Although Alex Palou wrapped up his fifth NTT IndyCar championship last week at the Milwaukee Mile doubleheader weekend, IndyCar racing isn’t quite done just yet.
The season finale takes the series out west one more time to the backdrop of Monterey, California at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
Built and opened in 1957, Laguna Seca welcomed American open wheel racing in 1983 when CART Champ Car World Series made it a staple of its schedule for over 20 years until the open wheel unification in 2008.
Its most iconic moment came in 1996 with “The Pass” executed by the late Alex Zanardi of Chip Ganassi Racing where he bonsaied into the tricky Corkscrew on race leader Bryan Herta to take the lead and eventually the win.
Herta would go on to win the race in 1998 and 1999 for owner Bobby Rahal.
In 2019, IndyCar made its glorious return to Laguna Seca where Herta’s son Colton Herta would take the win for Harding Steinbrenner Racing, launching his career further with Andretti Global.
While the race didn’t run in 2020 due to COVID restrictions, it had found a temporary home as the season finale for two seasons after returning in 2021 as the penultimate round ahead of the Acura Long Beach Grand Prix.
After two years of being in two different slates of the schedule in 2024 and 2025, Laguna Seca has once again been placed as the season finale to a thrilling, entertaining year of IndyCar racing.
In Honor of Zanardi
One thing that doesn’t change the slightest is the dominance of Palou.
The Spaniard has had unrelenting dominance at Laguna Seca in his five starts with three wins and five podiums.
Yes, his lowest finish here is only third.
Besides his unwavering success at the track, Palou and the Perfect Tens are racing for something bigger than keeping a streak going.
Sporting the iconic lightning bolt adorned by Zanardi, the 2026 IndyCar champion Palou and the entire CGR organization will be racing with spirit and vigor this weekend. Laguna Seca honored the former CART champion’s legacy by renaming the Corkscrew to the Zanardi Corkscrew on Friday (Sept. 4).
This is one of those moments that will be bigger than racing for the team after enjoying the spoils of a fourth IndyCar championship in a row and a fifth in six years.
Everyone Else Is Fighting for Second
If you look past the 100-point gap that Palou has accumulated in 2026, the points are tight between second and fifth in the standings, and it involves a rather interesting cast of drivers.
First and most interestingly is Christian Lundgaard.
He enters this weekend two points ahead of Andretti’s Kyle Kirkwood after overtaking the Jupiter, Florida native last week at Milwaukee.
That’s right, Milwaukee.
Lundgaard strung two stellar results, third and second at the track type that has been punctually scrutinized as the reason of his release from Arrow McLaren by team principal Tony Kanaan and executive Zac Brown.
Since the decision in July to release him, Lundgaard just proved that he can run well at ovals with his Milwaukee results.
The two-time winner this season on road courses gets one more shot at playing spoiler to Palou on what is also his final race suited in papaya, and he’s no slouch at Laguna Seca.
In his previous start with McLaren last season, he finished runner-up to Palou by 3.796 seconds. Lundgaard has gone stride-for-stride with Palou all season on the road courses and looks poised to earn runner-up honors in the points for 2026.
And taking a look at past results, Kirkwood doesn’t seem like he’ll be the primary challenger to Lundgaard for second.
In four Laguna Seca races, his best finish is fifth in 2024. Otherwise, all three of his other finishes are outside of the top 15 with an average finish of 16.8.
Instead, the primary challenger to Lundgaard is his teammate Pato O’Ward in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevy, four points back of the No. 7.
O’Ward pulled off the first sweep of a doubleheader since Josef Newgarden did it at Iowa Speedway in 2023, making a staggering jump in the points to contend for second.
In five starts at Laguna Seca, O’Ward tallied two top fives and placed top 10 in all five starts, finishing no lower than ninth.
Last season, he earned a best finish of fourth at Laguna Seca but has yet to step on the podium. If he wants second in points, it likely means drawing the pace the Mexican had at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and taking a win over the likes of Palou and Lundgaard.
The final contender and longshot for second is David Malukas in fifth, 23 points behind Lundgaard.
The Chicago native’s track record isn’t stellar whatsoever, with his best start and finish coming in 2022 and 2025 of sixth and 13th, one with Dale Coyne Racing and the other with AJ Foyt Enterprises.
While his saving grace this year is driving in Team Penske’s No. 12 which has podiumed twice at Laguna and finished in the top seven five of six times with Will Power, Malukas is coming off another disappointing weekend after his car over-boosted on the final restart in race one, losing out on the win.
Can Malukas break his curse at Laguna Seca? It will be a tall task, but nothing is impossible.
So, while the championship is packed away already, the fight for second will be wildly interesting to follow on Sunday.
Rookie of the Year & Leader’s Circle Honors
In a bizarre situation the rookie of the year battle with merge with the fight for the Leader’s Circle as Dennis Hauger’s 18-point gap over Mick Schumacher marks the cutoff for the record $1.645 million bonus for each team in the top 22 in points.
In reality, it would take a herculean miracle for either Schumacher or Caio Collet to surpass the Norwegian Nightmare in points.
For Schumacher, finding 18 points would require a finish of eighth at least if Hauger retires dead last in 25th, barring the German leading a lap or winning pole.
For Collet who only scored one top 10 at Washington, D.C., the odds are even murkier as he sits 30 points away, practically out of the running which won’t help his case on possibly making a return to Foyt in 2027.
The only non-rookie that could make things interesting is Christian Rasmussen 13 points ahead of Hauger and 31 points clear of the cutoff of Schumacher.
Rasmussen has experienced multiple mechanical failures and is always a threat to drive aggressively. If he were to DNF early in the race for whatever reason, Schumacher would need to finish at least runner-up which would require a true Hail Marry effort in that situation.
The battle is set between the three for 95 laps to see who can not only etch their name in the record books as IndyCar’s Rookie of the Year, but also earn their teams desired end of year funds to close out 2026.
Frontstretch’s Predictions
Fate cannot be denied.
Much like was said when Kirkwood dominated at the Freedom 250 Grand Prix. Palou will dominate en route to seven victories, nine poles (Yes, a bonus pole prediction!), and already his fifth title.
Lundgaard will secure second for McLaren to make Kanaan eat more of his words as he departs to more than likely join Palou on the grid for 2027 with CGR.
O’Ward earns his first Laguna Seca podium and slots third in final points in a close fight with Lundgaard.
- Palou
- Lundgaard
- O’Ward
Coverage of the Mission Foods Grand Prix of Monterey begins at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX.
Wyatt Watson has followed motorsports closely since 2007. He joined Frontstretch as a journalist in February 2023 after serving in the United States Navy for five years as an Electronic Technician Navigation working on submarines. Wyatt is one of Frontstretch's primary IndyCar correspondents, providing exclusive video content on site. He hosts Frontstretch's Through the Gears podcast and occasionally The Pit Straight.You can find Wyatt's written work in columns such as Friday Faceoff and 2-Headed Monsteras well as exclusive IndyCar features. Wyatt also contributes to Frontstretch's social media team, posting unique and engaging content for Frontstretch.
Wyatt Watson can be found on X @WyattWRacing
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