The second half of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES season begins this weekend with the annual running of the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America Presented by AMR, and a chance at history is on the line.

Before Alex Palou joined the series, the winningest drivers at Road America were Mario Andretti, Emerson Fittipaldi and Michael Andretti, each with three INDYCAR SERIES race wins. Those are legendary names, and Palou has an opportunity to surpass them all Sunday.

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Chip Ganassi Racing’s driver not only will try to repeat as victor on the 14-turn, 4.014-mile permanent road course, he has won two of the past three Road America races and three of the past five. It had been 40 years since this track witnessed a three-time winner – that was Michael Andretti in 1986 – and now Palou is primed to become the first driver with four such wins.

Palou (photo, top) has won four of the nine races this season and holds a 49-point lead over Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood in pursuit of his record-tying fourth consecutive series championship. Palou has won four titles in all, with Will Power’s 2022 crown the only interruption in this impressive stretch.

Alex Palou

Road America: Palou’s First Shining Moment

Palou has accomplished so much in such a short period of time that his rookie season in 2020 is a distant memory. But it was at Road America that he delivered his breakthrough performance, in a car fielded by Dale Coyne Racing w/Team Goh.

The first race of that weekend’s doubleheader was won by Scott Dixon, and the others joining Palou in the top five should have told us something about the Spaniard’s talent. Power finished second with Ryan Hunter-Reay fourth and Colton Herta fifth. Dixon, Power and Hunter-Reay have combined for nine INDYCAR SERIES championships, and Herta is on the path to Formula One.

In the No. 55 Honda (photo, above), Palou started 14th and was ninth by the end of the first lap. When the first caution came on Lap 38, Palou was already fifth. Eight laps ahead of the checkered flag he passed Hunter-Reay for third. The performance was eye-catching.

That was the first of Palou’s 49 career top-three finishes. His next such finish draws him even with Tom Sneva and Gil de Ferran for 20th place on the sport’s all-time podium list. Dixon (146), Power (109) and Josef Newgarden (63) are the only drivers in this field with more career podium finishes than Palou.

Scott Dixon

Road America Has Rewarded Best of the Best

As with most statistical categories in INDYCAR SERIES history, Dixon, Power and Newgarden are high the list of Road America overachievers. Each has two wins since the series returned to the track in 2016 following a nine-year absence.

Power won the return race and did so again in 2024. Dixon’s victorious runs were in 2017 and 2020 (photo, above). Newgarden stood atop the podium in 2018 and 2022.

Alexander Rossi (2019) and Felix Rosenqvist (Race 2, 2020) are the other active drivers with Road America victories in this series.

What do these Road America winners have in common? Each is an Indianapolis 500 winner, and over the years the best of the sport’s best has dominated Road America.

The first INDYCAR SERIES race was held in 1982, and it was the only win of Hector Rebaque’s career. But since then, 27 of the 35 Road America races have been won by drivers who either were series champions at the time or became one, and three other races were won by drivers who have finished second in the standings, including Rossi.

Josef Newgarden

Newgarden Eyes End to Non-Oval Drought

Ovals are the staple of Newgarden’s 34 career victories, including both of his wins this season (at Phoenix Raceway and World Wide Technology Raceway). But it’s difficult to believe the Team Penske driver has won 11 oval races since his last road course victory.

Yes, it’s been four years since Newgarden won the 2022 race at Road America (photo, above), one of the four road courses where he has won series races. The others: Barber Motorsports Park (three times), Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course (twice) and Indianapolis Motor Speedway (once). Newgarden’s recent win at WWTR gave him 20 victories on ovals. He has won series races on six street circuits.

Sunday’s race (2 p.m. ET, FOX, FOX One, FOX Deportes, INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls) would be a good place for Newgarden to end his non-oval drought. In addition to having a pair of race wins at the track, he has finished second in two of the past three races and has been the pole sitter three times.

Graham Rahal

Other Drivers To Watch

Graham Rahal has a pair of third-place finishes at Road America, but those were years ago (in 2007 and 2016). Of more relevance is his recent performances on road courses.

Rahal has three podium finishes this season, the most he’s had in a single season since 2020. The Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver started and finished third at Barber Motorsports Park (photo, above) and drove from seventh to finish third on the IMS road course. He also advanced from 12th to finish third in the Detroit street race. Two other top-10 finishes are part of what has Rahal bidding for his best season ranking since 2022 when he ended the year in the eighth position.

Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward, Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin and AJ Foyt Racing’s Santino Ferrucci have finished third, respectively, each of the past three years. All three are in search of their first wins of the season – such a win would be the first of Ferrucci’s career.

This will be the third road course race of the season. Palou won the first, at Barber Motorsports Park, and Arrow McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard won the Sonsio Grand Prix at IMS. Lundgaard has three podium finishes and another top-five finish this season, which has him fourth in the standings.

The Weekend Schedule

The first practice is set for Friday at 4 p.m. ET (FS2). Saturday, FS1 will air the weekend’s second practice at 11 a.m. and qualifying for the NTT P1 Award at 2 p.m.

Race Day opens with the warmup practice at 11 a.m. (FS1) followed by the 55-lap race at 2 p.m. on FOX, FOX One, FOX Deportes and INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls.