Alex Palou has six wins in 2026 and a 110-point cushion with five races left. At some point the math stops being a subplot and becomes the story.
Palou led 60 of 110 laps Sunday at Portland International Raceway, taking the win at the OnlyBulls Grand Prix of Portland by 4.1167 seconds for his 25th career IndyCar victory. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver started second and used the overcut during the first cycle of green-flag pit stops to jump polesitter Felix Rosenqvist, a sequence Rosenqvist acknowledged cost him the win. “Alex did a really good first stint, saving one more lap of fuel, and the overcut was so powerful,” Rosenqvist said. “I didn’t do a great launch in that pit sequence either.”
Rosenqvist’s Meyer Shank Racing Honda led 33 laps and finished second. Will Power brought his Andretti Global Honda home third for the team’s third podium of the year, his first season with the squad. The result completed Honda’s fourth 1-2-3 sweep of 2026, following identical results at the Arlington Grand Prix, the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, and the Detroit Grand Prix.
The manufacturers’ championship picture reflects the engine dominance plainly. Honda now leads 1,129 to 996 in points, powered in part by five of today’s top six finishers running Honda power. Power noted that 11 of the top 12 starters Sunday were Honda-powered. Through the 2025 season, Honda won 12 of 17 races and swept the drivers’, manufacturers’, and Rookie of the Year titles. The 2026 edition looks likely to produce a similar outcome.
Behind Palou, the fight for second in the standings sharpened in Portland. Kyle Kirkwood, Power’s Andretti Global teammate, finished fifth to reclaim second in the drivers’ championship. Marcus Ericsson, another Andretti stablemate, finished sixth. Kirkwood has finished in the top 10 in all but one race this season, a consistency that has kept him relevant even as Palou has built an effectively insurmountable margin.
Palou’s sixth win also makes him just the third driver in IndyCar history to post back-to-back seasons with six or more victories. His personal record is eight wins in a single year, a number now within reach with five races remaining. A fourth consecutive championship and fifth in six years would place him in company with the sport’s all-time elite. He is chasing a fourth straight title beginning at Markham, Ontario next weekend for the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy on August 14–16.
Elsewhere in the results, Scott Dixon finished 14th in his Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Rookie Dennis Hauger did not finish for Dale Coyne Racing, as did Mick Schumacher for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda. Graham Rahal finished 23rd.
Palou is now three wins from matching his own season record. The harder question is whether anyone in the paddock has found a way to stop him from getting there.
Source: Honda. Images courtesy of Honda.
