Alex Palou will enter the Laguna Seca finale with the IndyCar crown already in his hands, as he clinched the championship with a fifth-place and tenth-place finish on Sunday.
While the championship has been locked up, the battle to be the best of the rest is fully on. Christian Lundgaard has moved up into the runner-up spot, just two points clear of Kyle Kirkwood and four points clear of Pato O'Ward after his Milwaukee sweep.
Rinus Veekay has moved up inside the top ten in the championship after an impressive podium on Sunday.
The Rookie of the Year battle will also be a fascinating story to watch in the season finale, as Dennis Hauger holds a 18-point advantage over Mick Schumacher and 30 points on Caio Collet.
2026 IndyCar standings after Milwaukee (Race 17 of 18)
| Pos. | Driver | Points |
| 1 | Alex Palou | 607 |
| 2 | Christian Lundgaard | 507 |
| 3 | Kyle Kirkwood | 505 |
| 4 | Pato O'Ward | 503 |
| 5 | David Malukas | 484 |
| 6 | Scot McLaughlin | 428 |
| 7 | Josef Newgarden | 408 |
| 8 | Marcus Ericsson | 407 |
| 9 | Felix Rosenqvist | 379 |
| 10 | Rinus VeeKay | 364 |
| 11 | Will Power | 351 |
| 12 | Scott Dixon | 318 |
| 13 | Kyffin Simpson | 307 |
| 14 | Marcus Armstrong | 293 |
| 15 | Graham Rahal | 291 |
| 16 | Alexander Rossi | 271 |
| 17 | Santino Ferrucci | 262 |
| 18 | Nolan Siegel | 253 |
| 19 | Louis Foster | 251 |
| 20 | Romain Grosjean | 247 |
| 21 | Christian Rasmussen | 236 |
| 22 | Dennis Hauger (R) | 223 |
| 23 | Mick Schumacher (R) | 205 |
| 24 | Caio Collet (R) | 193 |
| 25 | Sting Ray Robb | 175 |
| 26 | Conor Daly | 24 |
| 27 | Takuma Sato | 20 |
| 28 | Jack Harvey | 8 |
| 29 | Jacob Abel (R) | 6 |
| 30 | Helio Castroneves | 5 |
| 31 | Ed Carpenter | 5 |
| 32 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | 5 |
| 33 | Katherine Legge | 5 |
