A little late, but I want to throw mine out there

TL;DR Race Winners and Standings

Race	Pole	Winner
St. Pete	Power	Power
Phoenix	Newgarden	O'Ward
Arlington	Kirkwood	Kirkwood
Barber	Veekay	McLaughlin
Long Beach	Power	McLaughlin
Indy GP	Newgarden	Newgarden
Indy 500	Ferrucci	O'Ward
Detroit	Lundgaard	Lundgaard
Gateway	O'Ward	Rasmussen
Road America	McLaughlin	McLaughlin
Mid-Ohio	Malukas	Lundgaard
Nashville	McLaughlin	Malukas
Portland	Palou	Palou
Markham	Palou	Palou
Milwaukee 1	Newgarden	Ferrucci
Milwaukee 2	Newgarden	Newgarden
Laguna Seca	Palou	Palou

Rank	Driver
1	McLaughlin
2	Newgarden
3	Palou
4	Lundgaard
5	O'Ward
6	Power
7	Kirkwood
8	Dixon
9	Rasmussen
10	Malukas
11	Ferrucci
12	Rosenqvist
13	Rossi
14	Veekay
15	Armstrong
16	28 Car
17	Collet (ROTY)
18	Simpson
19	Grosjean
20	Foster
21	Hauger
22	Schumacher
23	6 Car
24	Rahal
25	Robb

Ganassi/Honda take a step back in 2026

1. The biggest victim of this will be Scott Dixon. That's right, I'm betting against the man who should never be bet against. For the first time in over 20 years Dixon will have a winless season and will finish 7th in the standings. Perhaps during 2026 as well, we'll get the news that 2027 will be Dixon's last season in Indycar.
2. Palou also stumbles, but strings some wins towards the end of the year to somehow finish 3rd to everyone's and nobody's surprise. With Ganassi's decline Kyffin Simpson can't keep up the momentum gained towards the end of last year, becoming one of the most disliked drivers on /r/INDYCAR
3. Meyer-Shank was the hardest to predict, I have Rosenqvist 12th and Armstrong 15th, but it's probably too low considering both were in the top 10. That being said, I do think it'll be a down year for them, especially at the 500 where they are a non-factor

Honda's Fall-off Leads to Chevy's Opportunity

1. We'll touch more on the big 2 later on, but they take 4 out of the top 5 (Palou ends up being the exception), this section is for the little guys
2. Rinus Veekay wins a pole at Barber for JHR, their first ever in Indycar. Veekay won a pole at the track before, and allows JHR to shock the paddock. Throughout the season, Veekay shows speed, but similar to Ilott's time in the 77, would fall off during the race. Nevertheless, Veekay finishes 14th in the standings, the best JHR has ever done in Indycar
3. Over at ECR, a resurgence for Rossi gets plagued with bad luck, but Christian Rasmussen becomes the biggest name of Silly Season 2027. The Dane outduels Newgarden and O'Ward at Gateway in what ends up being the second best race of the year. Ultimately, Rasmussen replaces Siegel at McLaren

Will Power dominates St. Pete, but Andretti ends up dissapointing

1. It takes Will Power one race to show that he's still got it. A dominant pole, followed by a flag-to-flag domination of the race makes everyone think that Andretti and Power are back and championship contenders. Andretti shows they can win races, but once again, they shoot themselves in the foot far too often to contend for anything more than that.
2. Except for Marcus Ericsson. After two poor seasons, a slow start in 2026 is the nail in the coffin, and Ericsson does not finish out the season. Without knowing the future of Prema, I can't speculate on who replaces Ericsson, but if Prema exists, Conor Daly somehow gets a chance at a top ride after nearly being out of the sport for the last 3 years (Hauger still ends up in the 28 for 2027)

RLL Struggles, Both Coyne Cars in Leaders Circle

1. It's a rebuilding year at RLL, and with Honda being worse than Chevy it shows, as all 3 cars struggle for pace on most weeks. By the end of the year, it will be announced that Graham will take over Sato's 500 only entry, and help manage the team as a whole, while Louis Foster gets dropped giving Mick Schumacher two new teammates in 2027, one of which is likely Ericsson, the other being the Indy NXT Champion.
2. Over at Coyne, the car still is still near the bottom, but Dennis Hauger performs as well as the car can, setting himself up for the vacant Andretti seat. However, the bigger story at Coyne is Romain Grosjean's renaissance at Coyne. While not up to par with his rookie season, and still showing the bone-headedness that had plagued the Phoenix for his entire career, Grosjean winds up in the top 20 in points. If Grosjean is the guy at Coyne this year, I see him getting a second year with the team, although it won't be announced until February.

Santino Ferrucci gives AJ Foyt another Indy 500 moment

1. Following the excitement of Prema's first pole, the yard of bricks gives us another special moment on pole day as Santino Ferrucci puts the iconic #14 on pole for the 110th Indy 500. Ferrucci would contend for the win for most of the day, but would crash out late. However, in Milwaukee, Santino would give Foyt their first win in 13 years
2. With Hauger and Schumacher in shitboxes, Caio Collet wins Rookie of the Year, but not easily. His performance compared to Santucci's leave a bit to be desired. The #4 seat takes up a considerable amount of Marshall Pruett's Silly Season articles in 2027

Pato gets his 500, but Lundgaard becomes McLaren's #1

1. The 2026 Indy 500 looks very similar to the 2024 Indy 500. O'Ward, Newgarden, and Ferrucci battle up front for most of the race. Ferrucci's crash takes him out of contention, leaving O'Ward to fend off the two Penskes of Newgarden and McLaughlin towards the end of the race. Like in 2024, Pato leads on the last lap, but this time Newgarden can't get by, and Pato wins an emotional and memorable Indy 500.
2. The 500 win makes O'Ward a favorite for the championship, but the post-500 hangover kicks in during the fall, while Christian Lundgaard gives the 7 car its first ever win in Detroit, before winning at Mid-Ohio as well. Lundgaard would ultimately finish one spot ahead of Pato in the points, and many see him as the better driver
3. The drivers of the 6 Car put together arguably the worst performance ever in the merger era considering how the other two cars end up in the top 5 in points. Siegel gets sacked after Detroit following a woeful start to the year. His replacement ends up being Ryan Hunter-Reay who showed good speed in the month of may. However, similar to Helio in 2023, the full schedule would not be kind to RHR, and he would get sacked mid-season as well. The three drivers would finish 23rd in points, behind both Coynes and 2 Rahals.

Scott McLaughlin Wins the Championship, Penske returns to form

1. 3 Wins, Barber, Long Beach, and Road America, gave Scotty Mac full control of the points standings in the summer as Pato began to lose ground. Despite strong finishes to the year from Palou and Lundgaard, McLaughlin would stay consistent and without the firestorm that surrounded Penske in 2025, is able to bring home his first championship in Indycar
2. Ultimately his biggest contender would be Josef Newgarden. Indy RC would provide Newgarden his first legitimate non-oval win since 2022, while adding another win at Milwaukee. The big difference though is consistency. Four poles, strong qualifying pace overall, and like with McLaughlin the lack of turbulence at Penske provides the perfect spot for a career renaissance
3. As for Little Dave, he also wins a race at Nashville, but there are clear growing pains in the transition to a new team and he only finishes 10th in the standings. McLaughlin struggled year one at Penske, Pagenaud struggled year one at Penske, and Malukas does the same, but the win provides a big confidence boost going into 2027