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Fox Sports
5 days ago
- Sport
- Fox Sports
INDYCAR Power Rankings: It's Alex Palou's World, We're Just Living In It
NTT INDYCAR SERIES INDYCAR Power Rankings: It's Alex Palou's World, We're Just Living In It Updated Aug. 11, 2025 1:00 p.m. ET share facebook x reddit link Alex Palou didn't win at Portland, but he celebrated big on Sunday night. Palou won his fourth title (third consecutive) with his third-place finish. So in the rankings, he has all the power — even though Portland was a big weekend for race winner Will Power. Here are the power rankings following Portland and entering a weekend off before the season ends with races at Milwaukee and Nashville. Dropped out: Kyle Kirkwood (Last Week: 7), David Malukas (Last Week: 10) On the verge: Kyle Kirkwood, David Malukas, Christian Rasmussen 10. Graham Rahal (Last Week: Not Ranked) Rahal finished fourth at Portland, continuing a stretch of four solid finishes in the last five races with an 11th, seventh, 12th and then the fourth among them. Rahal left Portland with a good feeling about his Rahal Letterman Lanigan teams on road courses. 9. Scott McLaughlin (Last Week: Not Ranked) McLaughlin started 11th and finished seventh at Portland. The Penske driver is 11th in the standings, thanks to three top 10s in his last five starts. 8. Colton Herta (Last Week: 5) Herta finished 10th at Portland and that might feel respectable, but the Andretti team tested at Portland a week prior to the race and Herta was the best in 10th. Andretti had three top fives in his previous five races. ADVERTISEMENT 7. Felix Rosenqvist (Last Week: 9) Rosenqvist started on the front row, so finishing ninth was a little disappointing for the Meyer Shank Racing driver. The top-10 result stopped the bleeding from a couple of bad finishes. It was his fourth top 10 in his last seven starts. 6. Marcus Armstrong (Last Week: 6) Armstrong placed eighth at Portland. It was the eighth top 10 in the last nine starts for the Meyer Shank Racing driver. He isn't rattling off top fives but he's a staple in the top 10. 5. Scott Dixon (Last Week: 4) Dixon started ninth and finished 11th in a day when he got into the back of Josef Newgarden at one point. The 11th-place finish ended a string of seven consecutive top-10 finishes for the Chip Ganassi Racing driver. 4. Will Power (Last Week: 8) Power earned the first win for Team Penske as he celebrated the victory at Portland. It was his fifth top five of the season and his first on a road course since Detroit. 3. Pato O'Ward (Last Week: 2) O'Ward led 15 laps before a wiring issue shorted out an electrical box that was part of the engine system. He finished 10 laps down in 25th. The Arrow McLaren driver had finished in the top five in each of his last five starts. 2. Christian Lundgaard (Last Week: 3) Lundgaard posted the fastest speed in qualifying and finished second at Portland for back-to-back second-place finishes. The Arrow McLaren driver is going to win. Soon. 1. Alex Palou (Last Week: 1) He is the champion of 2025. And 2024. And 2023. And 2021. Of course, the Ganassi driver is still No. 1. [Read more: Tuned To Perfection: Alex Palou's Latest INDYCAR Title One For History Books] Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass. share
Fox Sports
6 days ago
- Automotive
- Fox Sports
Tuned To Perfection: Alex Palou's Latest INDYCAR Title One For History Books
NTT INDYCAR SERIES Tuned To Perfection: Alex Palou's Latest INDYCAR Title One For History Books Published Aug. 10, 2025 5:48 p.m. ET share facebook x reddit link Dario Franchitti freely admits he loves watching Alex Palou race. Sure, he loves to watch Palou win. But how Palou gets it done truly impresses the four-time INDYCAR champion who has remained at Chip Ganassi Racing to coach drivers. Not that Palou needs much coaching. "He has a beautiful driving style, which I really appreciate," Franchitti said. "I love watching. "He's like playing an instrument when he drives a car." Palou has orchestrated a symphony that some would consider unprecedented by clinching the 2025 title Sunday at Portland International Raceway. And that's with two more races left in the season. He doesn't just emulate one instrument when he's in his ride. At times, he drives as smooth as a saxophone in perfect swing. When he needs to stomp, he crushes like a professional drummer. From the opening lap of the opening practice, he has played Reveille on a bugle while the competition stumbles in, waking