By Noah Poser, Staff Writer
We’re seven races into the 2025 INDYCAR season and just two drivers have won a race thus far: Alex Palou and Kyle Kirkwood.
So it should come as no surprise, especially after Kirkwood won his second race of the season in Detroit, that they sit in the top two spots in this week’s power rankings.
Behind them, the margins are razor thin from spots three through nine. So how did the best of the rest behind the two winners shake out this week? Find out below.
1. Alex Palou (Previous: 1)
Season Stats: 5 Wins, 6 Top 5s, 6 Top 10s, 163 Laps Led
First, first, second, first, first, first…25th. After a DNF in Detroit, those are the finishes Palou has achieved in the first seven races to start the season. While David Malukas ending his day prematurely likely wasn’t what he had envisioned in his first race since becoming an Indy 500 champion, he still has five wins this season and a massive points lead.
2. Kyle Kirkwood (Previous: 5)
Season Stats: 2 Wins, 3 Top 5s, 5 Top 10s, 96 Laps Led
The ‘King of the Streets’ is a title that has to be earned, not given. After capturing the checkered flag in Detroit for his fourth career victory, all of which have come on street courses, Kirkwood has officially earned the title. Not to mention, after being stripped of his sixth-place finish in the Indy 500, a win in Detroit was just what he needed to recover some of those points he lost.
3. Pato O’Ward (Previous: 2)
Season Stats: 3 Top 5s, 5 Top 10s, 56 Laps Led
O’Ward hates the Detroit street circuit. He’s made that quite clear on numerous occasions. So perhaps a seventh-place finish isn’t all that bad of a result for the Mexican driver. If nothing else, it was a solid points day for O’Ward, who remains second in the standings, 90 points behind Palou.
4. Christian Lundgaard (Previous: 3)
Season Stats: 3 Top 5s, 6 Top 10s, 49 Laps Led
One spot behind O’Ward in the finishing order in Detroit was Lundgaard. After starting fourth, it’s fair to assume Lundgaard had higher hopes for race day, but it still goes down as his sixth top 10 finish this season, tying him with Palou for the series lead.
5. Will Power (Previous: 7)
Season Stats: 4 Top 5s, 5 Top 10s, 1 Lap Led
A near-podium was just what the doctor ordered for Power after a rough showing in the Indy 500. The fourth-place finish in Detroit is Power’s fourth top five finish of the season and moves him up to fifth in the point standings, the highest he’s been so far this season.
6. Scott McLaughlin (Previous: 6)
Season Stats: 3 Top 5s, 4 Top 10s, 146 Laps Led
A stop-and-go penalty as a result of avoidable contact with Nolan Siegel derailed what had appeared to be a promising day for McLaughlin and his team. McLaughlin was able to rebound and finish 12th to minimize the damage, but it was another “what could have been” type of day in a season full of them.
7. Colton Herta (Previous: 9)
Season Stats: 2 Top 5s, 4 Top 10s, 12 Laps Led
Herta had just about the best weekend he could’ve had short of leaving Detroit with a victory. On Saturday he scored pole and then on Sunday, he followed it up with his first podium of the season. Talking about another driver who has had their own fair share of “what could have been” results, this was a good weekend for the No. 28 bunch.
8. Felix Rosenqvist (Previous: 4)
Season Stats: 3 Top 5s, 5 Top 10s, 2 Laps Led
The DNF and 21st-place finish aside, all that matters is that Rosenqvist was able to walk away from a really big crash stemming from a suspension failure on Louis Foster’s car. Despite the rough day in Detroit, Rosenqvist is still sixth in points.
9. Scott Dixon (Previous: 8)
Season Stats: 2 Top 5s, 4 Top 10s, 9 Laps Led
The No. 9 team appeared to once again be straying from conventional wisdom and trying a strategy play of their own in Detroit, but after the tires were unable to hold out for long enough, they had to abort and fall in line with the rest of the field. The result was an 11th-place finish, which leaves him seventh in points.
10. Santino Ferrucci (Previous: 11)
Season Stats: 2 Top 5s, 2 Top 10s, 8 Laps Led
Detroit came with good news and bad news for Ferrucci and his A.J. Foyt Racing team. The good was he capitalized on strategy to score his best career INDYCAR finish by crossing the line second. The bad being, while he got to keep the finish, the car was deemed to be underweight in post-race inspection and the team and driver were docked 25 points apiece. Still, it counts as the second straight top five finish for Ferrucci, which is good enough to keep him in this week’s rankings.
11. Marcus Armstrong (Previous: NR)
Season Stats: 3 Top 10s, 16 Laps Led
Malukas, Josef Newgarden, Alexander Rossi or Rinus VeeKay. A case could be made for each of these drivers to appear in the final spot of these rankings. Instead, I gave the spot to Armstrong after he finished sixth in Detroit, utilizing the same strategy as Ferrucci to earn a season-best result. He’s up to 10th in the standings, joining his Meyer Shank Racing teammate Rosenqvist in the top 10.
Dropped out: David Malukas
Next up: David Malukas, Josef Newgarden, Alexander Rossi, Rinus VeeKay