Alex Palou dominated the Power Rankings last season, taking the top spot after The $1 Million Thermal Club Challenge victory March 24. He never relinquished the lead.
Three-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Palou leaped out of the 2025 gates last weekend with a season-opening victory in the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding. He became the first reigning champion to win a season opener since Dario Franchitti in 2011. Franchitti won his third consecutive title that year – a feat Palou is trying to match this season while driving for the same team, Chip Ganassi Racing.
Here are the drivers joining Palou in the first edition of Power Rankings in 2025, leading into the second race of the season - a return to The Thermal Club on March 23 airing at 3 p.m. ET on FOX, the FOX Sports app and INDYCAR Radio Network.
10. Pato O’Ward (No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet)
O’Ward earned a pair of top two-finishes in the final three races of the 2024 season but began 2025 with a charge from 23rd to 11th in Sunday’s race at St. Petersburg.
9. Christian Lundgaard (No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet)
Lundgaard had a solid first outing with Arrow McLaren. He started fifth, led 23 laps and finished eighth. The former Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver who spent three full-time seasons with the team was the best-performing Arrow McLaren driver last weekend.
8. Felix Rosenqvist (No. 60 SiriusXM Honda)
Rosenqvist qualified third and finished seventh in St. Petersburg. Will this season mirror 2024? The Swede qualified on the front row for the first three races last season, including The Thermal Club $1 Million Challenge exhibition race. He finished fifth, third and ninth, respectively, in those races. He then qualified fifth and finished fourth April 28 at Barber Motorsports Park, started and finished 10th for the May 13 Sonsio Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and qualified ninth for the 108th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge. Unfortunately, a momentum-changing mechanical failure on Lap 55 of the “500” relegated him to 27th. He scored one top-10 finish over the next seven races. With momentum back, can he keep it?
7. Marcus Ericsson (No. 28 Bryant Honda)
Ericsson never turned a wheel wrong in St. Petersburg, which led to a sixth-place season opening finish. The Swedish driver was also in the top seven of every practice and qualifying session of the weekend.
6. Colton Herta (No. 26 Gainbridge Honda)
Herta qualified on the front row for Sunday’s race, but a slow pit stop relegated him to a 16th-place finish. He ended 2024 with six top-five finishes in the final seven races, including two wins, which is why he remains in the top 10 of Power Rankings.
5. Kyle Kirkwood (No. 27 Chili’s Honda)
Kirkwood began 2025 with a strong outing. He was quickest in practice Friday and charged from ninth at the start to finish fifth in the season opener on Sunday. Kirkwood has improved from 24th to 11th to seventh in points in his three full-time seasons. The Florida native expects the ascension to continue. He scored three top-10 finishes in the final four races of last season, including a fourth-place finish in the season finale at Nashville Superspeedway.
4. Josef Newgarden (No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet)
The Team Penske driver finished the 2024 season with three top-three finishes in the final five races, including a third-place result Sept. 15 at Nashville Superspeedway. Coincidentally, the two races he didn’t finish on the podium came at Milwaukee, where Newgarden started on the front row in both 250-lap races but crashed in each. Newgarden began his 2025 season by charging from 10th at the start to finish third in Sunday’s race at St. Petersburg.
3. Scott Dixon (No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda)
Dixon won twice in 2024 and began his quest for a record-tying seventh championship with a runner-up result last Sunday in St. Petersburg. Dixon won three of his first six championships in five-year increments. His last title came in 2020…
2. Scott McLaughlin (No. 3 DEX Imaging Team Penske Chevrolet)
McLaughlin started 2025 with an NTT P1 Award and fourth-place finish after leading a race-high 40 of 100 laps in St. Petersburg. He picked up where he left off in 2024 by extending a streak to seven consecutive top-eight finishes, including a fifth-place finish in the season finale last September at Nashville. McLaughlin has nine top-eight finishes in the last 10 races.
1. Alex Palou (No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda)
Palou won the last two championships and this season’s opener. Enough said: He remains at the top spot until further notice.