The last time somebody other than Alex Palou led the NTT IndyCar Series championship standings, Joe Biden was still the Democratic presidential nominee.
Will Power, then driving for Team Penske, took the points lead with his victory at Road America on Sunday, June 9, 2024.
Palou then took the lead on Sunday, June 23, 2024 with his win at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, the final race of the pre-hybrid era, and despite not winning a race the rest of the year, he did not relinquish the points lead en route to his third championship and second in a row.
Palou won the 2025 season opener and started the season with five wins in six races, and with nothing lower than a runner-up finish during that stretch, he opened up a massive championship lead.
The 28-year-old Spaniard became the first driver to lead the championship wire-to-wire in an Indy 500-winning season since Johnny Rutherford in 1980 and finished the year with eight total victories, a modern era record. He also became the first driver of the modern era to win both the road and street course championship and the oval championship in the same year.
He opened up the 2026 season with his second consecutive victory on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida, but he was wrecked out of the season's second race at Phoenix Raceway, after yet another bizarre instance of on-track contact with Rinus VeeKay.
Palou exited the four-turn, 1.022-mile (1.645-kilometer) Avondale, Arizona oval with 59 points, placing him fifth in the standings and 19 points out of the lead.
Team Penske's David Malukas led a race-high 73 of the 250 laps in the Good Ranchers 250, but it was teammate Josef Newgarden who emerged victorious after a late charge to the front on new tires.
Newgarden, who passed Andretti Global's Kyle Kirkwood for the win, has won at least one race in 12 consecutive IndyCar seasons going back to 2015, and with a seventh place finish in St. Petersburg, he is the new points leader, five points ahead of Kirkwood.
Today marks the first day since June 22, 2024, exactly 89 weeks (623 days) ago, that will end with somebody other than Palou leading the standings. Palou's streak, an all-time series record, ends at 28 races.
Here's a look at the top 10 in points.
IndyCar championship standings after Phoenix
Rank | Driver | Points | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | Josef Newgarden, No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet | 78 | 0 |
2 | Kyle Kirkwood, No. 27 Andretti Global Honda | 73 | -5 |
3 | Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet | 66 | -12 |
4 | Pato O'Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet | 63 | -15 |
5 | Alex Palou, No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda | 59 | -19 |
6 | David Malukas, No. 12 Team Penske Chevrolet | 56 | -22 |
7 | Christian Lundgaard, No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet | 54 | -24 |
8 | Marcus Armstrong, No. 66 Meyer Shank Racing Honda | 50 | -28 |
9 | Marcus Ericsson, No. 28 Andretti Global Honda | 43 | -35 |
10 | Alexander Rossi, No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet | 42 | -36 |
Full IndyCar championship standings can be found here.
The Java House Grand Prix of Arlington is the third of 18 races on the 2026 NTT IndyCar Series schedule, and it is scheduled to take place on Sunday, March 15, with live coverage set to be provided by Fox from the streets of Arlington, Texas beginning at 12:30 p.m. ET. Start a free trial of FuboTV and don't miss it!