INDYCAR Power Rankings: Hello, Alex Palou, At No. 1

Kyle Kirkwood remained the INDYCAR points leader after Barber Motorsports Park, but with two victories in the first four races, it is hard not to put Alex Palou atop these rankings. The harder decision is what to do with Will Power and Scott McLaughlin, two drivers who have shown plenty of speed. But with at least two wrecks in practice or qualifying for each of them this year, they drop off the list. They likely will get back on, but they just need to have cleaner weekends. Here are my power rankings with INDYCAR off the next two weekends before the series heads to Long Beach. That street course will race much different than the smooth 2.3-mile, 17-turn course they just raced on the outskirts of Birmingham. Dropped out: Will Power (Last Week: 8), Scott McLaughlin (Last Week: 7) On the verge: Scott McLaughlin, Will Power, Graham Rahal 10. Alexander Rossi (Last Week: Not Ranked)ECR No. 20 Chevrolet Finish 11th and get into the power rankings? How does that work? It works because Rossi, at 11th in the standings, is earning more points than the other drivers on the brink in at least two of the last three races. The ECR driver, a veteran of the series, started 11th and finished 11th at Barber, and there’s something to be said for that. 9. Josef Newgarden (Last Week: 4)Team Penske No. 2 Chevrolet The two-time series champion Penske driver finished 10th at Barber. And while he hasn’t been doing anything incredible outside his win at Phoenix, Newgarden sits fifth in the standings. 8. Scott Dixon (Last Week: 10)Chip Ganassi Racing No. 9 Honda Dixon is the only driver who didn’t make the second round of qualifying to finish in the top 10. The six-time series champion had a solid day by finishing seventh at Barber and moved up to 10th in the standings. 7. Marcus Armstrong (Last Week: Not Ranked)Meyer Shank Racing No. 66 Honda Armstrong proved once again that the Meyer Shank equipment can run among the best in the series as he started fourth and finished sixth at Barber. Still looking for his first career win, Armstrong is ninth in the standings. 6. Marcus Ericsson (Last Week: 9)Andretti Global No. 28 Honda Ericsson backed up his fourth-place finish at Arlington with a ninth-place finish at Barber. The Andretti driver sits eighth in the standings, continuing to show a rebound from last season when he was 20th. 5. Pato O’Ward (Last Week: 3)Arrow McLaren No. 5 Chevrolet O’Ward had a race to forget at Barber as he finished 17th. It had to be tough for the Arrow McLaren driver to finish that far back and lose ground in the points as he dropped to sixth in the standings. 4. David Malukas (Last Week: 5)Team Penske No. 12 Chevrolet For the second consecutive race, Malukas was the top-finishing Penske driver and he already has two top-five finishes since joining the team as Will Power’s replacement. His fourth at Barber lifted him to fourth in the standings. 3. Christian Lundgaard (Last Week: 6)Arrow McLaren No. 7 Chevrolet Lundgaard knew he had a chance to win at Barber, and it slipped away after a lengthy pit stop. So the Arrow McLaren driver had to settle for second and is third in the standings. The fact he was so much faster than his McLaren teammates was also a little alarming. 2. Kyle Kirkwood (Last Week: 1)Andretti Global No. 27 Honda Kirkwood remained the points leader by a couple points after his fifth-place finish at Barber. The Andretti driver, who has never led the points previously in his INDYCAR career, had the best finish of the Andretti drivers and was happy with the improvement for the team when it came to Barber. 1. Alex Palou (Last Week: 2)Chip Ganassi Racing No. 10 Honda Palou led 79 of the 90 laps at Barber and while not a cakewalk until Lundgaard’s pit issue, he seemed in control the entire race. Is a fifth championship (and a fourth consecutive title) on the horizon? That’s still to be determined.