Note: With eight of 17 races completed in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES season, the Writers’ Roundtable will answer five questions about the 2023 season between June 22-27.

Today’s question: Who is the driver to watch in the second half of the season?

Curt Cavin: Everyone is chasing Alex Palou, who holds a 74-point lead with nine races to go. In my opinion, Josef Newgarden is the most likely to mount a serious challenge to the Spaniard, in part because he nearly wiped away Scott Dixon’s 72-point lead in the final three races of the 2020 season. But my eyes in this stretch run will be on Dixon as it is wise to consider his history: Thirty-one of his 53 career race wins have come after July 1, and he has won at least one race in that time frame in 16 of the past 18 seasons. Yes, the races at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and in Toronto, where he has won a combined 10 races, have always been held in the second half of the season, but Dixie has won at 16 different circuits once the calendar flipped to July, which means he has a lot to like about the road to this year’s championship. Will he win a record-tying seventh series title? Maybe, maybe not. But it’s foolish to count him out.

Joey Barnes: There is a slew of drivers that I have my eyes on, which include the likes of Colton Herta, Kyle Kirkwood and Will Power. However, the one that has the majority of my attention is Power’s teammate Scott McLaughlin. In his third full-time season in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, the New Zealander sits seventh in the championship and has only one top-five finish – a win at Barber Motorsports Park – through the opening eight races. Yes, he could have had a second win, or at least a podium, in St. Petersburg to start the year, but the Month of May results were something over which even he expressed frustrations. At this time last year, Scotty Mac had one win and a runner-up result before going on a tear through summer with an additional two wins and five podiums – that all started at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, the next race on the schedule. So, I’m intrigued to see if he can catch lightning twice and if so, can he do enough to make a late run for the championship?

Paul Kelly: Josef Newgarden will grab my eye during the second half because he figures to be the favorite to win all three remaining oval races based on his track record, which will help him apply pressure to Alex Palou and Marcus Ericsson, the two drivers ahead of him in the standings. But I’m keeping the closest eye on Colton Herta. It’s been more than a year since he won a race, with his last win coming in May 2022 at the GMR Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. There’s no doubt Andretti Autosport still has work to do to challenge for victory every weekend, but Kyle Kirkwood won Long Beach from the pole in a dominant, command performance for Michael Andretti’s team. Herta entered this season as the most veteran member of Andretti Autosport and the team’s only driver with an NTT INDYCAR SERIES victory on his resume. But it’s just not happening this year for him, with a best finish of fourth at Long Beach and no poles. There were signs of a revival at Road America, as he finished fifth after winning the NTT P1 Award. Still, Herta left Wisconsin frustrated because an early call to the pits resulted in him needing to save fuel during the final laps and losing the lead. Herta finished seventh, third and fifth in the championship in his first three full NTT INDYCAR SERIES seasons. He finished 10th last year and is ninth after eight races this season. Herta has the ability and natural speed to rip off a run of wins and podium finishes, especially on road and street courses. I’ll watch closely to see if that promise morphs into reality.