Power Rankings: No Surprise Here, Alex Palou Remains No. 1
Following a dominant victory in Sunday's Children's of Alabama Indy Grand Prix powered by AmFirst, Chip Ganassi Racing driver Alex Palou continues to solidify his position atop the NTT INDYCAR SERIES Power Rankings.
The top 10 drivers entering Saturday's Sonsio Grand Prix airing at 4:30 p.m. ET on FOX, the FOX Sports app and the INDYCAR Radio Network, remain unchanged for a second consecutive race, but there was still plenty of movement with several drivers either rising or falling.
There was also a change in the best driver, not named Alex Palou category.
This list reflects the top 10 drivers entering Saturday's 85-lap race on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
↓10. Scott Dixon (No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda; Last Rank: 9)
Dixon has dropped since his runner-up finish in the March 2 season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding. Still, he has finishes of 10th, eighth and 12th, including a rally Sunday at Barber Motorsports Park coming from 26th at the start to gain 14 spots, the biggest improvement in the field.
9. Alexander Rossi (No. 20 ECR Java House Chevrolet; Last Rank: 10)
Rossi earned his best finish in four starts with Ed Carpenter Racing during Sunday's race, finishing eighth. He did so from the 15th starting position. Rossi has three top-10 finishes in four starts with ECR, with a worst finish of 15th in the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
8. Pato O'Ward (No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet; Last Rank: 8)
O'Ward's natural road course pace continued with a sixth-place finish at Barber Motorsports Park. In The Thermal Club INDYCAR Grand Prix, he started on pole and led 51 of 65 laps in a second-place effort. However, he has struggled some on the street circuits, finishing 11th in St. Petersburg and was 13th in Long Beach.
7. Felix Rosenqvist (No. 60 SiriusXM Honda; Last Rank: 4)
Rosenqvist endured his worst weekend of the season at Barber, qualifying 14th and finishing 13th. That ended a streak of three consecutive top-10 starting spots and race finishes.
6. Colton Herta (No. 26 Gainbridge Honda; Last Rank: 5)
Herta has two front-row starting positions in four races; he started third in Barber. Unfortunately, those strong Saturdays have not converted into strong Sundays. A slow pit stop in St. Petersburg relegated him to a 16th-place finish. In Long Beach and Barber, Herta faded in the race, finishing seventh in each. Between those races, Herta started fourth and finished fourth at The Thermal Club.
5. Kyle Kirkwood (No. 27 PreFab Honda; Last Rank: 2)
Kirkwood finished outside the top 10 for the first time this season at Barber. However, he rallied from 18th to finish 11th. After a strong Long Beach race weekend where he earned NTT P1 Award honors and led 46 of 90 laps en route to the victory, his start to the 2025 season has been strong. He finished fifth in St. Petersburg and eighth at The Thermal Club.
↑4. Scott McLaughlin (No. 3 Good Ranches Team Penske Chevrolet; Last Rank: 7)
McLaughlin's two-year winning streak at Barber ended, but he still started second and finished third. The Team Penske driver has three top-six finishes in four races this season with the outlier being when he qualified 25th and finished 27th in a tough day at The Thermal Club. He began 2025 with an NTT P1 Award and fourth-place finish after leading a race-high 40 of 100 laps in St. Petersburg and started and finished sixth on April 13 at Long Beach.
↑3. Will Power (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet; Last Rank: 6)
Power earned his third consecutive top-six finish by coming home fifth at Barber. Previously, he climbed from 13th to finish fifth at Long Beach and charged from 21st to finish sixth at The Thermal Club. He has been the top-finishing Team Penske driver in two of the last three races.
2. Christian Lundgaard (No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet; Last Rank: 3)
Most seasons, Lundgaard, who has three consecutive podium finishes and a fourth-place average through four races, would likely be the top driver in these Power Rankings. However, Palou has been that much better. Still, Lundgaard has been second best as we approach a track that he has never started worse than eighth in six tries and has finished second, fourth, fourth and third, respectively his last four tries.
↔1. Alex Palou (No. 10 HRC Chip Ganassi Racing Honda; Last Rank: 1)
Palou earned his third win in four races to begin the 2025 season. His worst result is second at Long Beach. Oh, and he has won the past two Sonsio Grand Prix events at IMS. The Spaniard who led 81 of 90 laps at Barber has been atop the Power Rankings for more than a year. He remains there this week as well.
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