As expected, Chip Ganassi Racing's Alex Palou is the overwhelming favorite to win the 2026 NTT IndyCar Series championship, which would be his fifth overall and fourth in a row.
DraftKings Sportsbook lists Palou, who pulled off the series' first three-peat since Dario Franchitti's from 2009 to 2011, at -175 (bet $175 to win $100) to become the first driver to win four in a row since Sebastien Bourdais' dominant Champ Car run from 2004 to 2007.
Palou is the standard in America's premier open-wheel racing series right now, and it has been this way for much of the decade. He hasn't even been lower than first place in the championship standings since Sunday, June 23, 2024, and with his eight-win season in 2025, he became the first driver to lead the standings wire-to-wire in an Indy 500-winning season since Johnny Rutherford in 1980.
However, everybody starts at zero points ahead of the upcoming 18-race season. The 2026 season is set to be the first 18-race season since 2014, thanks to President Donald J. Trump's executive order and ongoing collaboration with IndyCar and Penske Entertainment to bring the Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C. to the streets of America's capital in late August.
But who are the real contenders?
There probably aren't truly eight different drivers who can topple Palou, at least not this year, but we drew the line at +6000 odds. It might seem a little bit arbitrary, but we're rolling with it because of the fact that the Seattle Seahawks just won Super Bowl LX as a +6000 preseason longshot, making them the biggest preseason longshot to win the NFL title since the 2001 New England Patriots.
In the case of IndyCar, every single driver listed with odds shorter than +6000 has odds at +2000 or shorter, so each one is considered a realistic threat.
Let's have a look at those eight drivers.
1. Pato O'Ward, Arrow McLaren
Odds: +550
It sort of feels like it's been "Pato O'Ward's year" for the past few years, yet it has never panned out. He has yet to win the Indy 500, and he has yet to win an IndyCar championship, and with nine career victories, he's the winningest active full-time driver without either achievement to his name.
Can he build on a career-best second in points from 2025, even if he was still four full race wins behind Palou points-wise in the standings? Of note, both tracks where he won in 2025 are no longer on the schedule.
2. Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global
Odds: +700
In the 2025 season's first eight races, Kyle Kirkwood was the only race winner not named Alex Palou, and he won three times. Kirkwood's issue has been posting good results when he hasn't won. Although he has five career victories, he has just one other podium finish.
Now the longest tenured member of Andretti Global, is he prepared to take that next step?
T-3. Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske
Odds: +800
Scott McLaughlin was the betting favorite to prevent a Palou three-peat a year ago, and his season never really got off the ground. He went winless for the first time since his rookie 2021 season, and a number of uncharacteristic mistakes, including his infamous Indy 500 pace lap crash, left him eliminated in mid-July.
A return to 2024 form – and then some – is probably what it will take for him to contend in 2026.
T-3. Josef Newgarden, Team Penske
Odds: +800
For as bad as Josef Newgarden's 2025 season was from top to bottom, he has quietly not been Team Penske's top points finisher since all the way back in 2021. Consistency has been a struggle for him in recent years, and quite frankly, if not for his two Indy 500 wins, there would be very little to speak of from a success standpoint since he racked up five top two points finishes in his first six years with the team.
Will the season finale victory at Nashville, which preserved his now 11-year win streak, give him a boost heading into 2026?
5. Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing
Odds: +1600
Speaking of long win streaks, Scott Dixon hasn't failed to win a race since 2004. Sure, the only reason that streak stayed alive in 2025 was because of one of the most uncharacteristic mistakes of Palou's career with only a handful of laps to go at Mid-Ohio, but Dixon still somehow managed to finish third in points in a "down" year.
It won't be easy to win a seventh title, however, especially since Palou has won four championships to Dixon's none since the two became teammates five years ago.
6. David Malukas, Team Penske
Odds: +1800
Team Penske isn't the first top-tier team David Malukas has been a part of, but provided there are no mountain biking accidents between now and the start of the season, it's set to be the first top-tier team he actually gets to drive for.
He has all the tools he needs to be a contender straight from the get-go, just as Newgarden was when he joined Team Penske in 2017 and won his first title. And let's also not forget the fact that Palou won his first title in 2021 after having zero career wins to his name at the start of the year.
T-7. Will Power, Andretti Global
Odds: +2000
Will the move to Andretti Global really provide Will Power with the career resurgence he needs to get back to the front? Quite honestly, does he even need a career resurgence, or was Team Penske too hasty in their decision to cut him?
He's still the most recent champion not named Palou (2022), and he's still the most recent points leader not named Palou (June 2024). He was Team Penske's last remaining title contender in 2024, and he was their top points finisher – and first driver to win a race – in 2025. We've certainly seen "declines" a lot worse than this.
T-7. Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren
Odds: +2000
Forgive me for the superstition, but I still say that Arrow McLaren should have moved Christian Lundgaard to the No. 6 Chevrolet. The No. 7 car's statistics – specifically, its lack of wins, despite an abundance of podium finishes and abundance of teammate wins – since Danica Patrick secured what remains the number's most recent IndyCar victory in Japan in 2008 are absolutely absurd.
Lundgaard had a strong first year with the team in 2025, placing fifth in the standings, but he is still seeking the top step of the podium for the first time since leaving Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. That needs to happen more than just a few times in 2026 for him to truly join that elite tier.
No other drivers have odds listed shorter than +7000.
Notable names in the +7000 to +10000 range include Ed Carpenter Racing's Alexander Rossi (+7000), Meyer Shank Racing's Felix Rosenqvist (+8000), Ed Carpenter Racings' Christian Rasmussen (+10000), Andretti Global's Marcus Ericsson (+10000), and Meyer Shank Racing's Marcus Armstrong (+10000).
Full IndyCar championship odds can be found here and are always subject to change.
Fox is set to provide live coverage of the 2026 IndyCar season opener from the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida beginning at 12:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, March 1. With Fox set to provide live coverage of all 18 races on this year's schedule, begin a free trial of FuboTV today and catch all of the action!