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In Driver’s Eye with James Hinchcliffe, the six-time INDYCAR winner will bring you inside the mind of a racer while breaking down the nuts and bolts of the sport for fans. There is no denying that Alex Palou is having (another) dominating year in INDYCAR. Five wins on the season and a healthy points gap are the reward for his and his Chip Ganassi Racing team’s efforts. With six races remaining and a penchant for being Mr. Consistent, there’s no doubt he is the odds-on favorite to win a fourth consecutive INDYCAR title. That said, there are a few drivers who are more than just long shots heading into the marathon run of six races in five weeks to close out 2026. This final stretch of races has a perfect mix of two road courses, two ovals and two street circuits, with each type of track playing to different strengths of different drivers fighting for the title. So let’s break down who has a real shot at dethroning the champ. INDYCAR CHAMPIONSHIP CONTENDERS PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW MCLAREN CHEVROLET Pato O’Ward may have been Palou’s closest rival at the close of 2025, but with six races to go this season, significantly moving up in the standings and making a title run is likely out of reach. O’Ward sits in fifth in the INDYCAR standings, 121 points out of the championship lead. With 324 total points yet to be claimed — and with Pato having a consistent, if not spectacular run of form so far this year — realistically, race wins are now the focus for the No. 5 Arrow McLaren squad. So let’s keep moving up through the top five. CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD, NO. 7 ARROW MCLAREN CHEVROLET Christian Lundgaard sits fourth and 104 points from the top spot. Having finished first or second on every road course so far this year, and with two still to come — including Portland, where he was on pole last year — he has a good chance to earn some strong points there. He has been strong on street courses this year, too. And though his oval results are still lacking compared to the other title challengers — his best oval finish so far was 10th at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway — if McLaren show up to the Milwaukee Mile for the doubleheader with a strong package, and Palou has a few rough rounds, it’s not impossible. Improbable, but not impossible. KYLE KIRKWOOD, NO. 27 ANDRETTI GLOBAL HONDA Kirkwood is third and 87 markers back. Even though he’s a few behind David Malukas in second, I think he represents Palou’s biggest threat. There are two street courses in these last six races. Both of them are brand-new tracks to the calendar. Arlington, back toward the start of the season, was the last time we went to an all-new street track, and Kirkwood annihilated the competition. If he can capitalize on the strength of the Andretti Global package there, and keep up his killer consistency of top-3 and top-5 finishes, on the remaining ovals, he could be a real thorn in Palou’s side. The Andretti pit stops have been markedly improved from the start of the year, he has one of the best strategists in the series in Bryan Herta calling his races, and he is having a career year with the second-best average finish of anyone after Palou. DAVID MALUKAS, NO. 12 TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET P2 overall right now is Malukas, with an 83-point gap to Palou. The young driver in his first year with the Penske squad has been mighty impressive. Poles and podiums have come his way, though he is yet to bag that elusive first win. But Malukas has shown such strength across all types of tracks that he can certainly not be counted out. Ovals especially seem to be where he excels at the moment. His last-to-third run at Nashville was a perfect example. Penske has had good cars at Milwaukee for years, and with back-to-back races there in a few weeks, that first win might be around the corner. And as we’ve seen time and time again in racing, once that first win comes, the floodgates can open with more wins coming thick and fast. Should that happen, it would set up Malukas for a massive comeback in the fourth quarter of the season. Long story short, yes, Palou’s year has been outstanding. But there is a hungry pack well within reach to make this final stint in the season as tough and stressful as the four-time champ has ever dealt with. THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE FAST: PORTLAND Portland International Raceway is next up, and the quirky little road course is known for throwing some curveballs to the finishing order — despite Palou and Will Power combining to win five of the last six races on the 1.967-mile track. It’s short, flat and made up of predominantly long-duration, high-speed corners. The double dose of Turns 4 and 5 right is one of the coolest combos of the year. The pair of turns require incredible commitment with a super high-speed turn in, and then remarkable balance as you sit the car on whatever the limiting tire is — left front or left rear, depending on your balance — through what feels like a never-ending corner. It’s tough on cars, tires and necks. The chicane at the back of the circuit is also a ton of fun in an Indy car. You arrive at it at the top of sixth gear, and it’s a quick stab of the brakes and knock it down one gear before you hustle into the left-right corner