2. At its very best, Markham showed the beauty of an IndyCar street race, one where drivers can run different strategies and have them all come together at the end. Track position would be a clear advantage and cancel out fresher tires. There is room for moves and passes to be made.
We saw Marcus Ericsson go on a tear stopping with 21 laps to go while cautions allowed Romain Grosjean to stretch his fuel, last stopping with 37 laps remaining. Grosjean was going to need an error from Ericsson to hold on for the victory. The tire advantage and the fuel advantage was going to be in Ericcson’s favor. The final lead change came with five laps to go and Ericsson flew out to a 7.5305-second victory.
3. With how disjointed the middle of this race was, it felt like the cautions were going to go against Ericsson, but the cautions went for and against every driver at some point. From lap 31 to lap 61, 31 total laps, there were only nine laps of green flag racing. If you were bit by one caution, one soon went against you. Five of the six cautions came in that period. It set up Ericsson to run an aggressive strategy. It was worth it. Saving fuel can help get track position, but the final 29 laps running green allowed cars to go ten-tenths, and it worked out for Ericsson.
4. This has been a refreshing season for Ericsson, and the year he needed. Ericsson made it tough on Andretti Global from the start of the season to replace him. Three top ten finishes in the first four races with a pole position mixed in was far greater than anything he did in 2025. Since then he has been a regular contender for top ten finishes. He hasn’t been spotless.
Ericsson has been in IndyCar for seven seasons. We have never seen him dominate a race. Even in 2022 when he led the championship for a fair portion of the season, that was mostly down to his Indianapolis 500 victory being double points the final year the race paid double points. At Chip Ganassi Racing, Ericsson could tick off top ten finishes, but they were not an abundance of podium finishes and races where he led many laps. It has been respectable, but not stunning.
On his best day, Ericsson can do this, drive through the field when the circumstances allow for it, and pull out a victory. Ericsson looked like one of the best cars early. It feels fitting he won even for how chaotic this event turned out to be. It was a true driver’s victory, cutting his way through traffic and fresh off an extension to remain with Andretti Global, Ericsson showed the correct choice was to keep him in the team.
5. We have been saying this championship has been wrapped up for a few races. Álex Palou was fourth and everyone else had trouble. Kyle Kirkwood clipped a barrier while looking poised for a podium finish. David Malukas slapped the barrier when he was already behind and losing points to Palou. Christian Lundgaard really didn’t do anything wrong and ended up behind Palou. Palou gained points on everyone, and big chunks of points at that.
Prior to this weekend, I was wondering what it would take to convince me Palou could clinch the title in Washington, D.C. with three races to spare. His points lead was 110 points over Kirkwood after Portland. To even conceive Palou taking the title in the capital, I thought he had to leave Markham up 130 points. He is up 133 points. To clinch, he needs to leave Washington, D.C. up 162 points. Gaining 29 points is difficult, but Palou accidentally stumbled into a 20-point gain today. Even if he doesn’t leave up 162 points, there is a good chance all he will need in the final Milwaukee race is a finish of 15th or better, and even then he will essentially head to that weekend just needing to start each Milwaukee race to claim the title.
It is over. The question is how soon can Palou make this official.
6. We must acknowledge Romain Grosjean for doing all he could to finish second. It was hard not to pull for him while he was leading. Grosjean had had plenty of runs worthy of a race victory, but they didn’t go his way. This was a classic Dale Coyne Racing race where it rolled the dice on a strategy no one else would attempt and it netted them a far better result than running the status quo. That group was happy with second, as they should be, but we would have been ecstatic to see them pull this one out.
7. Will Power rounded out the podium. Power took on a new engine and a grid penalty. He was starting at the back anyway. Power was craving his way forward early. For a moment, it looked like he could have taken this race, but Ericsson had the better strategy and stopping nine laps later gave Ericsson the clear advantage. There was some contact between teammates, Power was not pleased with it, but he seemed to cool down post-race. It is hard to be mad at a teammate when they go on and win the race. You almost give the, credit for the bold move.
8. The only other main character from this race to pay off is Louis Foster, because Foster led the first 32 laps, was shuffled back during the cautions and needing to pit, and Foster was passing cars with ease afterward. It looked like it would be his day. One aggressive move somewhat cost him, but the barriers not being rounded on the inside of turn three is hard to pin on Foster as a fault. Clipping it did end his race in a massive shunt on lap 43.
Without the accident, I think there is a good chance Foster wins this race. He stopped three laps after Ericsson. He was passing Ericsson when he clipped the barrier. We will look back as a race that got away from Foster even if it isn’t 100% his fault.
9. We will need to speak about Markham in a broader discussion. Multiple things can be true.
This was a pretty good layout.
It was a shame Friday was lost due to track construction delays.
For as good as the race was, some of the shortcomings were glaring, notably the barriers in turn three jutting out enough it could end Foster and Kirkwood’s days. With how hard Foster hit out the outside of that corner, I cannot wonder why there was not a tire barrier on corner exit. The tire barrier on the outside of turn four didn’t look sufficient enough for a 90° corner. The hairpin never got properly finished. It worked but it was a greater trouble spot than originally designed.
The course was good but there are a number of issues that must be addressed for next year. The promoters, Green Savoree Racing Promotions, and IndyCar know this. IndyCar made it clear it was not pleased with the promoter after Friday. Things will be addressed and all the positives do not cancel the negatives.
10. We will go deeper on this race shortly. There is not a lot of time before Washington, D.C., but we will fit it a more complete review.
