Podium Steps Climbed by Many Drivers This Season

Following the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge, winners drink milk. At all other NTT INDYCAR SERIES races, top-three finishers indulge in champagne, and the bubbly was shared on the podium in high numbers in the recently completed season.

Sixteen of the 27 full-time drivers – the most in a decade – scored at least one top-three finish and were subsequently handed bottles of champagne to spray. Two drivers experienced such a celebration for the first time in this series.

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou led all drivers with 13 trips to a podium, the fourth-most in series history. Only Mario Andretti, Al Unser and Alex Zanardi have had more top-three finishes in a single season. Andretti achieved 13 or more on three occasions, including a record 16 in 1968.

Eight of Palou’s podium finishes resulted in him standing on the top step, the driving force behind his convincing run to a third consecutive series title and fourth season championship in five years. He also finished second in four races and was third in another in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.

Six-time season champion Scott Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing pushed his record total of career top-three finishes to 145. Andretti had 141.

Will Power celebrated on the podium for the last time as a Team Penske driver, and Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood was 3-for-3 in being the podium’s top honoree.

A pair of second-year series drivers -- Christian Rasmussen of Ed Carpenter Racing and Kyffin Simpson of Chip Ganassi Racing – earned a spot on the podium for the first time.

Eight drivers made three or more trips to a podium. Last year, seven did.

A recap of the 16 drivers representing eight of the 11 teams on podiums this season:

Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing (13 podium finishes): He scored eight wins, four second-place finishes and was third once. The 13 top-threes ranks fourth in the sport’s history. Mario Andretti had 16 in 1968. Al Unser (1970) and Alex Zanardi (1998) each had 15. Andretti had two seasons with 13 (1967 and 1969). Palou now has 44 podium finishes for his career (98 races).

Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren (six podium finishes): He had two wins, three seconds and a third, pushing his career total of podium finishes to 32 in 106 races.

Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren (six podium finishes): His breakthrough season didn’t feature a second career race win, but he finished second in three races and was third in three others, giving him nine podium finishes for his career.

Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global (three podium finishes): Kirkwood (photo, above) made the most of his three podium visits by winning each of those races. He now has six career top-three finishes.

Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing (three podium finishes): A win and two second-place finishes extended his series record to 145 career podium finishes. The rest of the top five: Andretti (141), A.J. Foyt (120), Will Power (108) and Michael Andretti (100).

Josef Newgarden, Team Penske (three podium finishes): This wasn’t his best season, but he ended it with a win in the finale at Nashville Superspeedway. He also finished second in one race and was third in another, giving him 61 career podium finishes, a total which ranks 17th in the sport’s history after passing Johnny Rutherford with 60.

Will Power, Team Penske (three podium finishes): His final season with Roger Penske’s team featured the 45th win of his career and a pair of third-place finishes. His career podium total now stands at 108.

Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske (three podium finishes): His season didn’t have a win for the first time since 2021, but he earned three third-place finishes to push his career total to 22.

Christian Rasmussen, Ed Carpenter Racing (two podium finishes): The first two series podiums for Rasmussen (photo, above) were highlighted by a race win at the Milwaukee Mile. He also finished third at World Wide Technology Raceway.

Santino Ferrucci, AJ Foyt Racing (two podium finishes): He is still seeking his first series victory, but he added two more podium finishes (a second and a third) to give him three such finishes for his career.

Colton Herta, Andretti Global w/ Curb-Agajanian (two podium finishes): He finished third in a pair of races this season, giving him 20 top-three finishes for his career.

David Malukas, AJ Foyt Racing (one podium finish): Technically, he didn’t have a podium finish because the podium isn’t used following the Indianapolis 500, but finishing second there is still the career highlight of the new Team Penske driver. He now has three career top-three finishes, the other two coming at World Wide Technology Raceway.

Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb-Agajanian (one podium finish): He finished second at Road America, pushing his career total to seven top-three finishes.

Rinus VeeKay, Dale Coyne Racing (one podium finish): A second-place finish in Toronto gave VeeKay (photo, above) five career top-three finishes.

Marcus Armstrong, Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb-Agajanian (one podium finish): He finished second in a race at Iowa Speedway, doubling his career total of top-three finishes (he finished third in Detroit in 2024).

Kyffin Simpson, Chip Ganassi Racing (one podium finish): His third-place finish in Toronto was the first series podium finish of his career.