IndyCar 2026 at Halftime: Palou's Five Wins, the Closest Indy 500 Ever, and a Title That Is Far From Settled
Welcome to the Happy Hour Racing IndyCar Feature - a midseason check on the 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES, the championship picture through ten races, and the storylines that will define the second half of the season.
The Short Version
Through ten races, Alex Palou has won five times and leads the championship by 60 points. Felix Rosenqvist pulled off the closest Indianapolis 500 finish in history. Christian Lundgaard went from last place on lap one to winning at Road America. Will Power left Team Penske after 17 years, and his first season at Andretti has been rough. Nine races remain and the title is not decided yet.
Palou Is Building Something Historic
Alex Palou won four championships in 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025. He is 28 years old and already the youngest four-time champion in IndyCar history. Now he is trying to make it five straight.
In 2026, he has been just as dominant as ever. He won the opener at St. Petersburg, won at Barber, won at Long Beach, won at Detroit, and won the Bommarito 500 oval at Gateway. Five wins in ten starts. He leads David Malukas by 60 points and Kyle Kirkwood by 61 with nine races to go. The gap is large, but it is not insurmountable. Last season, Palou led by 93 points at the same point in the calendar. This year it is tighter. Four drivers sit within 100 points of him. It will take a run of bad luck or mechanical failures to knock him off, but this field is competitive enough to make it interesting.
What makes Palou different is that he wins on every surface. He takes poles, controls races, and rarely makes mistakes. Chip Ganassi Racing has given him fast cars, and he has used every one of them.
The Indianapolis 500 Was the Race of the Year
The 110th Indianapolis 500 was the best race of 2026, and it may end up being the best race of the decade. Felix Rosenqvist, driving for Meyer Shank Racing, made the winning pass on David Malukas with just over a lap left. The final margin was 0.0233 seconds. That is the closest finish in the 500's history, cutting the previous record of 0.043 seconds, set by Al Unser Jr. over Scott Goodyear in 1992, nearly in half.
The race featured 70 lead changes - an event record. For most of the afternoon, it looked like Marcus Armstrong would hold on for his first win. Then Rosenqvist found a way through. The side-by-side battle from turn one to turn four was the kind of moment this race was built for. Rosenqvist, who has long been one of the most talented drivers in the field without the resume to match, finally has his Indy 500. At 32 years old, he rewrote his legacy in a single afternoon.
Lundgaard: Last to First at Road America
If one driver has emerged as the season's best story, it is Christian Lundgaard. The 24-year-old Dane has two wins in 2026 - the Sonsio Grand Prix at IMS road course in May and the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America on June 21. The Road America win was the more stunning of the two.
Lundgaard made contact with Scott Dixon on lap one and damaged his front wing. He came to pit lane, effectively dropping to last in the 25-car field. He spent the afternoon working back through traffic. With four laps to go, he was second behind leader Marcus Armstrong. Then Armstrong had a mechanical failure. Lundgaard held off Malukas on the final lap to win. It was the third win of his career and the kind of drive that gets people talking about him as a championship candidate. He sits fourth in points, 77 behind Palou.
Where the Championship Stands
The Story You Might Have Missed: Will Power at Andretti
One of the offseason's biggest moves was Will Power leaving Team Penske after 17 years to join Andretti Global. Power is a two-time IndyCar champion and a former Indy 500 winner. The expectation was that he would bring veteran experience to a team looking to contend again.
It has not gone that way. Power sits 17th in points with just two top tens in his first ten races. This is the same Will Power who won 45 races with Penske. Something has not clicked at Andretti, whether that is the car, the chemistry, or just a run of bad luck. He has time to turn it around in the second half, but the season he had in mind looks nothing like the season he is having.
Rookies Worth Watching
Dennis Hauger is leading the Rookie of the Year standings. The Norwegian driver, with Dale Coyne Racing, has adapted quickly and put up results that earned him respect early in the year. A 10th at St. Petersburg in the opener was his calling card.
Mick Schumacher is also in his first IndyCar season. The son of seven-time Formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher came over from F1, and the transition has been a learning curve. He has the talent. The results have been harder to find. He sits 44 points behind Hauger in the rookie standings but is expected back for another year.
The Bottom Line
Palou is the favorite. He has been the favorite all year. But with nine races left and four drivers within 100 points, someone just needs Palou to have a bad day at the wrong time. The second half of this season still has a lot to decide.
If you are watching IndyCar this summer, rep your connection to the greatest race in motorsport. Browse our IndyCar gear collection for Indy 500 shirts and hats to wear through every race on the second-half schedule.
109th Indy 500 Racing Snapback Hat - available now
