand Prix of Indianapolis)	#15 RLLR def. #20 ECR (3-25)
	#19 Coyne def. #8 Ganassi (8-12)
	#77 JHR def. #28 Andretti (17-22)
	#45 RLLR def. #47 RLLR (7-20)
Week #7 (Indianapolis 500)	#76 JHR def. #20 ECR (6-30)
	#8 Ganassi def. #15 RLLR (14-20)
	#28 Andretti def. #45 RLLR (13-21)
	#47 RLLR def. #19 Coyne (18-19)
Week #8 (Detroit)	#8 Ganassi def. #20 ECR (9-17)
	#45 RLLR def. #76 JHR (7-12)
	#15 RLLR def. #28 Andretti (3-8)
	#19 Coyne def. #77 JHR (13-14)
Week #9 (Gateway)	#76 JHR def. #8 Ganassi (4-21)
	#77 JHR def. #15 RLLR (19-23)
	#28 Andretti def. #47 RLLR (2-16)
	#45 RLLR def. #19 Coyne (20-25)
Week #10 (Road America)	#20 ECR def. #19 Coyne (6-20)
	#8 Ganassi def. #47 RLLR (4-17)
	#76 JHR def. #77 JHR (18-19)
	#45 RLLR def. #15 RLLR (14-23)

League Two Standings

#45 RLLR 6-3

#8 Ganassi 6-3

#15 RLLR 5-4

#76 JHR 5-4

#20 ECR 5-4

#28 Andretti 4-4

#19 Coyne 4-5

#77 JHR 4-5

#47 RLLR 1-8

League Two has been stupid even. It is really up for anyone over the remaining weeks... except the #47 RLLR entry. I think it is safe to say it is an eight-horse race with eight weeks remaining.

At the top of the league, #45 RLLR defeated the #8 Ganassi at Arlington, and they will meet again in Nashville. 

In the three-way tiebreaker for third, the #15 RLLR holds the edge as its defeated the #76 JHR entry at Barber and the #20 ECR in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis. The #15 RLLR will face those two entries again at Portland and Washington, D.C. respectively. The #76 JHR got the better of the #20 ECR at the Indianapolis 500, and they will meet in the first Milwaukee race.

The #28 Andretti entry is the first to complete both its bye weeks. In its first three meetings with the three entries just ahead of it in the standings, the #28 Andretti went 1-2, losing to the #20 ECR entry at Long Beach and losing to the #15 RLLR entry at Detroit. The #28 Andretti defeated the #76 JHR entry at Arlington. 

We will be back in a few weeks once we are closer to deciding the playoff picture, and see who is a playoff contender, who will have work to do, and who will have their fate sealed, and not in a good way.

Musings From the Weekend: Chasing the Dream

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

Christian Lundgaard went from last-to-first to win at Road America. Many are talking about silly season. There was a disqualification in Indy Lights. There was pushing in Brno, and it earned Marco Bezzecchi a race ban. There was also a last lap pass from the Czech Republic. NASCAR needs to work on its temporary course construction, and probably reinforce some barriers. There were three stunning finishes in Souther California for all the faults with the event, and a first-time winner to boot. Formula E returned to Sanya, China. Sadly, some news from last week was still on my mind, and it led to some reflection. 

Chasing the Dream

The passing of Dennis Reinbold last week brought a cloud of melancholia over IndyCar. The long-time co-owner of Dreyer & Reinbold Racing had been a fixture on the grid and at the Indianapolis 500 since the team debut at the 2000 Indy Racing League season opener at Walt Disney World Speedway. Reinbold ended that day as a race winner with Robbie Buhl. After spending over a decade fielding full-time competition, pre- and post-reunification, the team evolved when faced with economic challenges and focused on the Indianapolis 500 since the 2014 season. 

Dreyer & Reinbold Racing has established itself as the only regular Indianapolis-only entry, and it has rode the waves of struggle and success over the last decade, but it has always put together a respectable effort, and one rivals the full-time teams. Though only running one race, D&R organizes a pit crew better than most. In the last two years, it has shown a capability to compete at the very top and fighting for victory.

Discussing a race team feels rather pointless when speaking about the passing of an individual who was more than a car owner, but Dennis Reinbold loved the Indianapolis 500 and IndyCar. Even into his final days, Reinbold was still working on returning his team to full-time competition. 

Race teams last as long as the owner wants them to go. When an owner is gone that usually does not bode well for business. 

