IndyCar Power Rankings: Alex Palou, Romain Grosjean flex in bids to be next 2023 winner

Four NTT IndyCar Series races with four winners – and none cracks the top two of NBC Sports’ latest power rankings.

It’s indicative of a 2023 season that has delivered an expected measure of parity with the parade of faces to the winner’s circle – Marcus Ericsson, Josef Newgarden, Kyle Kirkwood and Scott McLaughlin.

But others are flexing, too.

Pato O’Ward was an engine blip from winning St. Petersburg. It’s easy to imagine Romain Grosjean in victory lane at any of the first four races – which is why the Andretti Autosport driver is ranked a season-best second in this week’s rankings.

Alex Palou might not be top of mind for near-misses– but the Chip Ganassi Racing star is on top of our rankings as IndyCar’s most consistent driver to date this season.

Heading into the GMR Grand Prix on Saturday on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, here’s NBC Sports’ assessment of the current top 10 drivers through four of 17 races this year (with previous ranking in parenthesis):

1. Alex Palou (2) – With a third consecutive top five, he now has the series’ best average finish (5.3) this season – not bad for a guy everyone expects to exit Chip Ganassi Racing next year. But maybe he won’t if it keeps going this well (especially at the Brickyard)?

2. Romain Grosjean (5) – He misses the top spot just as narrowly as he did the victory at Barber. Entering Indy with back-to-back runner-up finishes, he remains the only driver in IndyCar with a legitimate case that he could have opened 2023 with four consecutive wins.

3. Scott McLaughlin (7) – An avowed Rankings of Power fan, Scotty Mac is No. 1 in our hearts – and he’s inching toward the top of his favorite poll, too. Put on offense by his team’s three-stop strategy at Barber, he did