May the force be with Alex Palou’s opponents this month at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, because he was unbeaten in the two NTT INDYCAR SERIES races in 2025.

The champion of the past three seasons (photo, above) – and four of the past five – dominated last year’s Sonsio Grand Prix and then jumped into the lead of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge when it mattered most. The result was the first sweep of the month since Simon Pagenaud in 2019, and the driver of Chip Ganassi Racing’s No. 10 Honda has not often been deterred.

SEE: Sonsio GP Event Details

By now Palou’s record of the past 22 series races is well-known. He has won 11 times with five second-place finishes and a third-place finish. His average finish since the start of last season is 4.5. This year, he has won three of the five races, including the past two.

Palou’s dominance is no fluke.

As has been the case each year since the IMS road course appeared on the INDYCAR SERIES schedule in 2014, drivers like Palou with an eye on winning the “500” must first focus on the job at hand. In terms of the championship, the Sonsio Grand Prix, an 85-lap race to be held Saturday on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course pays the same number of points as “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” So, eyes on the road, please.

In its early years, IMS road racing was the playground of Will Power and Pagenaud. The talented duo split the first six years, with five of those wins powered by Team Penske. Overall, Power has won five of the 17 races, although none of the past six dating to 2021. Scott Dixon has won two IMS road course races, and he is the only driver to interrupt Palou’s recent dominance. Palou has won three of the past four such races.

Last year, Palou led 29 of the 85 laps and crossed the finish line 5.4840 seconds ahead of Pato O’Ward. It was the second consecutive year the Spaniard won this race from the pole.

Palou entered last year’s Sonsio Grand Prix with a 60-point lead over second-place Christian Lundgaard, a cushion worth more than can be earned in a single race. This year, Palou’s lead is just 17 over Kyle Kirkwood, but if his competition isn’t able to dethrone him in two opportunities this month, this Drive for Five (season titles) will be nearly in the bag. David Malukas is third in the standings, but he is 63 points out of first place, which means that only Kirkwood is capable of taking the series’ top spot from Palou this weekend.

Unfortunately for Kirkwood, this hasn’t been one of his better tracks, at least not in terms of finishing position. Kirkwood’s best finish on this circuit is eighth, and his average finish in four races with Andretti Global is 10.5. Overall, his ledger here is 15.2.

However, many other drivers have excelled at this track in the past.

Power has finished on the podium nine times on this circuit (five wins, a second-place finish and three third-place finishes, including one last year). Dixon has three second-place finishes to go with his two wins. Alexander Rossi won the summer race in 2022, and he has finished second and third twice. Rinus VeeKay has finished first (May 2021), second and third here.

Josef Newgarden

Josef Newgarden (photo, above) is a former IMS road course winner (October 2020), and O’Ward has two second-place finishes, including one last year, and a third-place finish. Graham Rahal has finished second three times and led a race-high 49 laps in last year’s race. Romain Grosjean has twice finished second. Lundgaard has finished second and third once each.

Add it up: That’s 10 drivers in this week’s 25-car field who have earned a spot on the podium at this venue. Eight have won poles here. But none of the drivers are on a roll like Palou, and that should be concerning given his IMS dominance a year ago.

May is fully upon us. It’s up to the field to dethrone the champion.

This week’s action begins Friday with a pair of practices at 9 a.m. ET (FS2) and 1 p.m. ET (FS1). Knockout qualifying for the NTT P1 Award is at 5:30 p.m. ET (FS2). Saturday, the warmup practice at 11:30 a.m. ET (FS1) previews the sixth race of the season at 4:30 p.m. (FOX). All sessions also will be broadcast live on INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls.