Ready, set, roar.

That will be the cadence later this week as the NTT INDYCAR SERIES begins its dizzying stretch of races to conclude the 2026 season. First up is Sunday’s OnlyBulls Grand Prix of Portland, one of six races over the next five weekends.

The final push to crown a season champion includes two races in three different time zones (Eastern, Central and Pacific). Two races will be on oval tracks, two on permanent road courses and two on street circuits.

Races will be held in Oregon, Ontario, Washington, D.C., Wisconsin and California.

Yeah, INDYCAR’s stretch run is all over the map.

Still, it’s Alex Palou’s world this sport is living in.

The Spaniard enters Portland with an 83-point lead in pursuit of his record-tying fourth consecutive series championship and fifth in six years. Sebastien Bourdais (2004-2007) is the only driver in the sport’s history to win four titles in succession, and a four-in-five-years stretch has only been accomplished by Dario Franchitti (2007-2011).

 Alex Palou at Portland

Palou (photo, above) is a two-time race winner at Portland, a 12-turn, 1.964-mile permanent road course, and this type of track is what best suits him. Sixteen of his 24 career race wins have come on permanent road courses, including the first 11 after joining Chip Ganassi Racing for the start of the 2021 season. Palou won at Portland in 2021 and 2023, and he clinched last year’s championship at the track by finishing third. He finished second the year prior.

Will Power and Scott McLaughlin are the other two active drivers to have won series races at Portland, and they both won with Team Penske. McLaughlin earned his victory in 2022 (with Power second) while Power has won the past two (plus another in 2019). Power’s bid for a consecutive track three-peat comes as an Andretti Global driver.

Arrow McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard has the best statistical record on permanent road courses this season. He won the races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Road America while finishing second at Barber Motorsports Park and the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. That’s an impressive average finish of 1.5. Lundgaard won the pole last year at Portland, finishing second in the 110-lap race.

Team Penske’s David Malukas and Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood are in a dogfight for second place in the standings, separated by just four points as they trail Palou by 83 and 87 points, respectively. Malukas has been the more consistent of the two this season on four permanent road courses, with second-place finishes at IMS and Road America highlighting his 4.0 average finish. Kirkwood’s average is 6.75, led by a third-place finish at Mid-Ohio.

Malukas and Kirkwood need a lot to go right to overtake Palou, who nearly has the equivalent of a two-race lead with six races remaining. But a lot can happen as the 25-car field traverses from the West Coast to the East Coast to the Midwest and back west again. It’s a five-week, six-race torrid stretch.

Buckle up.

Portland’s NTT INDYCAR SERIES action begins Friday with the first practice at 5:30 p.m. ET (FS1). Saturday’s schedule features the second practice at 1 p.m. ET followed by qualifying for the NTT P1 Award at 7 p.m. ET, both airing live on FS1. Sunday, there is a pre-race warmup session at 1 p.m. ET (FS1) followed by the OnlyBulls Grand Prix of Portland at 4 p.m. on FOX. FOX One, FOX Deportes and INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls will also have the call.