up around him. ADVERTISEMENT "It's unprecedented in modern times, obviously," said his team owner Chip Ganassi. "We're really, really pleased and excited and happy watching him be a part of history." Ganassi has seen his drivers dominate, but not like this. While Franchitti compiled 31 victories in his INDYCAR career, he never won more than five races in a season. He once combined with Scott Dixon to win 10 races in a year for Chip Ganassi Racing. Palou? The 28-year-old won five of the first six races of 2025 and eight of the 14 prior to Portland. A record-tying 10-win season remains a possibility for him to match A.J. Foyt and Al Unser. Palou joined the list of drivers with four championships: Foyt (seven), Dixon (six), Mario Andretti (four), Sebastien Bourdais (four) and Franchitti (four). "It's amazing," Palou said. "I'm enjoying it a lot. I'm enjoying every single moment. "It's not that I'm not conscious about what's going on. It's just that I cannot really believe it, and I'm just riding the wave and enjoying every single second of it and having fun." It's not just those who work within the walls of Ganassi who've watched this historic season in awe. Several drivers who know first-hand the feeling of dominating an open-wheel season look at what Palou has done and can't believe what they see. Don't forget — all the cars come from Dallara. The engines either come from Chevrolet or Honda. He hasn't acquired or built a car to out-engineer the competition. And Palou has, at times, outrun the field by seconds. "I can only compare that to when someone has a big advantage car-wise in Formula 1," said Will Power, who won six races in 2011 and has 45 career INDYCAR victories. "You don't see that dominance in a one-make series like INDYCAR. That's what's so exceptional about it. "Exceptional. You can't deny that guy … he probably should be in Formula 1. It is just so incredible." Palou's teammate Dixon, the winner of six titles with a career-best six-win season in 2008, knows he might not witness such a historic season again. "You just have years like that, and it just flows," Dixon said about what he's seen out of Palou this year. "It's not even a confidence thing. It's just kind of you turn up, and you expect everything to go right." Of course, it goes right with the strength of the team, led by longtime strategist Barry Wanser, engineer Julian Robertson and crew chief Ricky Davis. They matched setups to Palou's ability so they could find the sweet spot of exactly how hard to push the current INDYCAR tires (both the hards and the softs). They've strategized to figure out how smooth to drive it to get the best fuel mileage. "You can't say enough good things about what that whole group is doing," Dixon said. "They're just doing a better job than everybody else." When Palou won four of the first five races of 2025, it appeared he could have a career year. After all, he had "only" won 11 races in his first five seasons, despite earning three Astor Cup trophies as the champion. And up until the Indianapolis 500, he had never won on an oval. So questions lingered. When he won the 500, it answered the question about any hurdles remaining. It unleashed a driver who has now also won at Iowa. Street course, permanent road course, superspeedway or short oval — it hasn't mattered this season. Palou has won at them. "I thought, to be honest, up to the Indy 500 like 'All right, the momentum is great, everything's falling into place,'" said Helio Castroneves, winner of four Indy 500s and 31 INDYCAR races. "And now, it's still there. And even then, understand seasons like this, it's very, very, rare that it happens where you might capitalize on everything you can." Sure, Palou had some luck along the way. Some of the top competitors for the Indy 500 had mechanical issues or crashes. The caution came out at the right time for him to win at Iowa when Josef Newgarden led lap after lap after lap. For the most part, Palou and Wanser chose a strategy and it worked. Palou has not had a mechanical failure all season. The only race he didn't finish came at Detroit, thanks to a hit by David Malukas. As other drivers see it, Palou shouldn't feel guilty that he has capitalized on some breaks. "You've just got to bank and take it and don't look back," Castroneves said. Even if he hadn't gotten a break here and there, Palou would still have controlled his championship destiny. Seasons like this just don't happen. The last driver to earn eight wins in a season was Sebastien