With eight races down and nine to go, the midpoint of the 2023 IndyCar season is here. While Alex Palou has started to run away with the championship, it is a mad dogfight behind him. Let’s check in on the power rankings halfway through the year.
10. Christian Lundgaard
While his Rahal teammates have continued to struggle week in and week out, Christian Lundgaard has been a consistent shining light in the RLL camp. Though still missing a maiden victory in IndyCar, the Dane has capitalized on his chances at road and street courses, finishing in the top 10 in four of the six races held on non-ovals so far this year.
The highlight of those races came on the road course at Indianapolis, where Lundgaard captured pole position, eventually coming home fourth when the checkered flag flew. Last year’s top rookie currently sits at 11th in the points standings, the highest of any driver not from Ganassi, Penske, McLaren, or Andretti.
9. Kyle Kirkwood
After a disappointing rookie campaign with A.J. Foyt Racing in 2022, Kyle Kirkwood has started to redeem himself at Andretti Autosport in ’23. The main reason the Floridian landed himself on this list is his impressive performance at Long Beach, where he grabbed both his first career pole position and first career win.
However, barring that and a sixth-place finish at Detroit, the 24-year-old hasn’t had luck go his way so far this season. Incidents at St. Petersburg, Texas, and Indianapolis banished Kirkwood to the third spot in the Andretti lineup. However, with good showings at two of the three street courses this season, he is certainly not out of it, and therefore gets spot #9 in the power rankings.
8. Will Power
Rough weekend at Road America aside, Will Power has had a solid 2023 following his championship-winning 2022. While still winless through eight races, the 42-year-old has finished inside the top 10 in half of this year’s races, including a third-place finish at Barber and a strong runner-up placement in Detroit.
One aspect the two-time champ would probably like to improve is his qualifying. While an average starting position of 10th is certainly above average for the series, it’s hard to compete for a championship when the points leader boasts an average start of 3rd.
7. Scott Dixon
After he captured his sixth championship title in 2020, Scott Dixon‘s production has fallen off slightly… by Scott Dixon standards. The Aussie has still showcased his trademark consistency, qualifying and finishing in the top 10 in every race except for Long Beach, where he retired due to mechanical problems stemming from a previous incident, and Road America, where he qualified 23rd (but ended up finishing fourth).
While his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Palou may be starting to run away with the championship, Dixon will still be grinding out top 10s and top fives week in and week out. Oh, and don’t forget. He hasn’t had a winless season since 2004. That’s why he places seventh in the power rankings.
6. Alexander Rossi
After a few unsatisfactory seasons to end his stint with Andretti Autosport, Alexander Rossi is starting to find his footing in his first year with McLaren. The Californian impressed throughout the Month of May, setting blazing-fast laps during practice for the Indy 500, leading to a solid fifth-place finish on race day.
After Road America last weekend, Rossi carries a five-race streak of top 10 finishes, his first such streak since 2019, where he placed third in the championship. With McLaren becoming a more dominant force on track with each race, I wouldn’t be surprised if Rossi snags a win or two this year.
5. Pato O’Ward
It’s clear to see that when Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward is at his best, he is arguably the fastest driver in all of IndyCar. However, it remains important to remember that he is just 24 years old, and with youth comes a lack of experience. Incidents at Long Beach, Indianapolis, and Detroit leave the Mexican driver 98 points behind the championship lead.
But if you take away those incidents, O’Ward is having a remarkable season to date. He has qualified tremendously in the eight races so far, with an average starting position of fifth. If you take away those three rough races, McLaren’s main man doesn’t have a finish worse than fourth, including finishing P3 a week ago at Road America.
4. Scott McLaughlin
Three-time Supercar champion Scott McLaughlin has adapted remarkably well to open-wheel racing since his debut in 2021, capturing three pole positions, four wins, and nine total podiums. The Penske driver captured his first win of 2023 at Barber, and has proven a very consistent force on all three track types since.
With his average starting and finishing position below ninth this year, McLaughlin and the “Thirsty 3s” are good bets week in and week out. But this isn’t anything new for the Kiwi. In 2022, he won three races, the second-highest total in the series, eventually finishing fourth in the championship after being in contention from the opening weekend.
3. Marcus Ericsson
While some initially thought that Marcus Ericsson‘s success in IndyCar was a fluke, those naysayers were quickly hushed when the Swede won last year’s Indianapolis 500, as well as his year-long contention for the title. With a win at the season opener in St. Petersburg, Ericsson launched himself into contention for the 2023 title.
While he is still searching for a second win this season, the 32-year-old has remained steadfast in his consistent performance, finishing inside the top 10 in every single race so far, leading him to the second spot in the championship standings at the time of writing. While Ericsson has yet to close out on a championship in IndyCar, don’t count him out for 2023.
2. Josef Newgarden
Josef Newgarden finally captured an Indy 500 win last month, and now his focus turns to the chase for a third series championship. While he hasn’t been as consistent of a finisher compared to some of his other championship contenders, the Penske driver has balanced out the bad with the good, grabbing wins at Texas as well as his aforementioned win at Indianapolis.
But winning isn’t the only metric that matters. Take last year for an example. Newgarden had a series-leading five wins and still lost the championship to Will Power, who had just one. Its consistency that will prove key for JoNew.
1. Alex Palou
There couldn’t have been a more obvious choice for the top spot in the power rankings than Alex Palou. The Ganassi driver has dominated this entire 2023 campaign, qualifying no higher than seventh and finishing a race no higher than eight. Not to mention the fact that the Spaniard has won three of the past four races.
Although we are just eight races into a 17-race season, it seems as if Palou has this championship wrapped up already. Will Josef Newgarden or Scott McLaughlin have something to say about that? So far they haven’t had much. We’ll just have to see in the next nine.
Next Race
- Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio
- Sunday, July 2nd – 1:30 p.m. EST on USA
- Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course – Lexington, Ohio
- 80 Laps – 180.64 miles
