With an NTT P1 Award and a runner-up finish at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou extended his NTT INDYCAR SERIES points lead by 25 points – from 23 to 48. That’s quite the cushion, nearly a full race over his nearest challenger.

But with eight races remaining in the season and all but two staged on an oval, can Palou, who is winless in 21 oval starts, hold off the likes of Will Power (-48), Pato O’Ward (-70), Scott Dixon (-71) and Colton Herta (-80).

O’Ward said the approach for those chasing Palou will be the same regardless of what type of circuit is next on the schedule. Currently, it’s Saturday’s Hy-Vee Homefront 250 presented by Instacart (8 p.m. ET, NBC, Peacock and the INDYCAR Radio Network) and then there’s Sunday’s Hy-Vee One Step 250 presented by Gatorade (Noon ET, NBC, Peacock and the INDYCAR Radio Network).

“There’s a lot of points on the line, but I don’t think there’s added pressure,” said O’Ward, who won last weekend’s Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the 2025 Civic Hybrid. “You try and extract everything out of it no matter what the weekend is. I don’t think we need to change much or approach it differently. We need to realize that there’s a lot of points on the table, and it’ll be a very powerful shift for you. If it’s a good weekend, it’s going to be good for you. If it’s a bad weekend, you’ll really see it.”

The maximum number of points awarded for a series race is 54 points, including a point for an NTT P1 Award, a point for leading a lap and two points for being the driver who led the most laps. With two races this weekend, there are 108 points available to be won. Any participant in the event receives five points.

Being nearly one full race ahead of Power’s No. 12 Verizon Business Team Penske Chevrolet and approaching a two-race gap on the rest, Palou doesn’t think he has to win on an oval to take his third Astor Cup championship trophy home.

“I don’t think I have to, but I want to, and I should,” the driver of the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda said. “That’s what we want.”

Last year, Palou came to Iowa 117 points clear of Dixon for the points lead. He was 126 points ahead of Team Penske's Josef Newgarden.

The gap dropped to 80 points after these two races, but Palou flashed an impressive display of championship-winning mantra in the second leg of the doubleheader.

A day after Newgarden stomped the field for victory, Palou charged from a 12th-place starting spot to finish third. For Race 1, Palou started eighth and finished seventh. Following a furious end-of-race charge to third, Newgarden saw Palou on the podium and joked, “you aren’t supposed to be here.”

Can Palou make another statement this weekend?

Palou sped to the second-quickest lap time of Friday’s practice with a top speed of 185.536. O’Ward was one spot behind in third at 184.154.

The Spaniard can afford not to have a great weekend, but that’s not how he operates. In 10 superspeedway starts between Texas Motor Speedway and Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Palou posted eight top-10 finishes, including five top-five results. For short ovals, his 11 starts at Iowa and World Wide Technology Raceway has seen five top-10 finishes and one lone top-five. All have come in the last two years.

Herta Riding Momentum

Colton Herta gave himself a B grade when assessing his first half of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES season. Following his third consecutive top-six finish in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda for Andretti Global w/Curb-Agajanian at Mid-Ohio, Herta is riding a 39-race winless streak dating back to the 2022 Sonsio Grand Prix on the IMS road course.

“It’s all about how we finish this year,” he said. “It all depends on how big of a leap we made in the offseason on the oval cars. I’m excited to see it. I think we have been better and did really good in the Iowa test, better than we have been since I’ve been on the team. That gets me excited for it.”

Herta has historically qualified well at Iowa, with four top-six starts in his last six tries. He was ninth-fastest at 182.964 mph Friday.

O’Ward Celebrated Mid-Ohio Victory With Tacos

NASCAR Cup Series driver Alex Bowman snapped a long winless streak in Chicago the same day O’Ward reached victory lane for the first time since Iowa Speedway July 2022.

Bowman’s well-documented celebration lasted well into Monday morning. O’Ward did no such partying despite not having been to victory lane in nearly two years.

“I went home and had dinner,” the Arrow McLaren driver said. “I went to a Mexican place, had tacos with my family and then went to bed. I’m a low-key guy.”

MSR Lineup Brings Optimism

Meyer Shank Racing has two top-10 finishes at Iowa Speedway, including a pair of seventh-place results coming in the 2020 doubleheader. This year’s drivers didn’t contribute to that, but they have had their own success at the track.

In seven Iowa Speedway starts, Felix Rosenqvist has three top-10 finishes with a best result of fourth in Race 2 last year. David Malukas has four starts at the track, and he has turned those into a pair of top-eight finishes.

Rosenqvist will have Eric Church’s Outsiders Radio SiriusXM channel on the No. 60 Honda for the doubleheader weekend. The country music star will see the livery up close and personal in the MSR garages on Saturday before the first of two races. Following Saturday’s Hy-Vee Homefront 250 presented by Instacart, Church will play a special performance to close out the first day of action.

