Explained: How to score points in IndyCar and win a championship

Elizabeth Blackstock 24 Feb 2025 6:30 PM

Between qualifying and the race, the Indianapolis 500 is the best opportunity for IndyCar drivers to score points.

With the 2025 IndyCar season on the horizon, it’s high time to revisit how to score points toward the championship.

We’ll run through every way a driver can score points in IndyCar, from Indy 500 qualifying to leading laps.

How to score points and win championships in IndyCar

While we’ll get into the specifics in just a moment, IndyCar drivers can score points in a variety of ways. Every driver, up to the max of 33 drivers, in a race earns points just for competing, while you can tack on extra points for winning pole position, leading a lap, and leading the most laps.

Further, to highlight the importance of the Indianapolis 500, the 12 fastest qualifiers for the biggest race of the year are also awarded points.

Much like in Formula 1, IndyCar championships are awarded to the driver who has amassed the most points over the course of a season, which means that it’s more important to consistently finish well than to push for a win (as drivers do in NASCAR).

In 2024, for example, Alex Palou won the IndyCar championship with just two wins. Scott Mclaughlin, Will Power, and Pato O’Ward all netted three wins, but Palou’s consistency saw him finish in the top five 13 different times — more than any other competitor. He didn’t need to win every race of the year, or even most of them; Palou simply maximized his finishing position wherever possible.