INDYCAR Power Rankings: Christian Rasmussen Coming In Hot

Bob Pockrass

FOX Motorsports Insider

One to go.

There is one race left in the 2025 INDYCAR season, and it will be on the 1.33-mile concrete oval Nashville Superspeedway.

Drivers are coming off another oval, a shorter, flatter asphalt oval at The Milwaukee Mile. Christian Rasmussen earned his first INDYCAR victory and has vaulted into these power rankings.

Here’s a look at the power rankings after 16 races (obviously more weight given to recent races) of the 17-race season:

Dropped out: Felix Rosenqvist (Last Week: 7); Graham Rahal (Last Week: 10)

On the verge: Kyle Kirkwood, Josef Newgarden, Alexander Rossi

10. Colton Herta (Last Week: 8)

Herta saw a streak of three consecutive top 10s come to a halt, as he finished 11th at Milwaukee. The Andretti driver never had the strength all weekend as he started 24th.

9. David Malukas (Last Week: Not Ranked)

Malukas started second and finished eighth, a finish that might have been a little disappointing considering where he started. But it was still a solid finish for the Foyt driver, nonetheless.

8. Christian Rasmussen (Last Week: Not Ranked)

Now an NTT INDYCAR Series winner, Rasmussen showed that he can perform with all the pressure on the biggest of stages. No one thinks this will be the last win for the Ed Carpenter Racing driver.

7. Will Power (Last Week: 4)

Getting in the marbles and hitting the wall ended the day early for Power, who started fifth and finished 26th. The Penske driver (for one more race at least) was coming off a win at Portland.

6. Marcus Armstrong (Last Week: 6)

Armstrong has nine top 10s in his last 10 starts, including a 10th at Milwaukee. The Meyer Shank driver is seventh in the series standings.

5. Scott Dixon (Last Week: 5)

Dixon remained third in the series standings with a ninth-place finish. The Ganassi driver has top 10s in eight of his last nine starts.

4. Scott McLaughhlin (Last Week: 9)

A third-place finish for McLaughlin was his second podium of the season (the other was Barber). The Penske driver had a solid weekend, starting fourth and having Palou in his sights for much of the race.

3. Christian Lundgaard (Last Week: 2)

Lundgaard, coming off back-to-back second-place finishes, finished sixth at Milwaukee. That’s a respectable result for the Arrow McLaren driver.

2. Pato O’Ward (Last Week: 3)

A fifth-place finish at Milwaukee was the sixth top five in the last seven starts for O’Ward, who remained second in the series standings. And he will remain second in the standings; the McLaren driver has enough points that Dixon can’t catch him.

1. Alex Palou (Last Week: 1)

The 2025 series champion finished second at Milwaukee. It was the Ganassi driver’s 12th podium of the year in 16 races. Amazing.

Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.

What did you think of this story?