Bourdais in 2007. Before then, it was eight wins in 1994 by Al Unser Jr. "I can't compare it," Ganassi said. "This guy is in a league of his own." For 17 consecutive seasons from 2006-2022, no driver clinched before the final race. Now Palou has done it twice and both came at Portland, with one race to go in 2023 and now two races remaining in 2025. "What Palou is doing is so impressive in this day and age … to be that dominant" Power said. "It's not like they've been lucky wins. They've been dominant wins. "I like seeing that. It lifts everyone's game. You have to study someone and understand why they are fast and what it is about their execution on race day that is allowing it to work out for them." Some have compared his level of dominance this year to Alex Zanardi in winning 12 races in 1997-98. Palou won his title in his sixth season, one more than it took Bourdais to earn his fourth but quicker than Foyt (seven seasons), Franchitti (14), Dixon (15) and Andretti (21). "Certainly, all four of mine came down to the last race, and in some cases, the last lap," Franchitti said about comparing their championship runs. "The last one I remember with that level [of dominance] was Zanardi. It's quite something." Graham Rahal, a 19-year veteran of the series, saw his father, Bobby Rahal, win six races in 1986. "It's impressive," Rahal said. "It's more impressive now than it was even in my dad's era because there was a bigger separation between teams and competitiveness back then." Rahal indicated there is some separation between the Ganassi cars and the entire grid this year. He points to Dixon amid the top five in the standings and the stark improvement of young driver Kyffin Simpson. "Those cars are clearly a step ahead of everybody else, too," Rahal said. "That's a reality. But Alex maximizes it in every phase." In some racing series, when a driver or team displays such dominations, the whispers get louder and louder of whether they have some unfair advantage. But no one seems to think that. "I can promise you there's not some blatant cheating thing going on," Power said. "That group is just executing so well. The driver is executing well. He's just doing an incredibly good job." Few drivers know that feeling. AJ Allmendinger won five Champ Car races in 2006 during the time when there were two competing open-wheel series. He said not getting complacent, and for Palou, the ability to not race conservatively just to win a title has helped him crush the competition. "It's honestly phenomenal watching what he's doing because I feel like, just like the Cup Series, you could argue INDYCAR is the most competitive series in the world right now, and he's just destroying everybody," Allmendinger said. "I just remember winning those races, you just walk into the racetrack with so much confidence, knowing that everybody, as you walk in, is looking at you, saying 'How do we beat this guy?'" They probably look with some annoyance, Allmendinger said. "You just don't see dominance in INDYCAR by one specific driver usually" Allmendinger said. "It's pretty special to watch. "I know for all of them, it's probably a little bit of annoying. But to be able to watch greatness as it's happening is something that I really enjoy." That's especially the view from those on the inside at Ganassi, even for those whose records Palou could eventually break. As Franchitti said, Palou drives as if he plays a musical instrument. But he plays it still seeking ways to make the sound ever more smooth, even more crisp. "From a team point of view and from a driver point of view, it's bloody impressive," Franchitti said. "Alex continues to perform at his incredibly high level, but he keeps looking for more. "He's constantly questioning, he's constantly asking, he's constantly looking to improve himself. He's a hell of a package." Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass. share
Fox Sports
7 days ago
- Sport
- Fox Sports
Pato O'Ward To Lead INDYCAR Field To Green, Alex Palou Eyes Title From Fifth
