Alex Palou enters the last off week of the 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season with an 83-point lead in the championship standings.

Before the title fight resumes Aug. 9 at Portland International Raceway, the reigning series champion will get something none of his closest challengers have this week: extra track time.

Chip Ganassi Racing and Juncos Hollinger Racing will test Wednesday at Portland International Raceway under INDYCAR SERIES’ additional team test-day provision for organizations that compete full time in both the NTT INDYCAR SERIES and INDY NXT by Firestone. Andretti Global, Chip Ganassi Racing and Juncos Hollinger Racing each earned the additional day in 2026, with Ganassi and Juncos electing to use theirs at Portland after Andretti used its day in June at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

The timing couldn't be better.

The OnlyBulls Grand Prix of Portland opens the season's final six-race stretch, and Palou believes the extra laps could prove valuable after a year with little road-course testing for CGR.

Last year, CGR used its INDY NXT by Firestone test day at Nashville Superspeedway and then finished second in the race. This season, the team used its regular test days on ovals.

"We haven't had a test on a road course since I don't know when – we haven’t had any this year," Palou said. "It's going to be huge for us to get a test there."

Portland already has played a pivotal role in Palou's championship résumé.

The Spaniard clinched the Astor Cup there in 2023 with two races remaining and did so again last season with three races left. Another strong weekend could put him firmly on course to be crowned again.

With a maximum of 54 points available each race weekend, Palou's lead over second-place David Malukas, who is 83 points back, is effectively worth more than a full race. Kyle Kirkwood sits third, 87 points behind Palou. No other driver is within 100 points of the four-time series champion.

Alex Palou

Palou (photo, above) is chasing his fifth championship in six seasons. A title would move him into sole possession of third place on the INDYCAR SERIES' all-time championship list behind only A.J. Foyt's seven titles and Scott Dixon's six. It also would make him just the second driver in series history to win four consecutive championships, joining Sébastien Bourdais, who accomplished the feat from 2004-07.

At 29 years old, Palou would reach five championships much earlier than the sport's other legends. Foyt was 32 when he won his fifth title in 1967. Dixon was 38 when he claimed his fifth championship in 2018, Dixon added his sixth two years later.

Palou’s odds are great, especially with his top-five consistency forcing Malukas and Kirkwood to win multiple times in this stretch.

Palou won the most recent race at Nashville and has nine top-five finishes in 12 starts this season. He recorded 14 top-five finishes in 17 races in 2025 and 13 in both 2023 and 2024.

That gives Palou 49 top-five finishes in his last 63 starts, an astonishing 77.8-percent success rate. It also leaves little margin for error for everyone chasing him.

Malukas remains winless in 73 career series starts, making it a difficult task for the first-year Team Penske driver to win multiple races while hoping Palou falters.

Kirkwood's greatest strength has been street circuits, where five of his six career victories have come, including the inaugural race in Arlington, Texas in March. But even in that category, Palou has been better this season, winning at St. Petersburg, Long Beach and Detroit while finishing second at Arlington for a 1.25 average finish. He has outscored Kirkwood by 41 points on street courses this year.

Malukas' best opportunity to make up ground could come during the Milwaukee Mile doubleheader. He leads the series in oval points after finishing second in the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge, winning the pole at Phoenix Raceway and finishing third there. He also has started second in two of his three Milwaukee appearances.

Even that advantage comes with a caveat. Palou finished second at Milwaukee last season before winning the most recent short-oval race at Nashville.

If the championship somehow reaches the Sept. 6 finale at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, history again favors Palou. He had never finished worse than third in five starts there, owns a 1.6 average finish, has led 250 laps and is a three-time winner, including victories from the pole in each of the last two seasons.

It all begins at Portland, where Palou has been exceptional. He owns two victories and has led 106 laps in five career starts on the 1.964-mile road course. Since the beginning of the 2023 season, he has produced 12 victories, three runner-up finishes, two third-place finishes and 23 top-five finishes in 24 starts on permanent road courses.

The Portland test also gives Ganassi an opportunity to gather valuable setup information while many of its championship rivals remain off track.

That may not decide the championship by itself. But combined with an 83-point lead, unmatched consistency and a closing schedule filled with tracks where Palou has excelled, it adds yet another advantage for a driver who already controls his own path to a fifth Astor Cup.