Three Up, Three Down: Who's Rising, Falling After Four Races?

It’s early in this NTT INDYCAR SERIES season, but things already look different from a year ago.

Alex Palou isn’t atop the standings; Kyle Kirkwood is.

David Malukas is having the best season of his career, in contention to win a championship.

Josef Newgarden and Team Penske have returned to victory lane much earlier in the year.

Throughout the 25-car field, there are risers and fallers, and the complexion of the title pursuit has changed. Last season, Palou won five of the first six races to effectively salt away his third consecutive title and fourth in five years before the calendar flipped to June. This year, he has won only two of the first four races, and his point total is 42 points less than at this stage a year ago.

Palou isn’t the only driver in different position in the standings. Most are. Some are up, some down. Only Santino Ferrucci (15th) is in the same spot.

THREE UP:

Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global: While Kirkwood is only two positions higher in the standings than he was at this point last season, he has made a 71-point gain on Palou. Kirkwood was in third place after last year’s fourth race (also at Barber Motorsports Park), but he trailed Palou by 69 points due to Palou’s early dominance. Kirkwood again has one race win at this juncture, but he is two points ahead of Palou in what is shaping up to be an interesting title race as spring gives way to summer.

David Malukas, Team Penske: Malukas’ switch from AJ Foyt Racing to Team Penske all but assured him of a jump in the standings, but he has made the series’ largest one so far. Thanks to three consecutive top-six finishes, Malukas is fourth in points, a gain of 14 positions. Even more significant is his proximity to the series lead. He was 140 points in arrears at this stage last year; he is within 40 now. No other driver has gained 100 points on the series leader.

Josef Newgarden, Team Penske: Newgarden (photo, top) didn’t win his first race of 2025 until the last opportunity (the 17th race, at Nashville Superspeedway). This year, he reached victory lane in the second try (at Phoenix Raceway), and that also gave Team Penske its first win of the season much earlier than it earned its first last year (Will Power’s victory at Portland International Raceway in the season’s 15th race). Newgarden needed seven races last year to earn a third top-10 finish; this year he has three in the first four races. The result is an improvement of six positions in the standings: From 11th to fifth. He is also 35 points closer to the series leader in pursuit of a third season title.

Honorable Mention:

Marcus Ericsson, Andretti Global and Marcus Armstrong, Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb-Agajanian: The two Marcus drivers each are five positions higher in the standings than they were at this point last season. Ericsson is eighth, Armstrong ninth. Each has gained 74 points on the series leader.

THREE DOWN:

Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing: It’s been quite the fall for the driver who has won 10 of the past 21 races. OK, that’s because he has only won two of the first four races compared to three of the first four a year ago. But seriously, he had a 60-point series lead after four races last season, and he currently trails Kirkwood by two points. The root of that is Palou scoring 42 fewer points in the first four races while Kirkwood has improved by 29 points. Should Palou be concerned by the 71-point swing? Not yet, but it’s clearly not the comfy position he was in last year. For us, it’s more fun to have a proper competition.

Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb-Agajanian: It’s been a rough start for the Swede, who last year was tied with Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin for fifth in the standings after four races. This year, Rosenqvist ranks 14th and is the only driver in the field who has not gained a single point on the series leader (he remains 91 points out of the top spot). Rosenqvist has 40 fewer points than he did at this point last year.

Will Power, Andretti Global: A string of unfortunate incidents – a minimum of five wall or other-car contacts – has the two-time series champion off to a slow start with his new team. Power is four positions deeper in the standings than he was at this point last year – he was ninth and is now 13th – and he has earned 16 fewer points.

The fifth race of the 18-race season is the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on Sunday, April 19 (5:30 p.m. ET, FOX, FOX One, FOX Deportes, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls).