INDYCAR Power Rankings: Indy 500 Champ Felix Rosenqvist Bursts Onto Scene

Felix Rosenqvist is a driver who often bounces in and out of these rankings. He has had speed at times and in other races not so much. The Meyer Shank Racing driver certainly brought the speed at Indianapolis. From posting the overall fastest speed in qualifying (in the second of the three rounds) to winning the Indianapolis 500 in the closest finish in race history. He’s back on this list and probably will be for a while. Because winning the Indy 500 carries a lot of power. Here are my power rankings after Indianapolis and heading into the race this weekend on the streets of Detroit. Dropped out: Graham Rahal (No. 8)On the verge: Rahal, Alexander Rossi, Kyffin Simpson 10. Josef Newgarden (LW: 6)Team Penske No. 2 Chevrolet Newgarden made an uncharacteristic mistake, crashing on Lap 125 and finishing 28th in the Indy 500. He’s on this list, though, because he looked really strong in the race. 9. Kyle Kirkwood (LW: 4)Andretti Global No. 27 Honda Kirkwood had hoped for more but had mostly a meh race and finished 16th. There’s no better place for him to go race next than Detroit, where he is the defending winner. 8. Scott Dixon (LW: 5)Chip Ganassi Racing No. 9 Honda On the wrong end of the two strategies as far as pitting and fuel mileage, Dixon finished 15th at Indy. But he led 32 laps. He has led 709 laps at Indianapolis — the most of any driver. 7. Marcus Armstrong (LW: 10)Meyer Shank Racing No. 66 Honda Armstrong was leading going into the final restart and had an incredible side-by-side battle with teammate Felix Rosenqvist before Rosenqvist got by him — on the outside! — and then passed David Malukas for the win. Armstrong finished fifth, his second top-five of the year. 6. Felix RosenqvistMeyer Shank Racing No. 60 Honda There isn’t much more to be said. Rosenqvist had only one top-10 (a second at Long Beach) before the Indy 500. He picked a great day to have a great day and the best lap of his racing career. 5. Christian Lundgaard (LW: 2)Arrow McLaren No. 7 Chevrolet Lundgaard is still trying to figure out Indianapolis, and his 17th-place finish showed just that. Still, he has two top-two finishes (including a win at the Indy Grand Prix) in the last four races. 4. Scott McLaughlin (LW: 9)Team Penske No. 3 Chevrolet McLaughlin had a monster final lap and wound up third at the Indy 500. It was his first podium finish since St. Pete. Sure, a win would have been nice, but this could provide great momentum for McLaughlin. 3. Pato O’Ward (LW: 7)Arrow McLaren No. 5 Chevrolet O’Ward placed fourth in the Indy 500, and he would tell you he didn’t have much for the front three. It was frustrating but still O’Ward appeared to make the best of his situation. It was his fifth top-five in the seven races this year. 2. David Malukas (LW: 3)Team Penske No. 12 Chevrolet Malukas finished second in the closest finish in Indy 500 history. That stings. The challenge for Malukas will be if he is able to continue racing up front and not let the devastation of back-to-back second-place finishes get in his head. 1. Alex Palou (LW: 1)Chip Ganassi Racing No. 10 Honda Palou led the most laps (59) at Indy but wound up seventh as he, like Dixon, weren’t on what turned out to be the optimal strategy. It is what it is. You can’t win them all.