INDYCAR Power Rankings: Santino Ferrucci enters the chat

Is there a new No. 1 considering Alex Palou didn’t win at the Detroit Grand Prix?

Yeah, right.

Palou has won five of the first seven races and remains atop these power rankings. INDYCAR now heads into a weekend off before a June 15 night race at World Wide Technology Raceway, commonly known as Gateway (outside of St. Louis).

Dropped out: Felix Rosenqvist (Last Week: 5), Marcu Ericsson (LW: 9)

On the verge: Marcus Ericsson, Felix Rosenqvist, Alexander Rossi

10. Santino Ferrucci (LW: Not Ranked)

Ferrucci’s second-place finish gave the A.J. Foyt Racing driver back-to-back top fives, vaulting him to 10th in the standings. He started the race 21st, so to execute the strategy well enough and hold on to second was impressive.

9. Josef Newgarden (LW: NR)

Newgarden had a horrible qualifying, as he started 24th and was able to race his way to ninth. That’s not what the Team Penske driver wanted, but at least he entered the weekend knowing he had a decent race.

8. Scott Dixon (LW: 8)

Dixon finished 11th at Detroit after starting 16th. And that was thanks in part to a six-spot grid penalty for already being on his fifth engine with none of his previous four engines meeting the mileage minimum. The Ganassi driver, who was the defending Detroit race winner, is seventh in the standings.

7. Scott McLaughlin (LW: 6)

Working his way back to 12th after a stop-and-go penalty for avoidable contact when he turned Nolan Siegel, McLaughlin can at least feel a little better than he did after the Indy 500 when he didn’t complete a lap. He is eighth in the standings.

6. Colton Herta (LW: 10)

Herta won the Detroit pole and said he needed to have a solid Sunday. He did, as he finished third. The Andretti driver finally has a podium this season, and he has four finishes of seventh or better.

5. Will Power (LW: 7)

Power placed fourth with a fine drive at Detroit and moved up to fifth in the standings. The Penske driver has five finishes of sixth or better this year.

4. Christian Lundgaard (LW: 4)

Lundgaard started fourth and finished eighth at Detroit. The McLaren driver was probably hoping for more, considering where he started. He sits fourth in the standings. 

3. Pato O’Ward (LW: 2)

O’Ward finished one spot ahead of his Arrow McLaren teammate Lundgaard as he finished seventh. He remained second in the series standings but did miss an opportunity to potentially gain significant points on Palou.

2. Kyle Kirkwood (LW: 3)

Kirkwood picked up his second win of the season. He had a great weekend, minus the push from Power in practice Friday. He arguably had the best car and the best strategy and the best execution on the way to the win. He moved to third in the series standings.

1. Alex Palou (LW: 1)

A 25th-place finish after being wrecked by David Malukas ended Palou’s incredible start of five wins and one second-place finish. Malukas got a stop-and-go for avoidable contact, but that was little consolation to the Ganassi driver, whose race was ruined.

Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.