sequence, threading the needle between the two apex curbs. You have to use some curb to maximize the apex speed. But use too much, and the car gets unsettled on landing and can fire you off into the tire wall, which seems miles away, but at those speeds, it comes at you quickly. But for all the talk of high-speed corners, Portland is, rightly or wrongly, often defined by Turns 1 and 2 — the slowest on the track and one of the tightest chicanes of the season. The frontstraight is a literal drag strip, with a long full throttle section, nice and wide, that files down into that first turn. It’s so inviting for a late lunge, and, as a result, starts and restarts are a hotbed for contact. It can be a real hero or zero kind of prospect. It feels slow and clunky behind the wheel of an Indy car through there, but having stood track side since retiring, I assure you it is anything but! It’s a fun little sequence that requires the perfect compromise of apex speed at Turn 1 and car placement for Turn 2. Tons of time can be made or lost there. So love it or hate it, the fastest drivers learn to embrace it. 1 FOR THE ROAD Portland, for me, has been a feast-or-famine circuit. In my INDYCAR career, that first turn was my kryptonite. In three races racing in the main game there, I never made it past Turn 3, getting hit twice and then taken out before getting to the apex of Turn 1! But in the junior formulae coming up, it was one of my best tracks, winning a few and never finishing worse than second there in many different series. Even with that success when I was younger, Portland still also holds a special place in my mind as one of the most painful losses of my career. It was 2005, the Star Mazda Championship. I had led all day until a late restart with only a handful of laps to go. I defended to the inside along the frontstraight, as I had a few times already. I thought I had closed the door enough, but a young and exuberant driver from Ohio had decided there was just enough room to squeeze to the inside. Turns out, to the tune of about an inch, Graham Rahal was right. He had the line into Turn 1 and took the lead, and with only a few laps to go, I couldn’t get him back. That one stung so badly, but at the same time, it was a great lesson. I remembered that moment several times throughout the rest of my career, and it helped me win a few races down the line! Never made that mistake again. And even though the net result was a gain over my career, that one still haunts me to this day. The worst part? Graham knows it and reminds me every chance he gets! My personal pain aside, I am looking forward to getting back there to watch these 25 drivers go at it for 110 laps to see who can get momentum on their side at the top of the final stretch of 2026. MORE DRIVER’S EYE:​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

The New York Giants concluded the 2025 season with a 4-13 record and lost their head coach along the way, but a second-year Jaxson Dart could turn things around for the Giants this season. Dart was drafted No. 25 overall in the 2025 NFL Draft and was named the starting quarterback in Week 4 against the Los Angeles Chargers. Now, the pressure is on for Dart to perform under new head coach John Harbaugh and an elite and healthy roster. For FOX Sports’ Colin Cowherd, he’s impressed with the little things Dart brings to the table as a quarterback, rather than the Giant’s overall record. “But it’s interesting because Jaxson Dart, with a new coach, has been pretty uneven… Whenever a young quarterback comes into the league, and he’s in a bad situation like Dart was, all I look for are ‘Wow’ moments. I do not care about records,” Cowherd said on Thursday’s edition of ‘The Herd. Following the Giants 24-20 loss to the Chicago Bears in Week 10, the Giants fired former head coach Brian Daboll. The firing of Daboll also came at a time when wide receiver Malik Nabers had torn his ACL, and running back Cam Skattebo was sidelined with a broken ankle. However, Dart still produced impressive numbers. In his 12 total starts for the Giants, Dart threw for 2,272 passing yards, 15 touchdowns and five interceptions.  He added nine rushing touchdowns, which is the most in a single season by a Giants quarterback and the third-most rushing touchdowns by a rookie quarterback. Heading into his second season, Dart can build on top of his rookie performance with a talented supporting cast. Despite Dart having his ‘Wow’ moments and the added components, that is what makes him a star quarterback entering his second season. “You’ve got some ‘WOW’ stuff. Super athletic, fearless running the ball… you can see the athleticism, the confidence, the leadership. The kid had more rushing touchdowns as a rookie than Saquon Barkley or Bijan Robinson,” Herd said. “[Malik] Nabers is healthy, [Cam] Skattebo is back, legitimate coaching… Jaxson Dart gives you ‘Wow’ and eight of his starts he completed over 65% of his throws. So I got a guy that can hit the layups, (and) I got a little wow.”​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

Finally, we have a real taste of football. The first preseason game of the 2026 season took place on Thursday, with the Carolina Panthers taking down the Arizona Cardinals in the Hall of Fame Game. Cardinals rookie quarterback Carson Beck was the storyline from Thursday’s game, impressing in his unofficial NFL debut. While we finally had game action on Thursday, though, more contract matters dominated the news in the NFL. We saw a pair of star running backs agree to pricey extensions, including a record-setting deal. Meanwhile, in Tampa Bay, the news down there is about a pair of stars who haven’t received pricey extensions. Here are the headlines to know from Thursday around the NFL. There typically aren’t too many highlights or takeaways from the Hall of Fame Game, but this year’s edition brought us one. Beck completed 15 of 19 passes for 188 yards and a touchdown in Thursday’s game. The rookie made all sorts of throws in Arizona’s loss, completing deep balls as he helped the Cardinals put up 17 points. Kedon Slovis played the second half for the Cardinals. Beck’s showing adds some intrigue to a Cardinals team widely viewed to be one of the worst in the NFL entering the season. It could also add some heat on veteran Jacoby Brissett and Gardner Minshew, who didn’t play in Thursday’s game. Undrafted rookie free agent Haynes King had the best outing of any quarterback on Thursday, though. After replacing Kenny Pickett, King completed 21 of 34 passes for 180 yards and two touchdowns. But he made the play of the game with his feet, rushing for a 5-yard score as time expired to give the Panthers a 33-30 victory. Shortly after the Atlanta Falcons made Bijan Robinson the NFL’s highest-paid running back, the Indianapolis Colts and Detroit Lions secured their own star halfbacks to massive deals. Jahmyr Gibbs agreed to a deal that made him the highest-paid running back in NFL history. The two sides agreed to a three-year deal worth up to $75.75 million with $51.5 million fully guaranteed, making him the highest-paid running back in NFL history, ESPN reported. Gibbs had a massive year for the Lions in 2025. He racked up 1,223 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns on the ground, while making a huge impact in the passing game with 77 catches for 616 yards and five receiving touchdowns. Hours before news of Gibbs’ deal broke, the Colts and star running back Jonathan Taylor agreed to a two-year, $44 million extension, per ESPN. The deal is worth up to $47 million and also includes $39 million in guaranteed money for Taylor as he enters his age-27 season. Taylor is coming off one of his best seasons since entering the league in 2020. He ranked third in the league last season with 1,585 rushing yards and a league-leading 18 touchdowns, while adding 46 receptions for 378 yards and two receiving scores. No running back appears to be an imminent threat to break Gibbs’ record. No running back taken in the 2024 or 2025 drafts has been as productive as him. Of course, that could change in the coming years. Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht addressed the status of two key veterans on Thursday, stating the team has no plans to trade Pro Bowl defensive tackle Vita Vea amid ongoing contract discussions. “We love Vita,” Licht told reporters. “We’ve been engaged with his agent recently. I don’t know how it’s gonna end, but we’ve been engaged and that’s at least some progress.” Licht also discussed quarterback Baker Mayfield, noting that while placing the franchise tag on Mayfield in 2027 remains an available tool if necessary, it is not the team’s primary plan. He emphasized that the franchise’s main objective remains securing a long-term contract extension with Mayfield. “I’m not going to get into specifics about the contract and all that stuff, but yeah — we do think he is [a franchise quarterback],” Licht told reporters. “We love Baker. … Baker’s in a great place right now. We’re in a very good place.” Mayfield is entering the final season of a three-year contract. Tensions flared on the practice field between New England Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez and wide receiver A.J. Brown on Thursday. Gonzalez and Brown have repeatedly sought out head-to-head matchups and exchanged words throughout training camp practices, according to reports at practice. Following lockdown coverage by Gonzalez, competitive back-and-forth trash talk between the two players escalated, nearly requiring the pair to be separated as the team transitioned to a new drill. “It’s good on good,” Gonzalez told reporters following Thursday’s practice. “He’s a No. 1 receiver in this league going up against a No. 1 corner. That’s how it’s going to go. It’s football at the end of the day. There’s never no disrespect or anything. We’re just battling and getting each other better. He’s going to face corners like that, that are going to yap at him and going to try to get in his head, and I’m going to face receivers like that who are strong and come right back at me. It’s great work for the both of us.” The Houston Texans and head coach DeMeco Ryans are doing whatever it takes to keep the young nucleus of their defense intact. The Texans and linebacker Henry To’oTo’o have agreed to a two-year, $16 million extension, first reported by NFL Network. Entering his age-25 season, To’oTo’o can earn up to $1 million more in incentives in the deal. To’oTo’o is coming off his first full 17-game season with Houston, establishing himself as a big contributor for one of the league’s premier defenses. He recorded 95 total tackles, with 42 of them being solo, along with 2.5 sacks and a fumble recovery.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports