INDYCAR: 2023 Mid-Season Report After Alex Palou Wins at Road America

The 2023 IndyCar season has reached the midway point, with eight of the 16 race weekends completed. Alex Palou is well on his way to earning a second series championship, as he has won three of the last four races. The one race in that span that he didn't win was the Indianapolis 500, where he qualified on pole and finish 4th after being taken out on pit lane by Rinus VeeKay. It has been a dominant run for the Chip Ganassi Racing driver, who has a 3.5 average finishing position this season.

Palou's four podium finishes are the most this season, but he is tied with another young talent in Pato O'Ward. The Arrow McLaren driver is one of the few that can seemingly match Palou's pace, but he lacks the patience and consistency of the Spaniard. Pato is still seeking his first win of the season, but the biggest reason why he sits fourth in the standings are his finishes of 17th, 24th, and 26th. He crashed out of the two previous races, but is still in the title fight as he continues to work on his craft.

Ganassi holds the top two spots in the standings, with 2022 Indy 500 winner Marcus Ericsson lurking in the shadows. Ericsson is quietly having another solid season, as he tunes out the noise of his contract status for next season. The Swede believes he should be a paid driver, and his results on the track back that up. He has finished inside the top-ten in every race this season and has led laps in half of them.

On the opposite end of the attention spectrum is Josef Newgarden, who beat Ericsson in a wild last-lap restart at Indianapolis. It was the second win of the season for the Team Penske driver, who collected a runner-up result at Road America to move into third place in the standings. A third title for the American could be in play, but he will need to finish ahead of Palou in a majority of the final nine races.

Kyle Kirkwood became a first-time winner earlier this season, earning a victory on the streets of Long Beach. It was an iconic moment for the Andretti Autosport team, but their season has been anything but that. The four-car organization has been bitten by bad luck, plagued by mistakes on pit road, and just shooting themselves in the foot on multiple occasions. Colton Herta is riding a 21-race winless streak, which looked like it might end at Road America before it all fell apart in the closing laps.

The biggest concern at Andretti seems to be surrounding Romain Grosjean. The former Formula One driver started the season off strong, but a myriad of crashes and off-course excursions have puzzled the engineers, and have team owner Michael Andretti thinking long and hard about a renewed contract for the Frenchman. Grosjean has two poles, a pair of runner-up finishes, and only three drivers have led more laps than him this season, but he is quickly turning into a punchline.

While the drivers are the main focus, there are some teams that have been underachieving as well. In particular, Ed Carpenter Racing, RLL Racing, and Meyer Shank Racing have been struggling since the first practice session in St Petersburg. Carpenter's team has already replaced driver Conor Daly with Ryan Hunter-Reay, and more changes could be on the horizon for the others.

Looking at the rookie class, the leader in the pack is the one not doing the full-season. Benjamin Pedersen has been doing very well at the resurgent AJ Foyt Racing and Agustin Canapino has done an admirable job with Juncos Hollinger Racing. Marcus Armstrong finished 11th, 8th, 11th, 15th, and 8th in his first five races, and was leading laps and fighting for a podium today at Road America before a strange call from the timing stand and off-course slide ruined his day.

There have been some surprises and revelations through the first half of the season, with more in store for the second half. The championship battle will be interesting to watch. Palou could keep running away with it, but there are still a few challengers ready to do battle. Silly Season will really pick up over the next few weeks, with Palou, Ericsson, Ganassi, and Arrow McLaren all playing a speedy game of high-stakes poker.