Inside Line: What's Grabbing Your Attention Besides Title Race?

Today’s question: What else besides the race for the Astor Challenge Cup is capturing your attention as the NTT INDYCAR SERIES starts a hectic run of six races in five consecutive weekends to finish the 2026 season starting this weekend at Portland International Raceway?

Curt Cavin: Surely David Malukas (photo, above) is going to win his first series race before long, and surely it will happen this season. But when? And where? My gut says it will be on a short oval, which puts both of this month’s Milwaukee races in play, but this season he has been as consistently strong on the road courses and has been the top Team Penske driver overall. Malukas’ only two poor results this season were on street circuits (13th in St. Petersburg, 18th in Detroit), but one wouldn’t say he’s been lacking speed on those types of circuits. He has started on the front row four times in 12 races, and he has six top-five finishes while leading 189 laps. The dude is due! But when? And where?

Eric Smith: I’m agree with Curt on Malukas, but I’m watching Team Penske as a whole. Malukas has outqualified his teammates nine times in 12 races. He has as many podium finishes (five) as Josef Newgarden (three) and Scott McLaughlin (two) combined and has led a team-best 189 laps. By comparison, Newgarden and McLaughlin (photo, above) have each led 72 laps. That’s why I’m focused on the entire organization. Can Newgarden and McLaughlin consistently join Malukas at the front? At one point it wasn’t uncommon to have all three Penske cars in the top five of points and winning on a regular basis. Newgarden is sixth in points, 147 behind Alex Palou, and McLaughlin eighth, 162 back. Newgarden hasn't won on a road course since Road America in 2022. McLaughlin, meanwhile, is still searching for his first victory since the second race of the 2024 Milwaukee Mile doubleheader, a career-long 31-race winless streak. The organization owns 10 podium finishes this season, including a first- or second-place result in five of the last seven races entering Portland. But those efforts have produced only two victories, each by Newgarden, both on short ovals. The team won two of the final three races last season. Can it build similar momentum over the closing stretch and carry it into a championship-caliber 2027 campaign?

Arni Sribhen: This time of year, I always end up having to pay attention to the championships that aren’t really THE championship. You know, the Rookie of the Year battle or the engine manufacturer championship. But the one I find the most intriguing is the fight for the final Leaders Circle spots. With only 22 spots available, the Leaders Circle is closely fought but doesn’t get much attention until the end of the year. This season, a strong finish to the season could leave a Dale Coyne Racing entry, an AJ Foyt Racing entry or an ECR entry out of in the cold. With nearly $2 million in payments for finishing in the top 22 in the standings, that could mean the need for more budget and a driver out of work. Think of it like the relegation battle in the English Premier League, and the stakes could be just as high for the guy left standing when the music stops.

Paul Kelly: I’m watching the dynamic between three high-profile drivers and the teams they’re leaving at the end of this season: Scott Dixon and Chip Ganassi Racing, Christian Lundgaard and Arrow McLaren and Felix Rosenqvist and Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian. All three teams are too professional and have too much at stake with sponsors to freeze out a driver who is either leaving (Dixon, Rosenqvist) or has been forced out (Lundgaard). But there’s no doubt that some privileges may be withheld, such as simulator time. How will that affect the chemistry of the team and the performance of this trio? Probably not much in the case of Dixon (photo, above), who has spent more than half of his life employed by Chip Ganassi. Probably the same with Rosenqvist, who is one of the most chill, well-liked guys in the paddock and who drives for a team that places a premium on driver-and-crew vibes. But Lundgaard? All drivers are proud competitors, and I’m sure he would love nothing more than to win one or two of the remaining races to prove Zak Brown, Tony Kanaan and Arrow McLaren made a mistake by hitting the eject button on him to make way for Dixon and Rosenqvist starting in 2027. Plus, there’s also the question of Lundgaard’s destination for 2027 still to answer. It will be a fun five weeks.