Verizon IndyCar Series standings after Indy 500

Helio Castroneves is the new IndyCar points leader after the Indy 500. Here are the updated Verizon IndyCar Series standings after the Indianapolis 500.

The double points available in the Indy 500 shook up the Verizon IndyCar Series standings this week. We have our third new points leader of the season in Team Penske’s Helio Castroneves, who has never won an IndyCar championship but is in position after narrowly missing out on his fourth Indy 500 victory.

Takuma Sato’s first Indianapolis 500 title catapulted him into a three-way tie for second with four-time champion Scott Dixon and last year’s IndyCar title holder Simon Pagenaud.

Alexander Rossi also broke into the Top 5, though he’s considerably behind with just 190 points while all four drivers above him have at least 230. Tony Kanaan is lurking just outside in sixth, well up from his prior position of 11th. But there are only two points separating him from Rossi.

Among the losers from Indy 500 weekend were Castroneves’ Penske teammates Josef Newgarden (who fell from third to eighth position) and Will Power (dropping from fifth to seventh). Ryan Hunter-Reay’s blown engine cost him four spots in the IndyCar standings, as he slid from eighth place to 12th.

Yet with the 2017 IndyCar season coming up on its halfway point — this was the sixth race of 13 on the calendar — the standings are tightening up. Aside from the three-way tie for second place, there are just five points between fifth-place Rossi and ninth-place Ed Jones. Long Beach race winner James Hinchcliffe and Max Chilton are just another five points behind Jones, tied for tenth.

Next: Results from the 2017 Indianapolis 500

Drivers will have the opportunity to pick up plenty of points next weekend, as it’s the only doubleheader weekend left in IndyCar. The Dual in Detroit takes place Saturday and Sunday and will give some of the drivers who did poorly at Indy the chance to claw their way back up the ladder. But for now, it’s another Penske driver still on top of the heap.

Below are the updated Verizon IndyCar Series standings after the Indianapolis 500:

1 – Helio Castroneves – 245 pts
2 – Simon Pagenaud – 234 pts
3 – Takuma Sato – 234 pts
4 – Scott Dixon – 234 pts
5 – Alexander Rossi – 190 pts
6 – Tony Kanaan – 188 pts
7 – Will Power – 186 pts
8 – Josef Newgarden – 186 pts
9 – Ed Jones – 185 pts
10 – James Hinchcliffe – 170 pts
11 – Max Chilton – 170 pts
12 – Ryan Hunter-Reay – 152 pts
13 – JR Hildebrand – 148 pts
14 – Marco Andretti – 147 pts
15 – Graham Rahal – 144 pts
16 – Sebastien Bourdais – 136 pts
17 – Mikhail Aleshin – 134 pts
18 – Carlos Munoz – 133 pts
19 – Ed Carpenter – 105 pts
20 – Charlie Kimball – 99 pts
21 – Spencer Pigot – 95 pts
22 – Juan Pablo Montoya – 93 pts
23 – Conor Daly – 88 pts
24 – Gabby Chaves – 53 pts

Who do you believe will be atop the standings at the end of the season?