This isn't another professional sports team with a family trust or perhaps a conglomerate that owns it and one person passing does not change the longevity of the team. Motorsports is different. Race teams are usually not money-making ventures. It is an expensive hobby. It is not an expensive hobby your loved ones may share. People die and teams go with them. 

Dreyer & Reinbold Racing does have other owners. Dennis Reinbold found the team along with businessman Eric DeBord, and the DeBord family remains involved with the team. D&R's chief commercial officer Brett De Bord stated the plan is to carry on Reinbold's legacy. That is hopeful, and Dreyer & Reinbold Racing has the game plan mastered for an Indianapolis one-off program. It is possible this organization will keep going and not lose a beat, but it doesn't always work out.

Newman-Haas Racing continued for a brief period after the passing of Paul Newman and while Carl Haas was in declining health, but the team vanished. It wasn't taken over. Other investors did not step in and continue the program. It was gone. The seven championships and 100-plus victories could not prevent that inevitability. 

No one else is following the Dreyer & Reinbold blueprint. It is the last of its kind, and even D&R knew it was on its own, hence why it was looking to get back to full-time competition. No one else is looking to just show up and run the Indianapolis 500. If you are running the Indianapolis 500, you should look to compete full-time with that investment. However, the one-off nature of D&R has been beneficial to IndyCar and its most famous event. 

We got to 33 cars every year thanks in part to Dreyer & Reinbold Racing being around. D&R's one car or in many years two cars has allowed for bumping. It took a mighty risk committing the resources it did to a race it was never going to make its money back on. Missing the race could have been a crippling hit. Every time, it worked out for the organization and IndyCar as a whole. 

For as beloved as the Indianapolis 500 is, no one is opening their wallets like Dennis Reinbold did. This was a man who was living the dream. Every child who walks into Indianapolis Motor Speedway and gets to see that race has a dream of being there and competing in it, standing on the pit wall seeing every lap at 230 mph with the cars so close you could touch them. It is a racetrack but it is a playground to those with skin in the game. All the secret passageways are accessible. No fence can hold you back, and you are competing for arguably the most glorious prize in motorsports. Reinbold was living that dream and there wasn't a price that scared him away. 

No one is looking to fill D&R's shoes. The dream may be there, but a vast majority of people are a little too entrenched in reality, and the price is a little too high.

If D&R leaves, IndyCar will be down a car or two on its Indianapolis 500 entry list. IndyCar has proven time and time again that those competing will adjust and accommodate when necessary. There will be 33 entries even if it means another team or two taking on additional entries, but losing D&R makes bumping exponentially more unlikely. If it is just the existing teams committing the numbers, they collectively will not attempt to run more than 33 cars unless regulations change or the sponsorship dollars make it too difficult to pass up. The latter isn't going to happen, and I wouldn't hold my breath over the former either.

We do not know how long Dreyer & Reinbold Racing will hold on, but a key tenant of the Indianapolis 500 likely depends on whether or not this one-off organization can hold on and remain competing for the long-term. Only time will tell what will happen, and we are still essentially 11 months away until the next Indianapolis 500 festivities. It is presumptuous to assume doom, but we can acknowledge the reality of the situation and the possible outcomes. 

The loss of Dennis Reinbold inadvertently could lead to the next evolution at the Indianapolis 500. It sounds like a stretch today, but we could look back to this moment as a pivotal point in the history of the event. For that alone, we should be thankful Mr. Reinbold got to chase that dream so many of us share. 

Winners From the Weekend

You know about Christian Lundgaard, but did you know...

Marc Márquez won MotoGP's Czech Grand Prix, his second consecutive victory, and Márquez also won the sprint race. Iván Ortolá won the Moto2 race with a last corner pass on David Alonso, the first Moto2 victory for Ortolá. Hakim Danish won in Moto3, his first career victory. 

 

Corey Heim won the NASCAR Cup race from Coronado Naval Base, his first career victory. Austin Hill won the Grand National Series race, his second victory of the season. Layne Riggs won the Truck Series race, his fourth victory of the season.

Lochie Hughes and Matteo Nannini split the Indy Lights races from Road America. Nannini was awarded victory in the second race after Alessandro de Tullio was disqualified due to having the tires of his A.J. Foyt Racing teammate Nicholas Monteiro mounted on his car. G3 Argyros swept the USF Pro 2000 races. Eddie Beswick (race one), Anthony Mantella (race two) and Brad Majman (race three) split the U.S. F2000 races. 

Ben Dörr and Matteo Cairoli split the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters races from Lausitzring. 

Cam Waters (race one), Kai Allen (race two) and Anton de Pasquale (race three) split the Supercars races from Hidden Valley Raceway. 

Jake Dennis won the Sanya ePrix, his second victory of the season.

Coming Up This Weekend

MotoGP ends June with the Dutch TT.

Formula One is off to Austria.

NASCAR stays in California, and it has its final road course weekend of the season from Sonoma.

The 24 Hours of Spa will take place.

IMSA keeps it busy with endurance races as the 6 Hours of the Glen takes place. 

World Rally Championship is off in Greece for the Acropolis Rally.

First Impressions: Road America 2026

1. After one lap, Christian Lundgaard needed a miracle. Front wing damage after contact with Scott Dixon entering turn one forced Lundgaard into the pit lane and put him in last place. Everything from that point on went Lundgaard's way. Every caution. Every mechanical failure. Basically, every break Lundgaard could ask for, he received, and it placed him second in the closing laps with Marcus Armstrong leading. However, Armstrong's engine expired with four laps remaining, and Lundgaard swept into the lead.

There was a final restart with one lap to go, but Lundgaard felt no pressure, and took an unlikely victory, one that still feels absurd to achieve.

Even after the first caution for Romain Grosjean's loose tire, Lundgaard was only 18th. Even after Christian Rasmussen stopped on course and brought out a caution, Lundgaard was still 14th.

The race turned in the penultimate stint where Lundgaard was able to run hard and it put him in a position where he made his final stop and had a shorter stint than the leaders on the alternate tire. Lundgaard was over a second faster a lap than the rest of the field, and he made his final stop with ten laps remaining, setting up a game of cat and mouse.

Lundgaard was eating away time from Armstrong in the final stint, but it was going to be close in an on-track battle. Lundgaard then received a gift. Armstrong sputtered and Lundgaard swooped into the lead. All Lundgaard had to do was survive one restart, and with the better tires that was not going to be a problem.

This was still a staggeringly good drive from Lundgaard, and maybe Lundgaard was always going to win this race. Maybe the pace was always on his side and with two laps to go or on the final lap Lundgaard was going to take the lead, but he didn't have to do that extra work to do. He had done plenty to put him in that position.

Maybe it was a miracle it worked out this way. All the cautions. All the pit stops. All the strategy fell in place for Lundgaard to be on such a charge that he could be second and be the opportunistic driver to scoop up a victory when the leader broke down with fewer than five laps remaining.

It could have been a miracle, but Lundgaard worked for it. He had nothing to lose after the opening lap, and a flat-out strategy led to a victory seemingly out of nowhere. 

2. Second was probably a spot better than David Malukas deserved in this race, but he ran at the front again. This isn't a heart-breaking second like we saw in the Indianapolis 500. He is in the picture, but outside of Phoenix and Indianapolis, Malukas hasn't been the main artist. He is good on road and street courses, but he has yet to be a driver to beat.

Malukas was not close to Armstrong in the closing stages. Then Lundgaard emerged from the pit lane ahead of Malukas. Malukas got the spot back for a moment, but the tires were on Lundgaard's side and there was nothing Malukas could do to defend that position.

Piling up top five finishes are great. At some point, Malukas must find a way to be the man to beat in one of these races. There are far more road and street courses on the schedule than ovals.

3. Will Power got third even after contact with Graham Rahal on the final lap as Rahal spun himself drifting to the left and into Power. Power had nowhere to go. Race control ruled it a block from Rahal. It is a shame Rahal threw away a result like that.

As for Power, he stopped in front of the first two cautions, and stopping before Christian Rasmussen's car ground to a halt put Power in a battle for a podium position. He was pushing Rahal on the final restart. I don't see what Power could have done differently in that incident.

For Power, it is a positive result. The pit strategy played a large factor in it. There is still room for improvement.

4. Kyffin Simpson was one of many drivers to benefit significantly from Rasmussen's misfortune, and Simpson held on to get a fourth-place finish. Simpson can do things well. I am not saying he does it great, but if he is in a car running seventh, he can finish seventh. He is good. If every year Simpson is going to have one or two results are down to sheer good timing, more power to him, but let's not confuse this for remarkable pace.

5. A pit lane speeding penalty likely cost Alex Palou a victory, or at least a podium finish, but Palou shuffled quickly back into the top ten as Rasmussen stopped after Palou served his penalty and over half the grid still had to make a pit stop. Palou didn't lose that much ground after that happened. He had to make a few passes. The speeding penalty likely cost Palou some points today, but Palou's championship lead is now 11 points greater than it was prior to this weekend.

