The 2025 IndyCar season revs up this week with a street-course fight at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. This season is being touted as a new era for the series with all of the season's races being broadcast on the same network (Fox) for the first time in series history. The year's 17-race calendar starts off in St. Petersburg, Florida with a 1.8-mile street course and includes a mix of various types of road courses and ovals, including the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway and May's biggest race, the Indy 500. Last year, Chip Ganassi Racing's Alex Palou won two races and amassed enough points throughout the season to capture his third series championship. Despite Palou's success, 2024 could be considered one of the most competitive in IndyCar history. Every race winner last year, all seven of them, won multiple times. However, after Palou's third series crown, the competition will be aching to unseat him in 2025. Now let's take a look at where some of the drivers stand ahead of the first race of the 2025 IndyCar season.
IndyCar Series Championship Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook as of February 28
Championship Contenders
Alex Palou (+230) – No driver has been as successful as Palou in recent IndyCar seasons. The three-time champion has been the picture of consistency and reliability, claiming 11 race wins and three series championships from the last four seasons. Each of the three years he captured the title, Palou finished in the top five in at least 10 races. The only year of the past four that he failed to win the championship, he finished in the top-five just six times. Palou and his Chip Ganassi Racing team have focused on the details and executed with near flawlessness to accumulate so much success. Staying on top of that mountain gets more difficult every year, and Palou has plenty of competition lining up to knock him off the peak, too. Palou started 2024 with six straight finishes of fifth or better, and if he can do that again, he might be hard to catch by the end of the campaign.
Scott McLaughlin (+400) – McLaughlin won three races last season and finished third in the championship standings. It was the second season in a row that the Team Penske driver finished third in the title fight and the second time he won three races. Penske will surely be among the contenders for the championship, and McLaughlin will likely be right there among them. He was the pole sitter for the Indy 500 and just needs a little more consistency throughout the season to find himself at the top at the end. McLaughlin has seven career victories since joining IndyCar and added his first two ovals wins to his resume last season. He finished his 2024 season with five straight finishes of eighth or better on both ovals and road courses.
Josef Newgarden (+500) – The highlight of Newgarden's 2024 season was his second successive Indy 500 win. Aside from that and a win at Gateway, Newgarden will have felt frustrated. The season started perfectly with what appeared to be a win at St. Petersburg before a subsequent disqualification after the race for using the push to pass system illegally took the win away. Despite two subsequent victories later in the year, Newgarden and team never seemed to fully recover from that early-season blow and finished eighth in the standings, lowest among the Penske teammates lowest among 2024 race winners. Newgarden is poised for a return to form in 2025, though. He finished preseason testing second overall and had four straight seasons finishing second or better in the championship from 2019 to 2022. Newgarden and team expect to be at the front and challenging for the championship again in 2025.
Pato O'Ward (+800) – Arrow McLaren driver Pato O'Ward enters 2025 looking for some better fortune in 2025 to improve on his fifth-place series finish. He won three races in 2024, the most ever for him in a single season, but somehow finished lower in the standings than in 2023. He is the defending St. Petersburg winner, but this year he'll be seeking to banish the inconsistency that held him back from finishing higher up the standings. One of his biggest goals for 2025 will have to be winning the Indy 500, too. Last year he finished an oh-so-close second to Newgarden in the big race, which was also the second time O'Ward came home as the runner-up at the Brickyard. The McLaren ace set his fastest preseason testing time in the first session at Sebring, and that time stuck all the way through the end of the two days to be third-fastest overall. O'Ward has unfinished business in 2025 and may be one of the hungriest drivers in the field.
