Alex Palou took hold of the Scott Dixon doing Scott Dixon things moniker. The new slogan he wrestled away from his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate is Alex Palou doing Alex Palou things.
A race after Palou climbed from 18th to finish fourth on the streets of Toronto, the two-time and defending NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion charged 12 spots to finish fourth again in Saturday night’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline at World Wide Technology Raceway. He claimed his 11th top-five finish in 13 races this season despite a nine-position grid penalty for an unapproved engine change dropping him to a 16th-place starting position. Palou extended his championship lead by 10 points in the process, ahead of second-place Colton Herta by 59 points.
Can anyone dethrone Palou, who has led the Power Rankings nearly all season, over the final four races?
↓10. Pato O’Ward (No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet; Last Rank: 6)
The free fall continues for O’Ward. Two races ago, O’Ward was ranked second in the Power Rankings. A challenging weekend in Toronto left him eliminated in the opening round of qualifying and finishing 17th in the race after enduring his first DNF since the 2023 Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge. He rebounded to run inside the top 10 at World Wide Technology Raceway before a mechanical failure relegated him to 26th. The seven consecutive top-eight finishes before this stretch leaves him the capability to charge forward in the last four races.
↑9. Marcus Armstrong (No. 11 American Legion Chip Ganassi Racing Honda; Last Rank: NR)
Armstrong finished eighth at World Wide Technology Raceway despite never turning a wheel at the 1.25-mile track before last weekend. That was his third top-10 finish in the last four races. He also qualified in the top 10 at WWTR.
↔8. Will Power (No. 12 Verizon Business Team Penske Chevrolet: Last Rank: 8)
The good news? Power qualified fourth and led a race-high 117 of 260 laps at World Wide Technology Raceway. The bad news was Power was collected in a pair of late-race crashes, leaving him 19th. He won the July 14 race at Iowa Speedway in the second race of the doubleheader weekend, but his other finishes in the last five races were 11th, 18th, 12th and 19th, respectively. The frustrating part for Power is if not for contact inside of 10 laps remaining in the last two races while racing in the top five, he would have three consecutive top-five finishes.
↓7. Kyle Kirkwood (No. 27 AutoNation Honda; Last Rank: 4)
Kirkwood flashed a ton of speed at World Wide Technology Raceway, qualifying sixth for his fifth top-six starting spot in the last eight races. Unfortunately, a mechanical issue dropped him to 22nd at the finish for his second result of 16th or worse in the last three races. But dating back to the 108th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge, the Andretti Global driver has seven top-eight finishes in nine starts, including a runner-up finish July 21 in Toronto.
↑6. Rinus VeeKay (No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet; Last Rank: 7)
VeeKay extended his series-leading top-10 streak to four after his 10th-place finish in Saturday’s race at World Wide Technology Raceway.
↑5. Josef Newgarden (No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet; Last Rank: 10)
If not for a slow final pit stop in Toronto contributing to an 11th-place finish, two-time series champion Newgarden could have four consecutive top-seven finishes. He rebounded to score his fourth victory in the last five tries at World Wide Technology Raceway last Saturday, reaching victory lane for the second time this season. Newgarden has a 5.5 average finish over the last four races.
↓4. Scott Dixon (No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda; Last Rank: 3)
Dixon drops a spot following his 11th-place finish at WWTR. That was his worst finish since a mechanical failure left him 27th on July 7 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Since then, he finished fourth, fourth and third, respectively, before last Saturday’s race.
↑3. Scott McLaughlin (No. 3 DEX Imaging Team Penske Chevrolet; Last Rank: 5)
McLaughlin has four top-three finishes in his last five starts this season, including an NTT P1 Award at WWTR and runner-up result in the 260-lap race. Since Road America on June 9, McLaughlin has a seventh-place average finish with only two results off the podium, a 21st-place effort at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca and 16th at Toronto. In both instances, he was moved off track during the races by teammate Power while running inside the top 10.
↔2. Colton Herta (No. 26 Gainbridge Honda; Last Rank: 2)
Herta climbed from the 25th starting position at WWTR to finish fifth. That strong finish came after Herta routed the field 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. He has six top-six finishes in the last seven races.
↔1. Alex Palou (No. 10 Samaritan Purse Chip Ganassi Racing Honda; Last Rank: 1)
Palou has one victory in the last nine NTT INDYCAR SERIES races. However, the Spaniard has seven top-five finishes in that span, including six in the last seven races. Even with a pair of starting spots outside the top 15 in consecutive races, he still managed to finish fourth in both.