Today’s question: Alex Palou has won three of the first four NTT INDYCAR SERIES races this season and is the two-time reigning winner of the Sonsio Grand Prix, which takes place this Saturday on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. Who is the likeliest driver to end Palou’s imperious march to Victory Lane this Saturday afternoon?

Curt Cavin: Christian Lundgaard is the driver Alex Palou must be concerned with this weekend. In addition to netting podium finishes in each of the past three races, including finishing second to Palou in last weekend’s Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix powered by AmFirst at Barber Motorsports Park, Lundgaard did similarly well in last year’s Sonsio Grand Prix. Palou led 39 laps in that 85-lap race, with Lundgaard leading 35 laps. Like Palou, Lundgaard has a history of strong runs on the IMS road course. While driving for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, he won his first NTT P1 Award in qualifying for the May 2023 race, and that effort came a year after finishing second on the circuit in July 2022. He finished third last year. Lundgaard no longer drives for RLL, which has had several strong performances on this circuit, but Arrow McLaren has been just as competitive here in recent years.

Eric Smith: This weekend could be the perfect scenario for Will Power. He’s flying under the radar on a track where he has five victories and six NTT P1 Awards. Power has two wins, a runner-up finish last year, and a pair of third-place finishes in his last seven tries. He finally made the Firestone Fast Six last weekend at Barber and could easily threaten Palou for a victory Saturday. He’s been the top Team Penske finisher in two of the last three races this season.

Arni Sribhen: I was late to the draft when it came time to answer this week’s question, but I think it will work out since the panel left me with the choice of 23 drivers to choose from. Indecision (or is it the unseen advantage) means I’m taking all of them. Who needs Christian Lundgaard, Colton Herta or Will Power when you have plenty of quality chances to stop the Alex Palou Express? The other panelists left me a few drivers who have won on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. There’s a two-time winner in Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon, while Ed Carpenter Racing’s Alexander Rossi, Dale Coyne Racing’s Rinus VeeKay and Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden have also all visited the Victory Podium after wins on the 2.349-mile road course. Then you have the other drivers ranked in the top five in the point standings, including the only other driver to win this season, Kyle Kirkwood. Add in Pato O’Ward, Scott McLaughlin and Felix Rosenqvist and, yeah, the field looks primed to not only stop Alex Palou but produce a race winner this weekend.

Paul Kelly: Colton Herta, for two reasons. One, he won this race in 2022 with one of the most stirring drives of the decade, mastering changing wet-dry conditions and taking the checkered despite one of the most lurid power slides I’ve seen in an Indy car. He also finished second on this circuit in 2020 and third in 2021. The second reason is Herta needs a sense of urgency at this event if he wants to sustain his championship hopes. He is eighth in the standings, not even the top Andretti Global driver in points, and is 97 points behind leader Alex Palou. That’s nearly two races’ worth of points, and we’re only four races into the season. It may sound dramatic, but it’s getting pretty close to now-or-never time this season for Herta – and many other of his rivals not named Alex Palou.