Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward has quickly emerged as the top challenger to Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou in the fight for this year’s Astor Cup. After Sunday’s Java House Grand Prix of Monterey, O’Ward might stand alone in that pursuit.
Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood and Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon sit third and fourth in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES standings, respectively. But to stay in the championship conversation after Sunday’s 95-lap race (3 p.m. ET on FOX, FOX Deportes, FOX Sports app, and INDYCAR Radio Network), both must close the gap to within 161 points of Palou. Entering the race, Kirkwood trails by 173 and Dixon by 174.
Catching Palou won’t be easy. Driving the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, the defending series champion has never finished off the podium at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca and owns four wins in five natural road course races this season. He earned NTT P1 Award honors on Saturday, his eighth pole of the season.
O’Ward shares the front row in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet.
Still, don’t count out Dixon or Kirkwood. Dixon starts 19th in his No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda — his worst qualifying effort at Laguna Seca in eight starts. While he has struggled in qualifying on natural road courses this season, Dixon has delivered on race day: climbing from 26th to 12th at Barber, 25th to ninth at Road America (where he led a race-high 27 of 55 laps), and ninth to first at Mid-Ohio.
Dixon is a 2023 Laguna Seca race winner while Kirkwood swept the INDY NXT by Firestone race weekend on this track in 2021.
Kirkwood, a three-time winner this season, starts just ahead of Dixon in 18th, piloting the No. 27 JM Bullion Honda for Andretti Global. He remains optimistic about the car’s pace and potential to move forward, especially with the benefit of extra sets of tires, a possible advantage on Laguna Seca’s abrasive surface, particularly for teams looking to go off-strategy.
“Last lap wasn’t great,” Kirkwood said. “We were aiming for Lap 2, and I was just stuck in traffic there. For us, we needed to do a Lap 2 and get a feel for the car. Came to the last corner and had a substantial snap. Car is fast, just unfortunate circumstances kept us out there.”
Herta Earns Third-Place Start, Contender Again
The return of tire degradation and reduced grip at Laguna Seca is a welcome development for Colton Herta.
The Andretti Global driver starts third in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda but wonders if a front-row spot might have been out of reach.
“I think I made too many mistakes in the Fast Six,” Herta said. “Just a little too sloppy for me to really compete.”
Despite that, Herta’s car has shown the speed to challenge Palou for his first win of the season. He was second-fastest in Friday’s practice and finished runner-up to Palou at Laguna Seca last year, his best result since the track was repaved in 2023.
Before the repave, Herta dominated the circuit, winning from pole in both 2019 and 2021 (the race was not held in 2020). He led 83 of 90 laps in 2019 and 91 of 95 in 2021.
The newer, smoother surface seemed to diminish his advantage in recent years. But with grip levels regressing and the track becoming more abrasive again this weekend, Herta feels his race-winning form may be returning.
“We’ve had a great race car the last few years here, and it seems to be trending that way again,” he said. “Obviously we didn’t have the qualifying pace but qualifying and race pace are completely different things. So I’m confident that we can close in.”
Boles Playing Both President Roles
Doug Boles is no stranger to sleepless nights, especially before the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.
As President of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, he traditionally pulls an all-nighter ahead of The Greatest Spectacle in Racing, choosing to spend those hours with fans, roaming the town of Speedway and soaking in the excitement.
Ahead of Sunday’s Brickyard 400 presented by PPG, Boles will again be running on minimal sleep – but this time, the stakes are higher. For the first year, he is also serving as President of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, pulling double duty at two racetracks separated by three time zones.
In addition to his responsibilities at IMS, Boles is overseeing operations at the Java House Grand Prix of Monterey, also taking place Sunday. The race airs at 3 p.m. ET on FOX, FOX Deportes, the FOX Sports app, and the INDYCAR Radio Network.
His week began at IMS, where he participated in Thursday’s NASCAR’s Hauler Parade through downtown Speedway and attended the Indiana Sprint Week opener at the dirt track nestled inside Turn 3 of the iconic oval. From there, he flew to California to fulfill his INDYCAR SERIES duties at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
After spending Friday and Saturday on the West Coast, Boles caught a red-eye flight back to Indianapolis. He is scheduled to land at 4:30 a.m. ET — just in time to head straight to IMS for the Brickyard 400 NASCAR Cup Series race.
Odds and Ends
· Josef Newgarden earned his best non-oval starting position of the season, qualifying fourth in the No. 2 Astemo Team Penske Chevrolet. To reach his second Firestone Fast Six appearance of the year, Newgarden used multiple sets of Firestone Firehawk alternate tires during the earlier rounds, leaving him with used tires for the final session, a tradeoff that likely cost him a shot at pole. His previous Fast Six appearance came at the Sonsio Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, where he started sixth on May 10.
· David Malukas (No. 4 Clarience Technologies Chevrolet) was the only other driver to use multiple sets of alternate (soft) tires to reach the Firestone Fast Six, where he qualified sixth. It marks his second Fast Six appearance of the season; the first came when he started second in the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix on June 1.
· Christian Rasmussen (No. 21 Liquid Science Chevrolet) qualified 11th. Two of the last three years were won from that spot.
· Rinus VeeKay qualified 17th in the No. 18 askROI Honda for Dale Coyne Racing, his sixth start of 17th or worse in the last seven races. Despite the challenging grid positions, the Dutch driver has still managed three top-10 finishes during that stretch. Could a fourth come on Sunday? VeeKay has been strong on natural road courses this season, scoring four top-10s in five starts.
· Green Flag for Sunday’s 95-lap race is 3:22 p.m. ET.