IndyCar 2026 – Championship standings after the Detroit Grand Prix

While Álex Palou's May wasn't as successful as hoped in terms of points, despite three pole positions, the Spaniard's victory in Detroit puts him at the end of the first half of the season with a 62-point lead over Kirkwood, more than a full race win. David Malukas, runner-up in the Indy 500, paid the price for a difficult Detroit race and dropped to third in the championship standings, ahead of the two Arrow teammates. McLaren, Christian Lundgaard and Pato O'Ward.

Sixth place went to Indianapolis 500 winner Felix Rosenqvist, who continued his climb up the standings, overtaking Scott McLaughlin. In contention for a podium finish, a costly mistake proved very costly. Mick Schumacher, who once again finishes 25th, and last of the drivers participating in the full season, in the overall standings.

ALSO READ > Detroit – Race: Palou in control for his fourth win of the year

Indy Car 2026
Championship standings after Detroit (8/18)

1) Álex Palou (Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda) – 327 pts
2) Kyle Kirkwood (Andretti Global-Honda) – 265 pts
3) David Malukas (Team Penske-Chevrolet) – 248 pts
4) Christian Lundgaard (Arrow McLaren-Chevrolet) – 226 pts
5) Pato O'Ward (Arrow McLaren-Chevrolet) – 220 pts
6) Felix Rosenqvist (Meyer Shank Racing-Honda) – 205 pts
7) Scott McLaughlin (Team Penske-Chevrolet) – 192 pts
8) Josef Newgarden (Team Penske-Chevrolet) – 187 pts
9) Graham Rahal (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing-Honda) – 186 pts
10) Marcus Armstrong (Meyer Shank Racing-Honda) – 174 pts
11) Scott Dixon (Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda) – 173 pts
12) Marcus Ericsson (Andretti Global-Honda) – 153 pts
13) Rinus VeeKay (Juncos Hollinger Racing-Chevrolet) – 143 pts
14) Alexander Rossi (ECR-Chevrolet) – 140 pts
15) Kyffin Simpson (Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda) – 138 pts
16) Santino Ferrucci (AJ Foyt Racing-Chevrolet) – 129 pts
17) Dennis Hauger (Dale Coyne Racing-Honda) – 128 pts
18) Louis Foster (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing-Honda) – 121 pts
19) Will Power (Andretti Global-Honda) – 121 pts
20) Nolan Siegel (Arrow McLaren-Chevrolet) – 110 pts
21) Romain Grosjean (Dale Coyne Racing-Honda) – 102 pts
22) Caio Collet (AJ Foyt Racing-Chevrolet) – 90 pts
23) Sting Ray Robb (Juncos Hollinger Racing-Chevrolet) – 78 pts
24) Christian Rasmussen (ECR-Chevrolet) – 76 pts
25) Mick Schumacher (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing-Honda) – 75 pts
26) Conor Daly (Dreyer & Reinbold Racing-Chevrolet) – 24 pts
27) Takuma Sato (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing-Honda) – 20 pts
28) Jack Harvey (Dreyer & Reinbold Racing-Chevrolet) – 8 pts
29) Jacob Abel (Abel Motorsports-Chevrolet) – 6 pts
30) Helio Castroneves (Meyer Shank Racing-Honda) – 5 pts
31) Ed Carpenter (ECR-Chevrolet) – 5 pts
32) Ryan Hunter-Reay (Arrow McLaren-Chevrolet) – 5 pts
33) Katherine Legge (HMD Motorsports-Chevrolet) – 5 pts