NTT INDYCAR SERIES Pato O'Ward To Lead INDYCAR Field To Green, Alex Palou Eyes Title From Fifth Published Aug. 9, 2025 5:34 p.m. ET share facebook x reddit link PORTLAND, Ore. — Alex Palou joked that he went "looking for mushrooms" during the final qualifying session Saturday at Portland International Raceway. Hey, the way he has cruised through the season, he deserved some time to go off the grid. Palou didn't make that off-course excursion on purpose and will start fifth Sunday, as he attempts to clinch the 2025 INDYCAR title with two races remaining. The driver he is battling, Pato O'Ward, will start from the pole. Alex Palou will start from fifth at Portland. But O'Ward didn't technically win the pole Saturday. His Arrow McLaren teammate, Christian Lundgaard, won the pole with the fastest time in the final round of qualifying but has a six-spot grid penalty for an engine change earlier in the Portland weekend. That means O'Ward doesn't get the one bonus point for the pole and remains 121 points behind Palou in the standings. If Palou leaves Portland with a 108-point lead, he clinches the title. If he leads by 98 points, all he has to do is start the final two races at Milwaukee and Nashville to capture his fourth (and third consecutive) championship. ADVERTISEMENT "The guy's pretty much won it already," said O'Ward, not trying to worry about what he views as the inevitable. "I know they're making a big deal out of this. ... He has got to have the worst luck he's ever had in his career, just like the best luck he's had in his career this year in order for us to keep this alive." Palou has won two of the last four races on the 1.964-mile road course, located just north of downtown Portland, where temperatures are expected to be in the low-90s for the race. It will be about 10 degrees warmer than Friday and Saturday. "Nobody knows what the track and the tires are going to do," Palou said. "Not yet. ... [The track] is going to change tomorrow. "As of today, yeah, I think we have a great car. I can't wait." The Chip Ganassi Racing driver appeared to have a car capable of winning the pole until going off track and having the nose of his car bump into a tire barrier. The car did not have significant damage. "I'm happy that we had pace," Palou said. "Obviously not happy that I went looking for mushrooms there. ... I tried a little bit too hard and just lost the car." O'Ward was also happy with his performance at a track where he struggled a year ago. He was good but not great in the two practices prior to qualifying. Pato O'Ward will lead the field in INDYCAR's race at Portland. "In practice, I wasn't feeling super-confident just because I was really struggling with the car," O'Ward said. "I was struggling to get a lap together." While it would have been nice to cut a point off Palou's lead by earning the bonus point for winning the pole, O'Ward had no ill will toward his teammate beating him for the top spot. "I'm super pumped to see both cars [No.] 1, 2," O'Ward said. "I just missed it there in [the final round] a little bit." Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass. share
Fox Sports
31-07-2025
- Automotive
- Fox Sports
Fox Corporation Acquires One-Third Interest in Penske Entertainment - Fox Sports Press Pass
Strategic Investment and Partnership Launches New Era of Growth Across INDYCAR that Includes a Multi-Year Extension of INDYCAR's Media Rights with FOX Sports INDIANAPOLIS (Thursday, July 31, 2025) – Penske Entertainment and Fox Corporation ('FOX' or the 'Company') (Nasdaq: FOXA, FOX), the parent company of FOX Sports, today announced an investment in the future of North America's premier open-wheel racing series, with FOX's acquisition of a one-third interest in Penske Entertainment, inclusive of INDYCAR and the iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The investment is expected to supercharge a new era of growth for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, the most competitive and dynamic motorsport on the planet. This includes: Innovative and industry-leading racing and entertainment events A hyper-engaged digital strategy and immersive content focus Enhanced promotion and star-building opportunities for NTT INDYCAR SERIES drivers Today's announcement also includes a multi-year extension of INDYCAR's media rights with FOX Sports. 'This partnership is built on long-standing trust and a shared vision for the future,' Roger Penske said. 'FOX sees the incredible potential across our sport and wants to play an active role in building our growth trajectory. Lachlan Murdoch and his team, starting with Eric Shanks, are committed to our success and will bring incredible energy and innovation to INDYCAR.' FOX Sports acquired INDYCAR's media rights in 2025, bringing fresh promotional resources and significantly larger reach to the NTT INDYCAR SERIES. This year's Indianapolis 500 on FOX averaged 7.01 million viewers, a 41 percent increase over the previous edition and a 17-year high. So far, the 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season is averaging a 31 percent increase in viewership year-over-year. 