Colton Herta (+800) – Last year was the best IndyCar season of Herta's career. He won two races and finished second to Palou in the championship fight. The last time he won multiple races in a year was 2021 when he won three times and finished fifth in the championship. Herta could be considered one of those drivers in the hunt for the championship, but I just wonder if his mind might be on even bigger things in 2025. As winter work built toward the season kick off, Herta not only put his car fifth in the combined timesheets at Sebring, but his name was also mentioned as one of the targeted drivers for Cadillac's 2026 entry into Formula 1. While Herta will want nothing more than outright success and an IndyCar championship in 2025, the prospects of an even bigger 2026 might be too good for him to ignore.
Will Power (+1000) – Team Penske won a combined eight races last season and five of the last eight. Two of Power's three wins last year came from those last races, too. While the two-time series champion started 2024 with a handful of runner-up finishes, the summer races weren't as kind. Power got back on track and finished out the season with regular podium appearances, claiming fourth in the season standings. Power's last IndyCar title came in 2022, but last year was the most wins he scored in a season since 2018. Power and teammate Josef Newgarden topping the timesheets at the two-day Sebring test were a warning shot for 2025. Power will undoubtedly be gunning for a third series title this year, and it will be imperative that he gets the year off to a strong start with a podium finish or win at St. Pete.
Scott Dixon (+1000) - Dixon's two 2024 victories preserved his streak of 20 straight seasons with at least one IndyCar win. The veteran's astonishing career appears to just keep marching along. However, last season's sixth-place finish in the standings was Dixon's lowest since 2016. With teammate Palou scooping up championships recently, Dixon will be looking for improvement. While it seems odd to say it, that improvement needs to come on natural-terrain road courses. Last year, Dixon finished 15th or worse on four of those tracks while simultaneously leading the series on street courses with an average finish of 3.0. Dixon remains exceptionally competitive, but knows where his focus needs to be to step forward again in 2025.
Longshots and Rookies to Watch
Kyle Kirkwood (+1800) – After scoring two wins in 2023, Kirkwood went the 2024 season winless. He finished seventh in the championship standings with 13 top-10s. Both of those figures were career bests for him, though. Still, every driver's ambition is to win races and championships. While Andretti Autosport and Kirkwood have race-winning pedigree, the pairing have been just a step behind some of the heavy hitters in IndyCar. Kirkwood ended the 2024 season with a pole position at Nashville, and his fourth-place finish in that race was his fifth top-five on the season. Both Kirkwood and Andretti Autosport will be working hard to rediscover some of their past success and get another visit to Victory Lane in 2025. If they do, the season could likely be considered a success.
Alexander Rossi (+2500) - After going winless in 2024, it has now been two full seasons since Rossi last visited Victory Lane - both seasons since making the jump from Andretti to McLaren. This year sees Rossi make another change to Ed Carpenter Racing. In Rossi's two seasons with McLaren, his best result was a single third-place finish on the road course at Indy. A handful of fourth- and fifth-place finishes made up the remainder of the highlights. Given ECR's past speed at places like Indy, Rossi's move could give him some optimism, especially on ovals. However, multiple years of change and underperformance can take their toll and it will be important for the veteran to make the most of the situation and ensure he capitalizes on every opportunity that crosses his path. Rossi was 17th in the combined times at the Sebring test.
Christian Lundgaard (+4000) - Lundgaard steps into the Arrow McLaren No. 7 entry after competing the past three seasons at Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. The veteran driver scored a best finish of third on the road course at Indy last season and went on to finish 11th in the championship standings with five top-10 finishes. Lungaard scored his lone series win at Toronto in the 2023 season, which also gave him his best series finish of eighth in the championship. He has two finishes of 11th or better on the streets of St. Petersburg and joins McLaren this season who consistently put their drivers in the top 10 at the track. This first race of the season could give Lundgaard quick boost to get himself started in his new McLaren surroundings.
David Malukas (+4000) - Malukas is looking forward to a full season of IndyCar competition after missing the start of 2024's campaign due to a mountain biking injury. What was supposed to be a drive with McLaren prior to the injury was transformed into a partial season with Meyer Shank Racing. That partial season earned Malukas two top-10 finishes at Toronto and Nashville, though. He has two podium finishes from his 2.5 IndyCar seasons and is hoping to get 2025 off to a better start with a new home at AJ Foyt Racing. Both of his podiums have come on ovals, a type of track Foyt excels on. With teammate Santino Ferrucci to partner with, Malukas will be aiming to better his record of six top-10 finishes in a single season this year.
Louis Foster (+10000) - Foster steps up to IndyCar after winning eight of 14 Indy NXT races last season and taking that series title along with it. His success caught the attention of many and earned him a full-time spot with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing for the 2025 season. Foster is from the United Kingdom and spent some time racing in Europe before crossing the Atlantic to join IndyCar's ladder system. His seat at RLL was held by Christian Lundgaard last season, who is making the move to Arrow McLaren. Foster will hope to join the likes of Pato O'Ward, Rinus Veekay, and Kyle Kirkwood as a past NXT champion to find success at the top rung of the IndyCar ladder.
Jacob Abel (+20000) – Another NXT graduate running the full IndyCar season in 2025 will be Jacob Abel. Jacob finished second in the NXT championship to Louis Foster last season before joining Dale Coyne for the step up in competition in 2025. For its part, Dale Coyne Racing is hoping consistency is the key for greater success in 2025. The team fielded several rookies in the 2024 campaign, but look for stability with Abel set to be in the seat all season. Partnered with teammate Rinus Veekay, Abel will have an experienced teammate to help guide him on the journey with the deep knowledge of the Dale Coyne Racing organization. Abel has his sights on competing for Rookie of the Year honors, and Coyne may have the experience and focus to help him achieve that.
Robert Shwartzman (+30000) – Twenty-five year old Shwartzman joins IndyCar as a full-time driver for PREMA Racing as the outfit becomes the first new team to join the IndyCar ranks since 2018. The team has a long history of success in Europe, helping many drivers to elevate through the ladder all the way to Formula 1. Shwartzman himself won the Formula 3 title with the team before spending some time as a Formula 1 reserve driver. After some sportscar success, Shwartzman is back in single-seater racing to help PREMA in their inaugural IndyCar campaign. The season will be one of learning for both driver and team. Both are new to IndyCar and Shwartzman has never raced on an oval before. While the learning curve will be steep, PREMA and Shwartzman have the relationship and know-how to make the most of their efforts.
IndyCar Series Championship Best Bets
Favorites - Josef Newgarden +500, Pato O'Ward +800
Best Values - Will Power +1000, Scott Dixon +1000
Competition in the IndyCar Series is extremely tight with fine margins making the difference in races and across a season. There still remains a clear distinction between the big teams and the smaller ones, though. After heavy success in recent seasons from Alex Palou and Chip Ganassi Racing, Team Penske will not have taken their winter easily. The rivalry between these two giants should be expected to heat up this season as Penske, tired of being beaten, surges back. Putting two of their three cars atop the preseason timesheets is just the first shot fired in this year's battle. After a lackluster 2024 (despite an Indy 500 victory), Josef Newgarden is my choice to surge back to the front. The ultra-competitive American was flustered early last season with the heavy penalties assessed, but this year will offer a fresh start and a shot at redemption. Another driver on my radar is Pato O'Ward, though. While Ganassi and Penske dominate, McLaren has been inching forward. O'Ward won three races last season, one more than the champion and equal to two of the three Penske drivers. With just a little more consistency throughout 2025, McLaren and O'Ward could find themselves with an outside shot at the championship as the year draws to a close.
Given the current IndyCar power dynamics, fans will also have their eyes on Will Power and Scott Dixon. These are two of the most experienced drivers in the series that appear as competitive as ever. Both are still winning races while driving for the two strongest teams in the paddock. With their experience and equipment, neither should ever be counted out. Those looking for bargain choices to potentially win the 2025 championship probably can't find better odds for two drivers that would not come as a surprise to anyone if they were to capture another title for themselves.
