Visualizing IndyCar's championship battle

Only nine drivers have a mathematical chance to win the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship with two races to go, and only four sit within one race of striking distance. Those four drivers — Will Power, Josef Newgarden, Scott Dixon and Marcus Ericsson — are the title favorites.

How has the season played out? Statistically, Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing have pummeled the field over the course of the season. They've separated themselves from the rest of the field with every measurable statistic: wins, championship standings, podiums, top fives, you name it.

Only Pato O'Ward's Arrow McLaren SP team has come even close to competing, sneaking in as the last team eligible to win the championship at this stage — but likely to be eliminated from contention following next weekend's race. Of Penske and Ganassi teams, the only full time entry not in contention is Jimmie Johnson, who continues to learn and develop in only his second year of open wheel competition and scored his best finish yet — a top five at Iowa Race 2.

Here's how the season has played out when tracking the title contenders week-to-week.

Clearly, There are three tiers in IndyCar this year.

The top: those top seven title contenders who have distinctly separated themselves from the rest.

The middle: where the bulk of Andretti Autosport, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Ed Carpenter Racing and the rest of the field are battling.

Finally, the bottom, where both full time AJ Foyt Racing entries and a few driver with very unfortunate luck and worse results.

In a pure standings sense — looking at position over points — this separation is also clear.

From Mid Ohio on, the top seven swapped positions, but began their ascent. From the Indy 500 on, the bottom few lost touch with the rest of the field.

Five drivers have led the championship at some point this year, with Marcus Ericsson's five race stretch from Road America through the Iowa weekend the longest time one driver held the lead.

If Scott Dixon wins the championship, it's possible the only time he leads the championship is after the checkered flag at the last race of the year. He popped up to second place after his Nashville win, dropped back to third following WWTR, and sits a respectable 14 points back of the championship lead.

In practice, drivers need to be 49 points back entering the final weekend of the championship to have a chance due to the minimum five points a driver can get in an IndyCar race.

With this in mind, Alexander Rossi and Felix Rosenqvist would need almost all of the top five to finish as poorly as possible, and both would need to lead laps, win poles and win the final two races to be considered for the championship, which seems unlikely.

Additionally, three-time 2022 race winner Scott McLaughlin has some work to do to win the title. He needs to make up five points on Will Power to be eligible, and quite a bit more to have a legitimate chance for the title at Laguna Seca.

Alex Palou cannot slip up at Portland. He's the defending race winner, and needs to follow up last year's performance to defend his 2021 IndyCar title.

IndyCar doesn't have a playoff format like the major NASCAR circuits, but Portland is effectively a semi final race. Contenders who have won races this season will be eliminated at Portland, and drivers who slip up or show out will make that bubble battle highly entertaining on Labor Day weekend.