This weekend the NTT IndyCar Series heads back to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for 85-laps of the 2.439 mile, 14-turn road course (clockwise) which gets underway on Saturday 12 August at 2pm local time (6am Sunday NZ time).
Alex Palou leads the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship with four races to go for the second time in his INDYCAR SERIES career. Palou also led the championship with four races to go in 2021 when he won the title. Palou has led the point standings after nine of the 13 races this season.
There are eight drivers still mathematically eligible for the 2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship: Alex Palou, Josef Newgarden, Scott Dixon, Marcus Ericsson, Scott McLaughlin, Pato O’Ward, Will Power and Christian Lundgaard. Any driver who trails the points leader by 162 points or more following the race will be eliminated from contention.
Since the first INDYCAR SERIES race on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course, the winning driver has won the INDYCAR SERIES championship twice: Simon Pagenaud in 2016 and Scott Dixon in 2020-Race 1.
Since 2008 when INDYCAR SERIES racing unified under the NTT INDYCAR SERIES banner, the eventual series champion has won the 14th race of the season four times. The most recent occurrence was in 2021 when Alex Palou won at Portland. Other drivers to win the 14th race of their championship season were Ryan Hunter-Reay (2012), Dario Franchitti (2009 and 2010) and Scott Dixon (2008).
Key championship point statistic: Since 2008, the largest deficit overcome by the eventual champion was 59 points by Dario Franchitti in 2010. Scott Dixon overcame Juan Pablo Montoya’s 54-point lead in 2015. The top two drivers in the 2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship standings are separated by 84 points.
Point differential: The 84 points that separate Alex Palou and Josef Newgarden is the largest point margin with four races to go since 2008. Before this season, the average lead with four races to go since 2008 was 35.7 points.
Five drivers have competed in every INDYCAR SERIES race on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course – Scott Dixon, Josef Newgarden, Simon Pagenaud, Will Power, and Graham Rahal. All but Pagenaud are entered this weekend.
Team Penske has eight wins on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020-Race 2, 2020-Race 3, 2021-Race 2). Chip Ganassi has two wins – with Scott Dixon in 2020-Race 1 and Alex Palou in 2023-Race 1. Andretti Autosport, Ed Carpenter Racing and Arrow McLaren SP are the only other teams to win at the track. Andretti Autosport won the GMR Grand Prix with Colton Herta in May, while Ed Carpenter Racing won in 2021-Race 1 with Rinus VeeKay and Arrow McLaren SP won the inaugural race in 2014 with Simon Pagenaud when it was known as Schmidt Peterson Motorsports.
Five NTT INDYCAR SERIES Rookie of the Year contenders are entered – Marcus Armstrong, Agustin Canapino, Linus Lundqvist, Benjamin Pedersen and Sting Ray Robb. All but Lundqvist raced in the GMR Grand Prix in May.
Milestones: Scott Dixon will attempt to make his 319th consecutive start, which would break a tie with Tony Kanaan for the INDYCAR SERIES record streak … With his next win, Dixon will extend his INDYCAR SERIES record for consecutive seasons with at least one win to 19 … With his next win, Will Power will tie Michael Andretti for fourth on the INDYCAR SERIES all-time victory list.
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