Nobody meaningful pounced. Malukas gained eight points on Palou. That isn't nothing, but Malukas is still 60 points back with eight races to go. Is Malukas going to score eight points or more than Palou in each of the final eight races? No.

Speeding happens, and even when it happens, Palou can still finish in the top five. Good luck to the competition.

6. Alexander Rossi's slump is over, though the cautions played a significant hand into this result. The Grosjean caution got Rossi out of the cellar and on the cusp of the top ten. The Christian Rasmussen caution put Rossi into a fight for the top five. It wasn't the greatest day from Rossi. It isn't like he passed 15 cars to get here. The cautions certainly helped. You take a good result anyway you can get them.

7. Scott McLaughlin showed good pace and made some good moves in the top ten. The cautions didn't ruin McLaughlins' race too much, but it did keep him in the middle of the top ten, and he could not be a podium contender.

8. Marcus Armstrong had the worst day of the Meyer Shank Racing drivers, but Felix Rosenqvist was hard done with the Rasmussen's caution. Rosenqvist was about five seconds from entering the pit lane. Maybe it was ten seconds. Give Rosenqvist ten more seconds and he gets the stop in before Rasmussen breaks down, Rosenqvist probably wins this race. The Swede looked exceptionally strong today. Unfortunately, the cautions shuffled him back to eighth.

9. Santino Ferrucci gets ninth. Ferrucci didn't do anything notable. He benefitted a little bit from the cautions and some of the late incidents to get a top ten. Take them however you can get them.

10. Kyle Kirkwood was probably a little fortunate to finish in tenth. Kirkwood made up a few spots early, but he never quite had the speed to be a factor. If it wasn't for the Graham Rahal accident on the final lap while battling for third, Kirkwood is likely 11th, which is about where he was all day. This wasn't a good day for Kirkwood. He was not a factor all weekend. He cannot have these weekends and be a championship contender, not against Alex Palou.

11. Scott Dixon was shuffled back and then served a drive-through penalty for making a pit stop after repositioning the cars under the first caution. That is not a penalty we see all that often. Either way, it was extra work for Dixon. He ended up getting back to 11th, but this is now four consecutive races without a top ten finish. Not good.

12. Patricio O'Ward and Marcus Ericsson both looked competitive and should have been finishing in the top five. Instead, O'Ward was 12th and Ericsson was 13th. O'Ward had to take emergency service and was moved to the rear. After the Rasmussen caution, Ericsson had a pair of off-track excursions.

13. We are going to breeze through the rest of the field because as you can tell by the time this was posted it is late.

Louis Foster wound up 14th. It is a nine-spot improvement. Foster did stop on the right side of the Rasmussen caution, but he was shuffled back. Consider this a missed opportunity.

Romain Grosjean overcame the loose wheel to finish 15th. Eh. Dale Coyne Racing does have an abundance of loose tires. This should be looked at.

Caio Collet started well and he looked good, but the Rasmussen caution shuffled him outside the top ten. Collet was better than 16th.

Mick Schumacher is just going to finish 17th every race. It isn't great. It isn't good. It is 17th.

If you have any clue what happened with Juncos Hollinger Racing, you are likely the only one because Rinus VeeKay was 18th and Sting Ray Robb was 19th, and I don't think either was mentioned.

Dennis Hauger had a tire puncture right after the first restart and he never recovered from that setback.

Nolan Siegel was in a position for top ten finish and then he was spun off the front wing of Josef Newgarden. Siegel dropped to 21st and lost a pretty good result. Newgarden was handed a 30-second penalty for the contact and it dropped him to 22nd. Newgarden had another tough day. A 12th-place finish would have been decent. An unforced error cost Newgarden mightily.

14. This one is painful for Marcus Armstrong. His first career victory was in his hand, and the engine let him down. It was going to be close on Lundgaard passing Armstrong before the checkered flag.  Lundgaard's pace had fallen off just enough where it felt like Armstrong was going to hold on.

For the last three years, Armstrong has been a solid driver, and this was the first time it felt like he was a true contender for a race victory. The talent has been there. With how Meyer Shank Racing has been running, victory felt possible. It felt like this was going to be Armstrong's day. It should have been. He made the stops at the right time, he had good pace and made no mistakes. The only real challenger he had was Lundgaard, and it felt like Armstrong had done enough to hold on.

This one stings. Hopefully, it doesn't break Armstrong down. MSR has good cars. They can recover from today. It will get a chance at home in the next race.

15. We get a break, a week off before Mid-Ohio. How will Mid-Ohio top what we just saw?