The heat appears to be on for everyone in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES but Alex Palou.

The champion of the past three seasons has a firm grip on this year’s title heading to The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the 2027 CR-V Hybrid on Sunday, July 5 (12:30 p.m. ET, FOX, FOX One, FOX Deportes, INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls). Palou’s lead over David Malukas and Kyle Kirkwood is 60 and 61 points, respectively. This is the first of eight remaining races, and the four-time series champion won the 2023 series race on Mid-Ohio’s 13-turn, 2.258-mile road course, and he has finished second three of the past four years and won the pole each of the past two years.

SEE: Mid-Ohio Event Details

Meanwhile, many others in the 25-car field are in scramble mode amid warming summer temperatures in the Midwest.

Since the June 21 race at Road America, Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb Agajanian co-owner Michael Shank confirmed that Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge winner Felix Rosenqvist will not return to the team next year. While no one expects the rest of their season to be contentious between driver and team, there are ripple effects. Once Rosenqvist’s new team is revealed, that team figures to have a driver in an awkward position. Also, that driver, among others, will be looking for sign with a team for the 2027 season, and MSR will be one of the preferred destinations.

And so it goes. The next month or so should reveal a lot about next year’s competitor lineup, and it now seems a significant shakeup is possibly inevitable.

Along with Rosenqvist, six-time series champion Scott Dixon (photo, top) has an employment question to answer. Published reports have suggested he is considering opportunities other than the one he has had at Chip Ganassi Racing since 2002. If Dixon moves on, the driver market will shift to its highest gear. It will be fascinating to see how it shakes out.

Mid-Ohio is statistically Dixon’s best track. He has won the INDYCAR SERIES race a record seven times, including last year, and he has helped CGR capture a track-high 13 wins. A year ago, he passed Palou as he ran wide in Turn 9. They finished .421 of a second apart in a thrilling battle. Palou also finished second in the Mid-Ohio races in 2022 and 2024 (he was the pole winner in the latter). Dixon is 10th in the standings, 163 points behind Palou.

Alex Palou Scott Dixon Christian Lundgaard

Christian Lundgaard, who sits fourth in the standings (77 points behind Palou), finished third in last year’s race (2025 podium photo, above), and he has won two of the three road-course races this season, including at Road America. Barring a remarkable turn of events, Malukas, Kirkwood and Lundgaard are the only drivers with a chance to stop Palou’s pursuit of a record-tying fourth consecutive season championship.

Despite Dixon’s dominance at this track, seven other drivers have won INDYCAR SERIES races at it. In order: Graham Rahal (2015), Josef Newgarden (2017, 2021), Alexander Rossi (2018), Will Power (2020), Scott McLaughlin (2022), Palou and Pato O’Ward (2024).

Rahal will look to bounce back at his home track – he’s a native of the Columbus suburbs – following a cruel ending to his strong race at Road America. He was positioned for his fourth top-three finish of the season when he had contact with Power approaching Turn 12 for the final time. Race Control determined the incident was Rahal’s fault for blocking Power, but it was a moot point as Rahal’s damaged car sat helplessly in the run-off while Power continued to finish third.

Power has only won once at Mid-Ohio, but he has finished second on four occasions and has been third three other times. He also has five poles at this race.

This weekend’s action begins with Friday’s practice at 3 p.m. ET on FS2. Practice No. 2 is at 10 a.m. Saturday (FS1) followed by qualifying for the NTT P1 Award at 2:30 p.m. (FS1).

It’s time for things to heat up.