Alex Palou arrives at Road America with a 49-point championship lead over Kyle Kirkwood, a margin that has tightened considerably from the 73-point cushion the Chip Ganassi Racing driver held at this point in his 2025 championship run.
Palou has four wins through the first half of the 2026 season in the #10 Honda, matching the pace that carried him to eight victories and a fourth championship title last year. The difference is Kirkwood. The Andretti Global driver has just one win in 2026, at the inaugural Java House Grand Prix of Arlington, but has finished outside the top 10 only once. That consistency is the story of the championship fight as the NTT IndyCar Series heads into Sunday’s XPEL Grand Prix at Road America.
Palou won last year’s race at the Wisconsin circuit, one of his eight wins in 2025. Road America has been a Honda stronghold since Alex Zanardi took the first victory there for the manufacturer in 1997. Scott Dixon won twice, in 2017 and 2020. Felix Rosenqvist took the 2020 second race. Palou himself has three Road America wins: 2021, 2023, and 2025.
The weather forecast marks a departure from last year’s race, which saw temperatures peak above 90 degrees Fahrenheit. This year’s race is forecasted 20 degrees cooler with the potential for rain. A four-mile circuit can experience different weather conditions at different corners, which will complicate setup decisions for the Honda-powered teams.
The rookie standings are clearer. Dale Coyne Racing’s Dennis Hauger holds a 34-point lead over Caio Collet, 133 to 99. Rahal Letterman Lanigan’s Mick Schumacher sits third on 89 points. Schumacher earned Rookie of the Year honors at the 110th Running of the Indianapolis 500 last month as the highest-finishing first-year driver. Honda drivers have won the Rookie of the Year title four consecutive years: Christian Lundgaard in 2022, Marcus Armstrong in 2023, Linus Lundqvist in 2024, and Louis Foster in 2025. Twelve of 14 Rookie of the Year titles have gone to Honda-powered drivers since multi-manufacturer competition returned to the series in 2012.
Television coverage of Sunday’s XPEL Grand Prix begins at 2:00 PM ET on Fox. Friday’s first practice airs on FS2, with practice two, qualifying, and morning warm-up on FS1.
Source: Honda. Images courtesy of Honda.
