FERGUSON: Alex Palou faces big opportunity at Mid-Ohio

The 2021 IndyCar season has been as unpredictable and action packed as any I’ve seen in my lifetime.

We’re already in the back half of the season schedule without a Team Penske win. A non-full-time driver won the Indy 500. Oh yeah, and Scott Dixon is being upstaged by a pair of young guns.

Now I don’t want to understate what Dixon has done this season. The six-time champion has a win this year and if it weren’t for an engine failing to fire at Indianapolis, he would probably have the lead in the championship.

Don’t come at me about the double points Indy 500 debate. I’m all for double points. I would compromise with 1.5 points if it came to that, BUT nonetheless…

The favorite to win the points championship 53 points out of the points lead held by his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Alex Palou.

The Spanish racer has been the talk of the town in the NTT IndyCar series this season and has a chance to put the competitors in the field and mainly Dixon in a tough spot coming out of Sunday’s race at Mid-Ohio.

The series will see a break of over a month in between its 4^th of July race on Sunday and next month’s debut event on the Streets of Nashville – which I am overwhelmingly excited about.

There’s going to be a lot of thinking in that month long break.

If Palou can secure a solid result this weekend, especially one above Dixon and second-place pointsgetter Pato O’Ward, he can put himself in contention to stare his first IndyCar championship right in the face.

There’s a reason I picked Palou to win the Indianapolis 500 in May. The guy is hungry and has picked up on a phenomenal learning curve so far this year.

After the break, there will be six races left in the year: one on the new track in Nashville, another visit to the IMS Road Course, an oval at Gateway, and then three traditional road courses to conclude the year.

Palou has a shot to put the championship out of Dixon’s hands before that stretch even starts.

These next four races will be telling, and we could find out who will hoist the cup in Long Beach before we even get there.

Sunday’s Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio will kick off on NBC at 11:00 a.m. CT.