After a brief break in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES schedule, the action heats up this weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway with most in the paddock still challenged to beat Alex Palou.

The driver of the No. 10 Ridgeline Chip Ganassi Racing Honda will bring a 90-point lead into the Father’s Day primetime special – Sunday evening’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline. Palou has won five of the season’s seven races, scoring his first career oval-track victory in last month’s Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.

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Palou has produced several strong performances in oval races, including five other top-three finishes, but he has never led a lap in six races at World Wide Technology Raceway. With what amounts to a two-race lead on the field, the Spaniard doesn’t need to win this weekend’s race to continue his pursuit of a third consecutive season championship, but a strong finish would further cement his position. He finished fourth in last year’s race.

Sunday’s race (8 p.m. ET, FOX, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network) is the first of 10 remaining on this year’s schedule. It is one of five oval races left. If Palou is to be denied his fourth series championship in five years, some of the following must start to happen.

Time for O’Ward To Surge

Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward (No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet) is the closest to Palou in the standings, but it doesn’t feel like he has been much of a challenger, particularly in recent weeks.

Yes, the driver from Mexico finished third in the “500,” but he led only two laps in the event. And yes, his average finish in the past five races is a respectable 6.2, but he has led only five laps in those events. Yes, he led 51 of the 65 laps in The Thermal Club INDYCAR Grand Prix in March, but Palou got that win, too, part of the reason O’Ward remains winless this season.

O’Ward has been one of the series’ best drivers on oval tracks in recent years. Three of his seven career victories have come on such tracks, and he has finished second at World Wide Technology Raceway in three of the past five races.

Team Penske Needs a Win, Too

As much of a surprise as Palou’s dominance has been, Team Penske’s lack of a challenge is just as much so. The team still doesn’t have a race win this season, and it’s been more than nine months since one of its drivers celebrated in victory lane (Scott McLaughlin last year’s second race at the Milwaukee Mile).

Team Penske’s best finish this season is third on three occasions (Josef Newgarden in the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding, McLaughlin in the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix powered by AmFirst at Barber Motorsports Park and Will Power in the Sonsio Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course). The team’s lack of top-five finishes (eight) is just as striking. Palou has six by himself.

World Wide Technology Raceway could be just the place for Roger Penske’s team to regain its footing. Of the 15 races held on the 1.25-mile oval, the team has won nine, including four of the past five and five in total by Newgarden). Newgarden had a spin and win last year (he was running second at the time of the Turn 2 spin). The driver of the No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet has led 599 laps there in his career.

Power (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet) won there in 2018 while McLaughlin (No. 3 DEX Imaging Team Penske Chevrolet) has finished in the top three in two of the past three races, including following Newgarden across the finish line last year. One of the team’s drivers has won the pole for each of the past four events at this track. McLaughlin has an average finish in the past four races of 3.5, as he’s finished in the top five each time.

Malukas Has Excelled at WWTR

Aside from Newgarden, few active drivers have performed better at World Wide Technology Raceway than David Malukas, who will take this year’s shot in the No. 4 Clarience Technologies Chevrolet of AJ Foyt Racing.

In last year’s race, Malukas was on his way to finishing in the top three for the third consecutive year when he got the worst of a tangle with Power. Malukas was trying to overtake the Team Penske driver in the low groove in Turn 2, but Power’s car came down on him, and the contact sent Malukas’ car hard into the outside wall.

Malukas famously split Team Penske drivers Newgarden and McLaughlin late in the 2022 race to finish a career-best second, and he finished third there in 2023. Malukas’ other top-three finish came last month when he finished second in the “500,” and he won both INDY NXT by Firestone races at World Wide Technology Raceway in 2021, one of them from the pole.

Malukas isn’t the only AJ Foyt Racing driver eager for this event. Santino Ferrucci (No. 14 Bommarito Automotive Group Chevrolet) has consistently put himself in position to win an oval race, posting seven top-four finishes since 2019. One of those was at World Wide Technology Raceway in 2019.

Ferrucci finished second in the series’ most recent race, the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear. This weekend offers the team its first chance at three consecutive top-three finishes since Kenny Brack won three races in succession in 1998.

A Winner Other Than Palou or Kirkwood?

Palou and Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood (No. 27 Siemens Honda) have combined to win all seven races this season. Aside from those mentioned above, what other driver is primed to break through?

Arrow McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard (No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet) is fourth in the standings, trailing Palou by 106 points. He is having the best season of his career, with top-eight finishes in all but one of the races so far. This would be a good time to excel on an oval as he hasn’t finished higher than ninth in his 19 oval starts.

Andretti Global’s Colton Herta (No. 26 Gainbridge Honda) took a big step forward on the ovals last year, winning a pole at Iowa Speedway, finishing third at the Milwaukee Mile, finishing fifth at World Wide Technology Raceway and earning his first circle-track win at Nashville Superspeedway. He was one of only five drivers to finish the WWTR race on the lead lap.

Kirkwood could use a similar oval breakthrough. All five of his series wins have come on street circuits.

Dale Coyne Racing’s Rinus VeeKay (No. 18 askROI Honda) is another driver to watch. He already has three top-nine finishes in his first year with Dale Coyne’s team, and this will be his first oval race with new engineer Michael Cannon, who has enjoyed considerable success on ovals.

A Packed Weekend Schedule

Teams will need to be on their games from the moment the green light comes on for the first practice Saturday at 11:30 a.m. ET.

That’s because Saturday’s action – all airing live on FS1, the FOX Sports app and the INDYCAR Radio Network – features two practices sandwiched around qualifying for the NTT P1 Award at 3 p.m. ET. The final practice is at 6:30 p.m. ET.

Sunday’s race will be the first and only night race of the season and the first at this track since 2019. Last year’s race featured a track-record 21 lead changes among 11 drivers, with 115 passes for position within the top 10 and 44 within the top five.

This also will be the first time World Wide Technology Raceway has hosted the INDYCAR SERIES in June. The first three races (held under the CART banner) were held in May before the 2000 race took place in September. The past 12 races at the track were staged in August.