INDYCAR Power Rankings: It’s Alex Palou And Then Everyone Else

Bob Pockrass

FOX Motorsports Insider

Alex Palou didn’t win at Portland, but he celebrated big on Sunday night.

Palou won his fourth title (third consecutive) with his third-place finish. So in the rankings, he has all the power — even though Portland was a big weekend for race winner Will Power.

Here are the power rankings following Portland and entering a weekend off before the season ends with races at Milwaukee and Nashville.

Dropped out: Kyle Kirkwood (Last Week: 7), David Malukas (Last Week: 10)

On the verge: Kyle Kirkwood, David Malukas, Christian Rasmussen

10. Graham Rahal (Last Week: Not Ranked)

Rahal finished fourth at Portland, continuing a stretch of four solid finishes in the last five races with an 11th, seventh, 12th and then the fourth among them. Rahal left Portland with a good feeling about his Rahal Letterman Lanigan teams on road courses.

9. Scott McLaughlin (Last Week: Not Ranked)

McLaughlin started 11th and finished seventh at Portland. The Penske driver is 11th in the standings, thanks to three top 10s in his last five starts.

8. Colton Herta (Last Week: 5)

Herta finished 10th at Portland and that might feel respectable, but the Andretti team tested at Portland a week prior to the race and Herta was the best in 10th. Andretti had three top fives in his previous five races.

7. Felix Rosenqvist (Last Week: 9)

Rosenqvist started on the front row, so finishing ninth was a little disappointing for the Meyer Shank Racing driver. The top-10 result stopped the bleeding from a couple of bad finishes. It was his fourth top 10 in his last seven starts.

6. Marcus Armstrong (Last Week: 6)

Armstrong placed eighth at Portland. It was the eighth top 10 in the last nine starts for the Meyer Shank Racing driver. He isn’t rattling off top fives but he’s a staple in the top 10.

5. Scott Dixon (Last Week: 4)

Dixon started ninth and finished 11th in a day when he got into the back of Josef Newgarden at one point. The 11th-place finish ended a string of seven consecutive top-10 finishes for the Chip Ganassi Racing driver.

4. Will Power (Last Week: 8)

Power earned the first win for Team Penske as he celebrated the victory at Portland. It was his fifth top five of the season and his first on a road course since Detroit.

3. Pato O’Ward (Last Week: 2)

O’Ward led 15 laps before a wiring issue shorted out an electrical box that was part of the engine system. He finished 10 laps down in 25th. The Arrow McLaren driver had finished in the top five in each of his last five starts.

2. Christian Lundgaard (Last Week: 3)

Lundgaard posted the fastest speed in qualifying and finished second at Portland for back-to-back second-place finishes. The Arrow McLaren driver is going to win. Soon.

1. Alex Palou (Last Week: 1)

He is the champion of 2025. And 2024. And 2023. And 2021. Of course, the Ganassi driver is still No. 1.

Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.