Alex Palou climbed from 18th to finish fourth in Sunday’s Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto to retain the top spot in Power Rankings. Leading into the three weeks off as the Summer Olympics are held, the two-time and defending series champion separated himself from the field, extending his NTT INDYCAR SERIES points lead from 35 points to 49 over second-place Will Power, who finished 12th in the 85-lap race on the streets of Toronto.

The Andretti Global duo of Colton Herta and Kyle Kirkwood continues its Power Rankings ascension with a 1-2 finish in Toronto while the three-car Team Penske organization took a hit following the self-induced chaos on the restart with nine laps remaining.

↑10. Josef Newgarden (No. 2 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet; Last Rank: NR)

Two-time series champion Newgarden appeared to be destined for his third consecutive top-seven finish before a slow final pit stop relegated him from third to eighth. He then incurred a flat tire due to debris on Lap 77, dropping him to 11th. Newgarden has finished third, seventh and 11th, respectively, in the last three races. Also, with a stretch of four ovals in the final five races of the season and Newgarden having an average finish of 3.66 on those tracks, his climb is far from over.

↑9. Romain Grosjean (No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet: Last Rank: NR)

The Juncos Hollinger Racing driver has four top-10 finishes in the last six races, including a ninth-place result in Toronto. By comparison, Grosjean had one top-10 finish in the first six races of the season. That’s allowed his average finishing position to improve from 16.0 in the first six events to 12.8 over the last six.

↓8. Will Power (No. 12 Verizon Business Team Penske Chevrolet; Last Rank: 5)

The last eight races have been feast or famine for Power. Prior to three runner-up finishes and a sixth-place result in the first four races of the season, Power has two top-five finishes since May 26, both victories at Road America and in the second leg of the Iowa Speedway doubleheader. He has finished outside the top 10 in three of the last four races, including a 12th-place result in Toronto. From an average finish of 3.0 entering the 108th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge to 10.0 after, the two-time series champion is losing ground to Palou. His qualifying also has taken a hit, dropping from an average starting spot of 3.4 through five races to 11.4 over the last seven.

↑7. Rinus VeeKay (No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet; Last Rank: NR)

Entering the Hy-Vee INDYCAR Race Weekend at Iowa, VeeKay had two top-10 finishes in the opening nine races of the 2024 season. In the three races since, VeeKay has three top-10 finishes, with results of fifth, ninth and eighth, respectively.

↓6. Pato O’Ward (No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet; Last Rank: 2)

Toronto was a challenging weekend for O’Ward, who was eliminated in the first round of qualifying and crashed. In the race, he was running sixth on Lap 73 when he spun his No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet into the wall. O’Ward’s 17th-place finish snaps a string of seven consecutive top-10 finishes on the season and ends a streak of seeing the checkered flag for 21 consecutive races. His last DNF entering the Toronto weekend was a crash in the 2023 Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.

↓5. Scott McLaughlin (No. 3 Gallagher Team Penske Chevrolet; Last Rank: 3)

McLaughlin can’t drop too far after being punted by his Team Penske teammate Power while running fourth late in the race at Toronto. The result says 16th, but a fourth consecutive top-five finish loomed. McLaughlin has four top-three finishes in the last six races, including a win July 13 in the Hy-Vee Homefront 250 presented by Instacart at Iowa Speedway.

↑4. Kyle Kirkwood (No. 27 AutoNation Honda; Last Rank: 7)

Kirkwood qualified and finished second, behind only teammate Herta, in Toronto for his seventh top-10 finish in the last eight races. His average finishing position is 6.75 since a seventh-place effort in the 108th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.

↑3. Scott Dixon (No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda; Last Rank: 6)

A few weeks ago, Dixon was on the verge of dropping out of the Power Rankings. Following a pair of sub-20th place finishes in a three-race span, Dixon has stormed back to finish fourth, fourth and third, respectively, in the last three races. The two-time victor this season ranks third in points, trailing Palou by 53 entering the break.

↑2. Colton Herta (No. 26 Gainbridge Honda; Last Rank: 4)

The rout Herta put on the competition in Toronto by leading all three NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice sessions, scoring the NTT P1 Award and leading 81 of 85 laps en route to his first victory in over two years propels him two spots to second. Herta has a series-best average finishing position of 4.83 in the last six races.

↔1. Alex Palou (No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda; Last Rank: 1)

Palou committed a mistake for a third consecutive race weekend but remarkably gained a point on his competition in the three-race span. In the July 7 race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Palou made an error getting his car in gear on his final pit stop, dropping him from a win to a second-place finish. In the opening race July 13 of the Hy-Vee INDYCAR Race Weekend at Iowa, Palou had a similar issue on pit road, dropping him from third to just inside the top20. Palou then crashed while pushing hard to make up lost ground, leaving him with his first DNF in over two years. He rebounded to finish second a day later at Iowa. In qualifying for Sunday’s race in Toronto, he impeded the lap of O’Ward and lost his two fastest laps, dropping him to 18th in the starting lineup. Despite those mistakes, Palou finished second, 23rd, second and fourth, respectively, in the races. He led Power by 48 points entering July and leaves the month 49 points ahead.