Pato O’Ward earned his second NTT INDYCAR SERIES race win in outings last weekend in the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto, while championship leader Alex Palou logged his worst finish (12th) since placing 25th in the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear on June 1.
O’Ward inched closer to the top spot in Power Rankings, but that doesn’t unseat Palou quite yet. Palou leads the series with seven wins, including a victory at Iowa Speedway on July 13, and he holds a 99-point advantage over O’Ward heading into this weekend’s Java House Grand Prix of Monterey (3 p.m. ET, FOX, FOX Sports app and INDYCAR Radio Network).
Here’s how the Power Rankings shake out entering WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
10. Felix Rosenqvist (No. 60 SiriusXM Honda; Last Rank: 6)
Rosenqvist was quiet in Toronto, qualifying 16th and finishing 19th, his second result of 17th or worse in the last three races. Still, he has three top-seven finishes in the last five events, offering more consistency than Arrow McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard, who has four finishes of 13th or worse in his last six, to take the last spot this week.
9. Kyffin Simpson (No. 8 Journie Rewards Chip Ganassi Racing Honda; Last Rank: NR)
Simpson delivered a breakthrough performance in Toronto with his first career podium by finishing third. It was the CGR driver’s fifth top-10 finish of the season and fourth in the past seven races. The 20-year-old returns to Power Rankings for the third time in the last four race weekends. (He dropped out following a challenging Iowa Speedway doubleheader.)
8. David Malukas (No. 4 Clarience Technologies Chevrolet; Last Rank: 10)
Malukas continues to build momentum. He climbed from 15th to ninth in Toronto, securing his second straight top-10 and third in the past five races. The second-year driver sits 10th in points.
7. Colton Herta (No. 26 Gainbridge Honda; Last Rank: NR)
Herta returned to form in Toronto with a pole-winning effort and a solid fourth-place finish. He re-enters the Power Rankings for the first time since Detroit after ending a streak of 16 consecutive weekends in the top 10. He also has two fourth-place results in the last four events.
6. Rinus VeeKay (No. 18 askROI Honda; Last Rank: NR)
VeeKay’s runner-up finish in Toronto marks his seventh top-10 of the season, four coming in the last six races. This is his best Power Ranking slot since a strong end of season stretch with Ed Carpenter Racing in 2024, when he was seventh, sixth, seventh and eighth, respectively in a four-race span from Toronto through Milwaukee Mile. This season, VeeKay’s first with Dale Coyne Racing, VeeKay (photo) was ninth in Power Rankings on three occasions.
5. Marcus Armstrong (No. 66 SiriusXM/Root Insurance Honda; Last Rank: 4)
Armstrong matched his career-best qualifying effort of third at Toronto a week after equaling his career-best third-place result in Race 2 at Iowa. He looked poised for another strong finish before receiving an avoidable contact penalty on pit road. Despite the setback, he recovered to finish 14th, his worst finish since being 18th in the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge on May 25. He had a streak of six straight top-10s before Toronto.
4. Kyle Kirkwood (No. 27 Silver Gold Bull Honda; Last Rank: 5)
Kirkwood’s chaotic Toronto weekend included a qualifying mistake, a penalty for jumping the race start and contact from Armstrong on pit road. Despite it all, he charged from outside the top 20 to finish sixth, his best result since Road America.
3. Scott Dixon (No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda; Last Rank: 3)
Dixon made the most of an off-strategy call in Toronto, climbing from 17th to finish 10th. It was his sixth consecutive top-10 finish, a run that includes a win at Mid-Ohio on July 6 and runner-up at Iowa Speedway on July 13. The six-time champion is lurking, just as he always does.
↑2. Pato O’Ward (No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet; Last Rank: 2)
Two wins in three races and five podiums in the last 10 has O’Ward as one of the hottest drivers in the field since May. He remains Palou’s biggest threat. O’Ward’s only finish outside of seventh since the calendar turned May was 17th at Road America.
↔1. Alex Palou (No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda; Last Rank: 1)
Palou’s 13th-place finish in Toronto, his first real stumble in weeks, was due to a rare strategic miscue. Even so, he remains the driver to beat, with four top-five finishes in the past five races, including two wins and a second. He returns this weekend to Laguna Seca, a track where he has won twice (2022, 2024) and hasn’t finished worse than third.