Felix Rosenqvist scored his first podium finish in the NTT IndyCar Series two weeks ago in Mid-Ohio. He narrowly finished runner-up to his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate of Scott Dixon. On the season, Rosenqvist now has three top six finishes in his last four starts in his No. 10 Honda. He’s starting to look like the driver we all thought that he’d be.

Colton Herta is also making strides too. He heads to Pocono with three top eight finishes in his last four starts in his No. 88 Honda too.

But, with what’s coming up, these two could slide a bit and see their momentum change heading into the final two races of the season.

See, we have two ovals up next – Pocono on Sunday, Gateway next Saturday night. Unfortunately, this duo have struggled on ovals in 2019.

Herta’s finishes are 33rd, 18th and 18th respectively on them. He’s yet to finish an oval race. In fact, he’s had four DNF’s in 2019 and three were on ovals. He’s scored only 39 points on ovals in 2019 too which ranks him 21st best, or last among the full time drivers. Despite that, he’s confident heading to Pocono since he had so much speed in Indy.

“I’m really looking forward to racing at Pocono Raceway this weekend,” Herta said. “We were so fast throughout the month of May on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway 2.5-mile oval, so I know the No. 88 Capstone Turbine Honda can be quick and competitive around the 2.5-mile ‘Tricky Triangle.’ I’m really excited for the next three races in a row, especially having the opportunity to race at Pocono Raceway since I have never competed there.”

Rosenqvist, hasn’t fared much better. He’s open about ovals not being his favorite stops on the schedule. He crashed in practice as well as the race at Indy and finished 28th. He was 12th in Texas and 14th in Iowa. He’s yet to finish on the lead lap for an oval race.

“When you go to Pocono, I think it doesn’t matter if it’s Pocono or Indy or Texas – I just have a huge respect and you take more time,” Rosenqvist said ahead of this weekend’s race. “You allow yourself to just go up to speed more slow because, we all know what happens when you crash at 220, 230 mph. Physically and car-wise, it’s never a good thing.

“So I believe that everyone has to respect and give each other room. I’m very much aware I’m not a pro at the ovals yet. I think, though, we’ve made really good progress with the NTT DATA car. I tested at Gateway and I have to say I feel more and more confident every lap I turn on an oval. I still have much more to learn, but I’m sure my first good result on an oval is just around the corner.”

With two coming up, these two just need to get solid finishes or Santino Ferrucci can steal this Rookie of the Year title.