ROUND BY ROUND

Indianapolis

1 Alexander Rossi 2 Christian Lundgaard 3 Will Power Rosenqvist takes brilliant pole but is hampered from the start by dragging brake. Herta leads Rossi in Andretti

1-2 until halfshaft failure ends his race, allowing Rossi to win. Lundgaard scores a distant but deserved second, while Power recovers from being dumped to the back in the opening laps to lead a Penske 3-4-5.

Nashville

1 Scott Dixon

2 Scott Mclaughlin 3 Alex Palou

A crashfest in which Dixon’s car suffers bad damage early on but, running a brave strategy gamble, he hits the front and clings on with worn tyres to triumph over polesitter Mclaughlin and Palou. Lundgaard stars but fades in the final stint, Newgarden takes Grosjean out, and Power finishes 11th despite a damaged gearbox.

St Louis

1 Josef Newgarden 2 David Malukas 3 Scott Mclaughlin Power takes pole and leads the first half of the race, but Newgarden eventually finds a way through. Race is stopped for rain soon after Newgarden and Mclaughlin have pitted for fresh tyres and hit the front. Power has not stopped so falls victim to charging rookie Malukas, who eventually also demotes Mclaughlin to claim second.

Portland

1 Scott Mclaughlin 2 Will Power

3 Scott Dixon Mclaughlin takes third pole and leads majority of race ahead of first Lundgaard, then Power. Team Penske elects not to order Mclaughlin aside for points leader Power, even when Dixon charges from 16th to run third. Palou and O’ward fall out of championship contention, while Newgarden slips to eighth in the final stint.

Laguna Seca

1 Alex Palou

2 Josef Newgarden 3 Will Power

Power scores recordbreaking 68th pole while Newgarden crashes out in qualifying. On race day, Newgarden charges to the front on a four-stop strategy, ahead of a cautious Power who is wrestling with bad tyres and is focused on staying ahead of Rosenqvist and Grosjean. Neither have any answer to Palou’s stunning pace.