'We're thrilled to join the INDYCAR ownership group at such a pivotal time for the sport,' said Eric Shanks, CEO & Executive Producer, FOX Sports. 'INDYCAR represents everything we value in live sports — passionate fans, iconic venues, elite competition, and year-round storytelling potential. This investment underscores our commitment to motorsports and our belief in INDYCAR's continued growth on and off the track. We're excited to help elevate the sport to new heights across all platforms.' This news builds on wider momentum across the sport, marked by rising attendance and record crowds at several events this year, including a sell-out of the Indy 500. INDYCAR has invested heavily in digital growth recently, launching a new mobile APP, web site and fantasy platform while also generating 1 million new social followers. The SERIES will also add a new showcase to its calendar in 2026, racing through Arlington's entertainment district through a first-of-its-kind joint venture with the Dallas Cowboys and Texas Rangers. The NTT INDYCAR SERIES is the only premier motorsport in North America with every race on U.S. network television. It features an international field of the world's most versatile drivers who compete on superspeedways, short ovals, street circuits and permanent road courses. The 2025 season continues with the Grand Prix of Portland on Sunday, Aug. 10 at 3 p.m. ET on FOX. Also, part of the Penske Entertainment family, the world-famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway is annually home to the largest single-day spectator sporting event on the planet, the Indianapolis 500. This year's 'Greatest Spectacle in Racing' featured a crowd of more than 300,000 people. The famed venue is steeped on more than a century of racing heritage and has the largest seating capacity of any sporting venue across the globe.
Fox Sports
20-07-2025
- Automotive
- Fox Sports
Pato O'Ward Wins Toronto, Slices Alex Palou's Lead by 30 Points
INDYCAR Arrow McLaren's Pato O'Ward isn't ready to concede the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship just yet. The driver of the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet drove that point home in Sunday's Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto by winning his second race in eight days as Palou finished 12th. SEE: Race Results Palou entered the weekend with a 129-point lead over O'Ward, the largest leader's margin this point system has ever seen this deep in a season. But 30 points evaporated at Exhibition Place, dropping their separation to 99 points with four races remaining. A race win can be worth as many as 54 points. 'Oh, man, I can't say I saw this (win) coming,' O'Ward said. 'But I was feeling so good on the (primary) tires all weekend really. We were just struggling to get the alternates to work in qualifying. Sadly, that's the one you need to transfer. 'But I knew we had a great car under me to race with, and (the crew) nailed it on the strategy.' The win was the first for O'Ward in Toronto and his ninth in the series overall. He started the race in the 10th position but felt luck was going to be with him after a bird dropped an unlikely present on the car and a crew member in the morning practice. 'That's going to be a good day today, and it was,' the Mexican driver said. 'I'm stoked for everybody (on the team). I would have never expected to have gone this much better in Toronto because it's been the most challenging circuit for us in the past.' Joining O'Ward on the podium were a pair of drivers scoring season-making finishes. Dale Coyne Racing's Rinus VeeKay (No. 18 askROI Honda) finished second with Chip Ganassi Racing's Kyffin Simpson (No. 8 Journie Rewards Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) finishing third. VeeKay scored his fifth career podium finish but first since a race at Barber Motorsports Park in 2022. Simpson earned the prestigious spot for the first time in his two years in the series. NTT P1 Award winner Colton Herta (No. 26 Gainbridge Honda), who won last year's race, finished fourth to lead a contingent of Andretti Global drivers. Marcus Ericsson (No. 28 Delaware Life Honda) and Kyle Kirkwood (No. 27 Silver Gold Bull Honda) finished fifth and sixth, respectively. This was a race of different strategies. O'Ward was in the majority starting with a set of the less-favorable