Just like that, the NTT INDYCAR SERIES is awash with drama, and this time it doesn’t involve Alex Palou.

Four years ago, it was Palou who was caught in a changing-teams saga, one that had him on the verge of leaving Chip Ganassi Racing for Arrow McLaren. Palou ended up staying with Chip Ganassi’s organization, but now it’s a teammate on that same polarizing path.

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As unlikely as it seems, six-time series champion Scott Dixon was confirmed Thursday to be leaving Chip Ganassi Racing’s No. 9 entry at season’s end. Published reports have him headed to Arrow McLaren, where he will drive alongside Pato O’Ward and likely Felix Rosenqvist in a three-car group that should be dazzling to watch on all oval tracks, especially Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Dixon (photo, top) and Rosenqvist are former winners of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge, and O’Ward has twice finished second. They have combined to lead 899 laps in their Speedway careers, including 66 this year.

This isn’t the only reason Dixon is in the news. Mid-Ohio is his best track, at least statistically. He has won seven races on the 13-turn, 2.258-mile permanent road course in Lexington, Ohio, including last year.

Dixon Squarely in the Spotlight

Dixon has only won one of the past seven trips to Mid-Ohio, but he always seems to be in the mix to win. He will be one of the top contenders to capture The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the 2027 CR-V Hybrid (Sunday, 12:30 p.m. ET, FOX, FOX Deportes, FOX One, INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls).

Dixon has stood on Mid-Ohio’s podium a staggering nine times, including a second-place finish in 2023 and a third-place finish in 2008. All that success has come with only two pole-winning cars. In 2014, he started in the 22nd and final position but still won the race.

Last year, Dixon was tracking in second place behind Palou late in the race when Palou made a rare mistake and drifted wide in Turn 9. Dixon was there to capitalize and did, holding off his teammate in the final six-plus laps.

Mid-Ohio comes at a good time for Dixon in another way. He has not finished in the top 10 in any of the past four races, his longest such stretch since 2005.

All of this is to say Dixon, 45, will be the talk of the weekend. How he and his team handle this impending change will be interesting to watch.

Christian Lundgaard

Lundgaard Left in Interesting Position

If indeed Dixon and Rosenqvist are headed to Arrow McLaren for 2027, where does that leave Christian Lundgaard? He is the winner of the series’ most-recent race (June 21 at Road America), and he is the only Arrow McLaren driver with a podium finish this season – he has four in 10 races. He has won two races.

The 24-year-old Dane (photo, above) is fourth in the standings, 77 points behind Palou. His focus is supposed to be on gaining on the Spanish leader, but now there’s the fluidity of his employment. He can’t be blamed for being at least a little distracted.

Lundgaard finished third last year at Mid-Ohio and has been the only driver in Palou’s class on permanent road courses this season. In addition to winning last month’s XPEL Grand Prix at Road America Presented by AMR, he won the Sonsio Grand Prix on the IMS road course in May.

Alex Palou

Palou Has Won Past Two Mid-Ohio Poles

Until proven otherwise, Palou is the driver to beat this weekend and for the rest of the season. He won the 2023 race at Mid-Ohio and was poised to add another track victory last year before the late miscue. He has finished second each of the past two years and three of the past four years.

Palou (photo, above) holds a 60-point lead on Team Penske’s David Malukas, who is still seeking his first career series victory, and is 61 points north of Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood. He is bidding for a record-tying fourth consecutive series championship and fifth in five years.

Palou won this year’s Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix powered by AmFirst on March 29 at Barber Motorsports Park. His most recent victory was the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear on May 31, which is interesting in that not winning the two ensuing races means that he’s on the longest losing streak of the season.

Palou also has won the past two poles at Mid-Ohio. Will Power holds the track record with five.

Mid-Ohio Mania

For as strong as Dixon and Palou have been in this event in recent years, there’s a surprising streak in play: There have been seven different winners in the past seven races at this track.

Since 2020, the race winners have been Power, Colton Herta, Josef Newgarden, Scott McLaughlin, Palou, O’Ward and Dixon. Ganassi’s organization has won two of the past three years, but Team Penske scored three wins in the last six races at the track.

Graham Rahal (2015) and Alexander Rossi (2018) also have won series races at Mid-Ohio, which makes for an unusually high number of different winners in this 25-car field – nine – given that Dixon has seven career wins.

O’Ward is the big mystery in the group. Last year’s series runner-up has six top-five finishes this season, but those are comprised of three fourths and three fifths. Since becoming a full-time driver in 2020, he hasn’t gone this deep into a season without a podium finish.

O’Ward ranks fifth in points this year, but being 117 points out of the lead means he will need an exceptionally strong finish to score his first series title.

The Schedule

Amid all the off-track intrigue is a busy on-track weekend that includes two INDY NXT by Firestone races on FS1 and INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls (1 p.m. ET Saturday, 10 a.m. Sunday).

INDYCAR SERIES practice opens at 3 p.m. ET Friday, with the second session at 10 a.m. Saturday. Qualifying for the NTT P1 Award follows at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, with the pre-race warmup at 9 a.m. Sunday. All this action will air live on FS1 and INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls.