It's been nearly four months since the 2025 IndyCar season wrapped up, and it's actually been well over four months since Chip Ganassi Racing's Alex Palou clinched his fourth overall and third consecutive championship with two races remaining, something that hadn't been done since the 2002 CART season.
There are now just over two months remaining in the offseason, with the 17-race 2026 campaign scheduled to get underway on Sunday, March 1 on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida, and DraftKings Sportsbook recently published an early look at the odds for May's 110th running of the Indy 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Now they have posted the odds to win the 2026 series championship, and it should surprise nobody that Palou is listed as the favorite to win a fourth consecutive title after posting a modern era record eight wins, including five in the season's first six races, this past season.
Palou, who was the top point scorer in not only the road and street course races but also the oval races for the first time in his career, is listed at -200 (bet $200 to win $100), but who are the favorites to beat him?
Here are the top five, according to DraftKings Sportsbook.
Pato O'Ward, Arrow McLaren
Odds: +500
One of Pato O'Ward's biggest weaknesses over the course of his IndyCar career has been consistency, but he silenced that narrative in 2025, finishing just one of 11 races outside of the top seven from early May to late July and going on his first ever streak of five consecutive top five finishes, a streak which included his first ever stretch with two wins in three races.
If not for Palou, O'Ward's numbers, at least compared to the numbers of other recent series champions, probably would have been good enough for him to win the title. The question is whether or not he can take that next step, because despite a career-best runner-up result in 2025, he was still 196 points – four entire race wins – behind the Spaniard.
Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global
Odds: +700
Kyle Kirkwood being listed this high is interesting, even though he did win three races, second only to Palou, in 2025, and was the only driver other than Palou to win at all during the first half of the year. Despite having five career wins, Kirkwood has just one other podium finish, and we all know that championships tend to be won with a strong collection of solid results on days drivers don't win.
That became evident as Kirkwood slid down the order to fourth in the second half of the year, despite having as many wins as the drivers in second and third place combined. Can he silence the consistency questions like O'Ward did in 2025?
Josef Newgarden, Team Penske
Odds: +800
We can't say that nothing went right for Josef Newgarden in 2025, because he did win the season finale at Nashville Superspeedway, but without that, we very well might be able to. Fortunately for him, he snagged that late-season momentum to extend his win streak to 11 seasons, which could be exactly what he needed to get back on track after a year he has long wanted to forget.
The thing about Newgarden is that, even if you totally ignore his dismal 2025 campaign, he really hasn't been much of a championship threat over the past few years. He did have seven wins across 2023 and 2024, including back-to-back Indy 500 triumphs, but he simply had too many bad results along the way that knocked him out of contention.
Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske
Odds: +1000
Sure, Scott McLaughlin also experienced some misfortune like Newgarden did during the 2025 season, but he also made far more unforced errors than anybody would have anticipated after he entered the year as the favorite to beat Palou. The lowlight, of course, came when he crashed out on the pace laps before the Indy 500 even started.
McLaughlin finished out the 2025 season strong with back-to-back podium finishes after having recorded just one earlier in the year, but he currently finds himself on his second win drought of at least 17 races since 2023 alone.
Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing
Odds: +1500
Scott Dixon always seems to find his way to victory lane at least once, with his lone 2025 win coming at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course after a rare mistake by Palou in the closing laps. The win extended Dixon's win streak to an incredible 21 straight seasons, and despite a quiet year otherwise, he still managed a third place finish in the championship standings.
But with Palou up 4-0 in championships since becoming Dixon's teammate in 2021, can Dixon really win title number seven in 2026?
Honorable mentions: Arrow McLaren's Christian Lundgaard (+2000), Andretti Global's Will Power (+2000), Team Penske's David Malukas (+2500), Meyer Shank Racing's Felix Rosenqvist (+8000)
Full 2026 IndyCar championship odds can be found here and are always subject to change.
Fox is set to provide live coverage of all 17 races on the 2026 IndyCar schedule, starting with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on Sunday, March 1.