When looking far ahead to 2026, it’s tempting to make a change at the top.
Sorry, just can’t do it.
Alex Palou earned nearly 200 more points in 2025 than his closest competitor, Pato O’Ward — and O’Ward earned 63 more points than his closest competitor. So as much as one would want to see a shakeup at the top of the standings, they remain 1-2 heading into next season.
Yes, some things can change over the nearly six months that remain until the 2026 season takes the green flag. After all, Team Penske won’t struggle as much, right? And then there’s the big Will Power move to Andretti.
So here’s the way-too-early power rankings for 2026.
1. Alex Palou
Palou won eight races in 2025. And the amazing thing is, he could have finished second in all those races that he won and he still would have captured the title. And that’s even when taking into consideration the points added to other drivers who could have won those races. So for anyone who wants to point out that that Chip Ganassi Racing driver is on a three-race winless streak going into 2026, that’s still not going to knock him off the top.
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2. Pato O’Ward
There are several drivers who should challenge to be this high in the rankings to unseat O’Ward. Will Power will have a new life at Andretti. Christian Lundgaard, in his second year as an Arrow McLaren teammate to O’Ward, should run even better. Kyle Kirkwood won three races last year and appears ready for a breakout year. But you want to know who also appears ready for a breakout year? O’Ward. He had his best season in 2025, and there’s no reason he won’t improve into 2026, too.
3. Will Power
Power’s move to Andretti should pay immediate dividends. The biggest question is if his engineer from Penske doesn’t move with him to Andretti, just getting used to working with a new engineer. But as Power has said, he won three races in 2024. He still has it. And he’s certainly going to want to show it. There might be some feast-or-famine type races, but expect more times than not, Power’s belly will be full.
In his first year at Arrow McLaren after a strong performance at Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Lundgaard didn’t disappoint. About the only thing he didn’t do was win. And, granted, that’s a big thing. It feels like that win will come in 2026, along with more podiums.
Kirkwood should probably look at this ranking as an insult after a three-win season, but the surfer dude knows something about riding the waves. But after back-to-back wins at Detroit and Gateway last year, the Andretti driver didn’t finish on the podium the final nine races of the season.
6. Scott Dixon
Yes, Dixon finished third in the 2025 standings. This ranking isn’t as much to show a drop in the Ganassi veteran’s performance as it does that other drivers, those not as experienced as the six-time series champion, will improve while Dixon continues to run about where he runs. Caveat: Dixon’s performance typically makes one regret not picking him higher.
McLaughlin didn’t win a race in 2025 but still was the most consistent driver as far as speed for Team Penske with nine top-10 finishes (six of those in the top 5). He had five races where he didn’t finish, and he will need to avoid those in 2026.
Armstrong finished eighth in the standings thanks to 11 top-10 finishes in his first year at Meyer Shank Racing while still under contract with Chip Ganassi Racing. There’s no reason to think he won’t be better in 2026 — but so will several other drivers.
The winner of the season finale at Nashville, Newgarden can’t have as miserable a year as he did in 2025. The Team Penske driver will have a better season; the question is how much better? Newgarden needs to find that swagger and not let it drive him into a hole he can’t get out.
10. Felix Rosenqvist
Rosenqvist finished sixth in the standings in 2025 but was just 16 points ahead of 10th. Much like his Meyer Shank teammate Marcus Armstrong, Rosenqvist consistently finished races – he had just two races where he didn’t finish while Armstrong had one. It would be no surprise if Rosenqvist finishes 2026 in the top-half of this list rather than the bottom half.
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.
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