Alex Palou may have been victorious on the Streets of Detroit but despite achieving a further two Pole Positions, he hasn’t won since. It’s now five poles in a row for the Championship leader with consistent performances from the Spaniard keeping him at the top of the standings. But it’s been far from smooth sailing. Josef Newgarden and Christian Lundgaard have both now taken their second victories of the season. The latter managed that at an action packed race at Road America last weekend that sees the Championship fight intensify.

Here are The Paddock Chronicle’s Key Takeaways from St. Louis and Road America.

Josef Newgarden’s Fight Back

Coming away from the Indianapolis 500 with an injured leg, Josef Newgarden put on a strongman’s performance in Detroit to finish in tenth place. Determined to not let his injury get in the way of his season, Newgarden ploughed on and stunned the entire field by winning for a fifth time around the oval in St. Louis. It was a masterful drive that saw the American do battle with the likes of Ericsson, Palou and Rasmussen. But he dispatched each of them with relative ease to take his second win of the season. It was a statement drive from the two time Champion.

But at Road America, things were not as straightforward. Coming into the weekend off the back of surgery to attend to his injury, Newgarden struggled from Friday onwards. A lacklustre qualifying put him deep in the pack. Despite the topsy turvy nature of the race, Newgarden would come home in P22. Eighth in the Championship, the hopes of a third title are slipping away. But if his resilience to continue against all the odds and his performance in St. Louis are anything to go by, you wouldn’t want to close the door completely on Newgarden’s chances. He may yet find a way to spoil the party for Palou.

Christian Lundgaard’s Whirlwind Season

Ovals have never been Christian Lundgaard’s speciality. P10 at St. Louis was one of his better outings and initially, it looked like it would be another tough weekend for the Dane at Road America. 3/4 of a lap down at the end of the opening lap thanks to contact with Scott Dixon, his race appeared run. Somehow though, Lundgaard and the Arrow McLaren team were able to put him on an ambitious and aggressive strategy that saw him not only in contention for the podium but hunting down Armstrong for the win.

Regardless of whether Armstrong’s car had given up on him or not, Lundgaard was closing in on the Kiwi fast and would surely have gotten past him. Lundgaard went on to win his second race of the season regardless and propelled himself back into Championship contention. Second place overall is well within his reach and if Palou’s recent form continues, Lundgaard may be able to fight down to the wire to steal a fifth Championship away from him.

Pressure on Palou

Five pole positions in a row in IndyCar is a rarity. It’s just business as usual for Alex Palou though. What isn’t however, is two races in a row not getting onto the podium. Before this season, it hadn’t happened since 2024. Now it’s happened three times across the first half of the season. However, Palou is still quick, ruthless and a force to be reckoned with. But there are weaknesses within him and the team and others on the grid are beginning to learn how to exploit them.

But much like Newgarden, Palou is even more dangerous when cornered and those wishing to take the fight to him for the title must not be under any illusions of how difficult it will still be to beat him by the end of the season. For us watching, it sets up a brilliant showdown where we will either see history made as Palou gets his fifth title or the start of a new era as someone beats him for the first time since Will Power in 2022.

Championship Hopefuls

David Malukas and Kyle Kirkwood are still both in the fight but need great results soon to help close the gap to Palou. Malukas finished in second at Road America after a seventh place result at St. Louis. Sixty points now stand between him and the Championship leader. That first IndyCar victory has to be coming for Malukas and he’ll be hoping it’s soon if he not only wants to topple Palou but to keep those behind him at bay too.

One of those is Kyle Kirkwood, just one point behind Malukas. With two top ten finishes in St. Louis and Road America, Kirkwood is another driver who needs a win soon to keep his Championship hopes alive. From last season to this season, he’s been seen as the frontrunner to end Palou’s domination and while he’s still capable, it’s been proven he’s no longer the only one. Without a statement drive of his own soon, like he had back in Arlington, Kirkwood may find himself in a tight spot.

Flashes of Brilliance

St. Louis and Road America gave us two excellent IndyCar races. Across both, we had drives from competitors that make us as fans fall in love with the series all over again. Marcus Ericsson was resurgent in St. Louis, leading over a hundred laps before finishing in second – his best result since Detroit in 2024.

Fresh off a contract extension with ECR, Rasmussen returned to the podium with a sublime drive yet again on an oval, finishing in third in St. Louis. Will Power finally had some good luck too as he finished in P3 at Road America after a chaotic end to his race. Rinus Veekay and Kyffin Simpson finished in fourth in St. Louis and Road America respectively, their highest finishes so far this season. Both were surprise results but most welcome.

Scott McLaughlin and and Alexander Rossi stood out too. The former had two top seven results while the latter drove from P21 to P6 at Road America as he too recovered from an injury sustained back in May. Results like this are are part of what makes IndyCar IndyCar.

Bad Luck Aplenty

There’s always a smattering of bad luck in IndyCar too. Nowhere was that more present last time out than with Marcus Armstrong. Having led the start of the final lap of the Indy 500 to ultimately finish fifth, the New Zealander has been driving in anger ever since. Ninth place in St. Louis looked like it was going to be followed up with a maiden win at Road America. But as Lundgaard chased him down for victory in the dying stages of the race, Armstrong’s engine blew and just like that, he was out. It was gut wrenching for the Meyer Shank driver.

It was unfortunate for Nolan Siegel at Road America too. He’d been having one of his best weekends of the season when late in the race, he too tumbled down the order to ultimately finish in twenty-first. Graham Rahal has had two back-to-back weekends to forget. In both races he crashed, tangling with Power for a podium at Road America making that particular exit from the race smart even more.

Final Thought

IndyCar has given us plenty to mull over before the next round of the Championship at the start of July. While Palou still seems in control of the Championship, it still feels like a series where any driver can still win a race and the races themselves can turn on their heads in an instant. Palou’s rivals are circling and with more drivers all but out of contention, the risk of temporary glory in the form of a podium or win is much more appealing. Palou’s opponents are able to survive mistakes to remain in the hunt. But the Spaniard can’t afford any more of them moving forwards. We’re in for one heck of a second half of the 2026 season.

IndyCar returns July 3rd at Mid-Ohio.