Malukas is off to a blazing start with MSR, including setting the fourth-fastest lap on Friday at 184.112. The opportunity as the permanent substitute for the No. 66 AutoNation/Arctic Wolf Honda has worked out well for both sides.

Malukas was eighth fastest in his first opportunity with the team during the Milwaukee Mile hybrid test last month. For his maiden start in the June 23 race at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, Malukas qualified the car 12th, tying the best start of the season for that car with Blomvqist’s 12th place start on April 28 at Barber Motorsports Park. In the next race last weekend at Mid-Ohio, Malukas qualified an impressive third.

Among his three career three top-five finishes, all have come on ovals. Malukas finished second and third, respectively, at World Wide Technology Raceway the last two seasons and fourth last season at Texas Motor Speedway.

“I think the next jump would be to continue that and get some good results in Iowa,” Malukas said.

RLL Was Strong in Iowa Test

One team enthralled with the Iowa Speedway repave in the corners of the 0.894-mile oval is Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. The entire organization boasted a strong test at the track on June 27.

“The test went well,” Pietro Fittipaldi said. “The car was very competitive. We were always in the top 10. It was better than the previous test in Milwaukee which showed the gains the team made between the two.”

Fittipaldi is a short-track ace. While the Iowa test was his first visit to the 0.894-mile oval, Fittipaldi did win a Hickory Motor Speedway track championship in NASCAR Whelen All-American Series competition in 2011.

Fittipaldi has the ability to compare notes with veteran teammate Graham Rahal, who will make his 19th and 20th career starts at Iowa Speedway this weekend. Rahal has earned 11 top-10 finishes in 18 starts with his best finish being fourth in 2015.

“I’m excited for this weekend,” Rahal said. “It’s a big race for Hy-Vee. It’s a big race for our team and it’s a big race for the series. The test went well for us.”

The other RLL driver, Christian Lundgaard, also praised the team’s performance in the test, saying it picked up some pace with improvements. As the driver of the No. 45 Hy-Vee Honda, the significance of a car branded with the event sponsor brings more pressure.

“I do think the repave is in favor of our car,” Lundgaard said. “I’m optimistic to give them (Hy-Vee) a good result at home.”

Lundgaard has his highest career oval finish of 10th place at Iowa in Race 1 of the 2022 doubleheader weekend.

Carpenter Back Behind Wheel

Ed Carpenter is the only individual in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES who handles both the responsibility of driving the race car while owning and operating his own team. This season, Carpenter shares the No. 20 Guy Care Chevrolet with Christian Rasmussen, with the reigning INDY NXT by Firestone champion competing on all road and street course events and Carpenter the ovals.

The move to being an oval specialist has paid off. Carpenter has 24 top-10 finishes since starting Ed Carpenter Racing, and he has led at least one race for 15 of the last 17 seasons.

This weekend is an opportunity for Carpenter to get back behind the wheel in race conditions for the first time in six weeks. His last race was a 21st-place finish in the 108th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge on May 26.

Carpenter has kept fresh though with three June tests at Milwaukee Mile, Nashville Superspeedway and Iowa Speedway.

With the exception of 2010, Carpenter has competed in every NTT INDYCAR SERIES race at Iowa since the series began racing at the 0.894-mile oval in 2007.

Last year, Carpenter earned his highest qualifying position at the short oval when he started fourth. He has five top-10 finishes at Iowa as both an owner and driver.

“The Hy-Vee INDYCAR Race Weekend has become a highlight of the calendar for me,” Carpenter said. “I have always really enjoyed racing at Iowa Speedway, and it has turned into a really fun and unique event. The team has really been coming on strong the second half of the season. I am excited to pick up where Christian (Rasmussen) left off at Mid-Ohio.”

Rasmussen scored his first career top-10 finish last Sunday at Mid-Ohio.

Odds and Ends

· Chevrolet has seven consecutive series victories at Iowa.

· Team Penske has won 11 of the past 13 short-oval races, including six of the last seven at Iowa.

· Only once in 19 races has the winner of the Iowa race started on the pole. That was Newgarden in Race 2 of the 2020 doubleheader.

· Newgarden and O’Ward have combined to win seven of the past eight short-oval events. They finished 1-2 in six of the past 16 ovals in general, including the recent “500.”

· In his past 10 oval starts, O’Ward has an average finish of 5.2.

· Team Penske and Andretti Global have won 73.6 percent of Iowa races (14-for-19). The two have won 86.6 percent over the last 15.

· Dixon is the only driver to have competed in every NTT INDYCAR SERIES race at Iowa, and although he has 11 top-five finishes in his previous 19 starts on the oval, he’s never won at “The World’s Fastest Short Track.”

· Saturday’s race will mark Dixon’s 395th INDYCAR SERIES start, which will break a tie with Helio Castroneves for second on the all-time list. Mario Andretti leads the category at 407 starts.