alternate Firestone Firehawk tires, and he was able to have them removed with a stop just ahead of the Lap 3 caution. Thus, he only had to use that set for the better part of two green-flag laps and while that forced him into a three-stop strategy, he was able to run the primary compound the rest of the way. Palou started second, and he and Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon were among the few starting on the primaries. Given an assortment and length of caution periods in the first half of the race, the strategy had a strong chance of working out. But ultimately, it didn't, with both CGR drivers reduced to spending the final segment mid-pack. Dixon finished 10th in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. 'Well, I chose the strategy, so that's what we did wrong today,' Palou said. 'I was pushing for that strategy. I thought it was going to give us the best opportunity to win. I wanted to be up front trying to avoid being trapped in traffic. 'Honestly, (days like this) happen. We knew it was going to be a risky strategy rather than starting on alternates. It was kind of working. We were able to open up a big gap after that first yellow, but it was not enough today. Not our day.' Palou still has reason to be optimistic. Of the four races left on the schedule, he has won twice at each of the next two road courses: WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca (2022 and 2024) and Portland International Raceway (2021 and 2023). O'Ward won last year's race at The Milwaukee Mile, which hosts the third of the season's final four. The combination of the various tire strategies in play and Toronto's tight confines around the 11-turn, 1.786-mile street circuit created action aplenty, and there seemed to be contact of some degree at every corner. It was arguably the most exciting of the four street races this year, with 226 on-track passes (most in the event since 2014) and 201 passes for position (most since 2019). Both totals were fourth-most overall for racing on the downtown streets of this Ontario city. Often in the middle of the action was Team Penske, which saw its challenging season continue. First, the left rear lug nut of Scott McLaughlin's car came off following a pit stop, pushing the No. 3 Gallagher Insurance Team Penske Chevrolet into the Turn 2 wall. Then, Josef Newgarden and his No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet were collected by an incident that started with Dale Coyne Racing rookie Jacob Abel (No. 51 Abel Construction Honda) taking light contact from fellow first-year Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver Louis Foster (No. 45 Droplight Honda) in Turn 1. In the mess that ensued, Abel's car landed on top of Newgarden's. Later, Will Power's No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet lost a side-by-side battle in Turn 3, hitting the left-side wall. Roger Penske's drivers finished 11th (Power), 23rd (Newgarden) and 26th (McLaughlin). Ed Carpenter Racing also had a difficult day, with both Christian Rasmussen (No. 21 Splenda ECR Chevrolet) and Alexander Rossi (No. 20 Java House ECR Chevrolet) hitting the wall with right-rear tires. Rasmussen was side by side with Power at the time; Rossi appeared to veer to the right after bouncing over a bump. Unfortunately for Rossi, a section of the concrete barrier split that corner of the car apart, creating a significant amount of damage and debris. The race ended under caution when the No. 60 SiriusXM Honda of Felix Rosenqvist wiggled and was struck from behind by Nolan Siegel's No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. That ended Rosenqvist's day as he had twice taken front-wing damage due to contact with Power. Only 26 car-and-driver combinations took the green flag as Santino Ferrucci and his No. 14 Sexton Properties/AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet were held out of the race due to a damaged car and a bruised right hand in the morning practice. Ferrucci hit the Turn 7 wall on the left side, sending the car sliding into the Turn 8 run-off area. All four corners of the car were damaged with only about three hours to make repairs. Besides, Ferrucci's right hand was badly bruised and swollen. Practice for the Java House Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca begins Friday at 5 p.m. ET (FS2, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network). The 95-lap race, the 14th of the 17-race season, is Sunday at 3 p.m. on FOX. recommended Item 1 of 1
