Record Number of Drivers Led the Pack in Exciting Season

Even as Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou dominated the recently completed NTT INDYCAR SERIES season, competitors throughout the field helped produce a record-setting environment.

Thirty drivers led a race this season, the most in the sport’s history and a 10 percent increase over last year. The category’s top four drivers were represented by four different teams.

Yes, Palou led 14 of the 17 races and 778 laps in all, but 21 of the 27 full-season drivers led multiple races. Nine set personal bests related to pacing the field.

Palou’s season totals were the highest of his career. En route to clinching the series championship earlier than any driver since 2007, Palou led 119 laps more than when he clinched the 2023 title at the penultimate race.

Career bests could be found throughout the field. Devlin DeFrancesco of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (photo, above) and Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyffin Simpson led enough laps this year to double their career totals. David Malukas of AJ Foyt Racing more than tripled his career total.

Ed Carpenter Racing’s Christian Rasmussen led his first laps in this series, putting his career total at 46 laps led. Rookies Louis Foster of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing and Robert Shwartzman of PREMA Racing – pole winners each – also led laps in the series for the first time.

Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood led 114 laps, seven laps shy of his best season (121 laps in 2024). Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Conor Daly (photo, above) led 51 laps, nearly matching his best season (56 in 2016). Arrow McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard led 53 laps for the second year in a row.

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon continues to be second in INDYCAR SERIES history in laps led, but he moved closer to Mario Andretti’s record of 7,595 laps. Dixon’s 91 laps this season pushed his career total to 6,923. Michael Andretti and Helio Castroneves are the only other drivers to have led at least 6,000 series laps in a career. Among active drivers, seventh-place Will Power has now led 5,471 laps while former Team Penske teammate Josef Newgarden moved past Paul Tracy for 10th place. Newgarden’s career total is 4,513, leaving him 66 laps shy of what Dario Franchitti earned.

Not surprisingly, oval tracks featured the highest number of lap leaders, with three tracks setting series records (World Wide Technology Raceway, Road America and Nashville Superspeedway).

Fourteen drivers led the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline at WWTR, the same number that paced the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Twelve drivers led the season-ending Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by WillScot. The Indy total was the third-most in the history of the iconic event.

The Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear led street-circuit events with 10 leaders. Road America was tops among road courses with eight leaders. The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg had seven leaders, one shy of the event’s all-time high, while the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach’s nine leaders were its most in 13 years.

Palou’s 14 races led was nearly twice the total of the next-highest driver. Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward led eight races, Dixon and Marcus Armstrong of Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb-Agajanian (photo, above) led seven each. Newgarden, Kirkwood and Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin each led six races.

Among the drivers who only competed in the “500,” Takuma Sato of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing was tops with 51 laps led, a total tying Daly for 11th-most during the season. Ryan Hunter-Reay, who drove for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing at Indy, was one position behind them with 48 laps led.

The Top Five Lap Leaders