As significant as Myles Rowe's victory was two weeks ago at World Wide Technology Raceway, Road America may prove just as pivotal in the championship fight.

Seven of the final nine races this season take place on permanent road courses, beginning with two races this weekend at Road America. The schedule also includes a doubleheader July 4-5 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, a visit Aug. 9 to Portland International Raceway and the season-ending doubleheader Sept. 5-6 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

SEE: Race 1 Details | Race 2 Details

The only remaining oval races are July 19 at Nashville Superspeedway and Aug. 30 at the Milwaukee Mile.

Here are five storylines to watch entering this weekend's doubleheader. Race 1 is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. ET Saturday, June 21, with Race 2 set for noon ET Sunday, June 22. Both races air on FS1, FOX One and INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls.

Caio Collet

Can Anyone Sweep the Weekend?

Road America marks the third doubleheader weekend of the season, with two still ahead at Mid-Ohio and Laguna Seca.

Sweeping a weekend in INDY NXT by Firestone remains a difficult feat. The most recent sweep came in 2025 when Caio Collet won both races at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca (photo, above). Louis Foster achieved the same feat in 2024 at Laguna Seca. Before that, Linus Lundqvist accomplished the feat in 2022 at Belle Isle.

Adding to the challenge, the two races feature different distances. Race 1 is scheduled for 20 laps, while Race 2 is 18 laps.

Tymek Kucharczyk

HMD Aims To Continue Road America Success

HMD Motorsports has been the team to beat at Road America in recent years.

The organization has won four of the last five races at the 4.014-mile circuit, including Collet's victory last season. HMD also has captured two of the four permanent road course races this season, sweeping the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course weekend with victories by Enzo Fittipaldi (photo, top) and Tymek Kucharczyk (photo, above).

Fittipaldi and Kucharczyk enter the weekend in championship contention. Fittipaldi sits second in the standings, two points behind leader Nikita Johnson, while Kucharczyk is third, just five points back of the lead.

Johnson, a rookie driving for Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR, enters Road America looking to regain early-season form. After averaging a 2.8 finish through the first five races with two victories and four podium finishes, Johnson has posted a 6.3 average finish over the last three races.

With two races’ worth of points available this weekend, the championship battle could look dramatically different by Sunday afternoon with three drivers separated by five points.

Max Taylor

Challengers Looking To Gain Ground

Andretti Global rookie Max Taylor enters fourth in points, 27 behind Johnson.

While Taylor (photo, above) owns a seventh-place average finish on permanent road courses, that number is skewed by a 19th-place result in Race 1 at Barber Motorsports Park after contact with AJ Foyt Racing's Alessandro de Tullio while battling for the lead in the closing laps.

Since, Taylor has finished second in Race 2 at both Barber and Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course and fifth in Race 1 at IMS. He also has qualified on the front row in all four permanent road course races this season.

Teammate Lochie Hughes could be another factor. He placed 12th and 16th, respectively at Barber, but the second-year INDY NXT driver rebounded with finishes of second and fourth at Indianapolis. He finished third at Road America last season and enters the weekend seventh in points, 79 back.

Rookie de Tullio also has shown speed on road courses. He won Race 2 at Barber and finished ninth and fifth, respectively, during the Indianapolis doubleheader. He has started on the front row in seven consecutive races, including five pole positions, and sits sixth (-74) in the championship standings.

Road America's History of Producing INDYCAR SERIES Talent

Road America has served as a proving ground for future NTT INDYCAR SERIES stars.

Recent winners at the track include current INDYCAR SERIES drivers Rinus VeeKay (2019), Kyle Kirkwood and David Malukas (2021), Christian Rasmussen (2022), Nolan Siegel (2023) and Collet (2025).

Strong Road America performances also often correlate with championship success.

Last season's Road America podium featured three drivers who finished in the top three of the championship standings. In 2024, eventual champion Louis Foster finished second at Road America, while championship runner-up Jacob Abel placed third.

The trend is clear: Drivers who excel at Road America are often the same drivers battling for the title at the end of the season.

Weekend Schedule

The series opens the weekend with its lone practice session Friday at 3 p.m. ET on FS2.

Qualifying is scheduled for 10 a.m. ET Saturday and sets the lineup for both races. Each driver’s fastest lap will set the grid for Race 1, with the second-fastest lap determining the order for Race 2. One driver and entrant championship point will be awarded to the fastest car in each qualifying group for each race.

Race 1 starts at 12:30 p.m. ET Saturday on FS1, with Race 2 scheduled for noon ET Sunday. Both races are on FS1, FOX One and INDYCAR Radio powered by Only Bulls.

Track Specs: 4.014-mile, 14-turn permanent road course (clockwise) in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin

Qualifying Record: Kyffin Simpson, 1:49.1028 (132.448 mph), June 17, 2023

Push to Pass: 150 seconds total, maximum activation of 15 seconds per use