The NTT IndyCar Series 18-race season will conclude this weekend on the picturesque 11-turn, 2.238-mile road course at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, with the Mission Foods Grand Prix of Monterey.
Spaniard Alex Palou has continued his recent domination of the IndyCar Series by locking up his fifth championship in six seasons last weekend. Palou has led the way in all meaningful categories again this season, most importantly winning six races, pushing his career total to 25, while posting 12 top-5 finishes. He will be the heavy favorite to add another win this weekend as Laguna Seca is, by his own admission, his best track, where he has stormed to wins in three of the past four races.
"It's tough to put into words,” said Palou, age 29, of his six-year run of excellence. “Everything that I owe to this team, to these two men sitting next to me (team owner Chip Ganassi and strategist Barry Wanser). They give me the opportunity to be not only a race winner, then a champion, now a five-time champion.”
Only A.J. Foyt (with seven season championships) and Scott Dixon (with six) now stand in front of Palou. His 2026 title also tied Sebastien Bourdais’ record for consecutive crowns, and it gave Chip Ganassi Racing a record 18th season title, passing Team Penske.
While Palou has locked down the 2026 title with an insurmountable 100-point series lead, four drivers will be fighting it on Sunday for second place in the final standings. With only 23 points separating them, Arrow McLaren driver Christian Lundgaard of Denmark sits in second place and teammate Pato O’Ward in fourth. Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood of Jupiter, Florida, is squeezed between them, while Team Penske’s David Malukas of Chicago, Illinois, ranks fifth in the standings.
O’Ward made a huge jump in the standings after the Mexican swept last weekend’s Snap-on INDYCAR Weekend doubleheader at the Milwaukee Mile for his second and third wins of the season, becoming the first driver to accomplish the feat since Rick Mears at Atlanta Speedway in 1981. He joined the stellar company of Mears, Mario Andretti, Dan Gurney, Johnny Rutherford, Al Unser, and Bobby Unser as Indy-car drivers who went to victory lane twice in a day.
"Those are heavy names," O'Ward said afterward. "Then you hear mine; you're like, what?"
This weekend’s race will also end Scott Dixon’s amazing 25-year career at Chip Ganassi Racing, where the New Zealander won 59 victories and six championships. He also won the Indy 500 in 2008 and raced to an astonishing 218 Top-5 and 315 Top-10 finishes. This weekend will also be Dixon’s final chance to extend his record consecutive season winning streak, which stands at 21 (2005-2025), before he moves on to Arrow McLaren in 2027.
In addition to the NTT IndyCar Series main event, the Porsche Sprint Challenge, Historic Indy Cars, and Indy NXT Series will all be competing throughout the weekend.
The action will begin at 2 p.m. PT Friday with the weekend’s first practice. The second practice is set for Saturday at 10 a.m. ET with qualifying for the NTT P1 Award following at 1:30 p.m. and a final practice at 5 p.m. All of those sessions will air live on FS2, and FOX’s broadcast of Sunday’s 95-lap race will begin at 11:30 a.m.
For ticket information, visit www.weathertechraceway.com or call the Ticketing Office at (831) 242-8200.
Stockton 99 Speedway – The 99 Speedway will return to action for the first of two consecutive weekends this Saturday with the Stockton Late Models, Legends of 99, Fast Kar Solution Mini Modifieds, Grand American Modifieds, and next Saturday, September 12, with the Pro Late Models, FKS Mini Modifieds, Pure Stocks, and NCMA Sprint Cars.
Escalon’s Sam Solari currently leads the Pro Late Model season point standings by a 305 to 282 margin over Salida’s Hans Beeler and also the Stockton Late Models with a narrow 415 to 411 margin over Stockton’s Jason Beghtel.
Stockton Dirt Track – The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drinks Sprint Car Series returns to the Stockton Dirt Track, located at the San Joaquin Fairgrounds, for the Dennis Roth Classic on Friday and Saturday, September 18-19, where over $83,000 in prize money will be on the line.
Tickets are now on sale by visiting the WOO site at www.worldofoutlaws.com or by calling (844) 347-8849. Camping and RV parking are also for sale by calling (916) 370-9417.
