Alexander Rossi is 23rd in the NTT IndyCar Series points standings. Will Power is in a tie for 12th. That has opened up the door for some surprise guys to rise up the Indy Car points standings as we head into the doubleheader weekend at Road America.

Rookie Oliver Askew finished ninth in his Indy Car debut in the season opener at Texas last month. His teammate Pato O’Ward finished eighth last weekend on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. Fellow rookie driver Rinus VeeKay brought his No. 21 Chevrolet home fifth last Saturday too.

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That has these drivers beaming with confidence heading into this weekend’s twinbill.

“Road America can’t come soon enough,” said O’Ward who raced for Carlin in this race last year. “Coming off a solid race at the GMR Grand Prix in Indianapolis, everyone at Arrow McLaren SP and I are looking forward to building on the momentum we have created so far this season. Road America is an iconic track on the calendar and I can’t think of a better place to welcome fans back to NTT INDYCAR SERIES race in a safe, responsible manner.”

His teammate in Askew says that he’s confident in the pace that they’re showing, but they just need to figure out how to finish on race day now moving forward.

“We know the Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolets are fast and can contend for pole positions, now we need to work on finishing strong on race day,” said the American driver. “A doubleheader at Road America is the perfect opportunity to get a great result for the whole team.”

For VeeKay, he says past Road to Indy success on the 4.014-mile Wisconsin track has him thinking he can bring his Ed Carpenter Racing entry with another solid finish on both Saturday and Sunday.

“Road America is a very successful track for me,” said the Dutch driver. “I had my first-ever win in American racing there in 2017, which was also my first win in race cars. I swept the weekend, which was nice. It’s been a good track for me. It’s my all-time favorite track so it’s cool to be able to race an NTT INDYCAR SERIES car there this season. Being a doubleheader, it’s good for me. I’m really excited and looking forward to it. I think we can pull another great weekend out of our hats.”

Another rookie in Alex Palou hasn’t had the best of starts to the season, but he says he’s hoping just to get some good seat time in real life conditions this weekend too.

“We’ve done some simulator work in preparation for Road America so that should help us heading into the weekend,” said the Spanish driver. “It gives me a better idea of what to expect, but it’s still going to be tough because of the single practice session.

“Even if you’ve driven the track on the simulator, nothing beats driving on the real thing, so you still need some time to learn the track and get the car where you want it to be and that can be tough to do in just one 90-minute session.

“That said, I’m confident we’ll be stronger there than at Indy. From what I’ve seen by watching onboard videos and with the sim work, the track is really nice, it has a little bit of everything and I’m looking forward to not only one but two races there this weekend.”

The veterans are taking notice too.

“I’ll tell you, it’s getting tough. It’s getting really tough out there!” said Simon Pagenaud, who along with Scott Dixon has stood on podiums at Texas and Indianapolis. “There are some really good kids coming up. Some really fast guys. Oliver Askew was impressive in qualifying. We’ve got Pato (O’Ward) and Rinus (VeeKay) – I started behind him, and he marched his way to the front. I was very impressed with his race pace. I only beat him on his last pit sequence.

“A lot of good kids. (Felix) Rosenquist is always there, and Colton (Herta) is becoming more and more consistent. It is going to get tougher and tougher as the year goes on. It’s impressive to see how tight things are.”

Herta, who scored his first career pole at Road America in 2019, sees this weekend as an opportunity for the young guns to finally make their mark.

“I’m happy with how the year has gone so far,” Herta said. “We’ve been consistent. We’ve shown speed everywhere we’ve gone. Happy to get back to Road America. I’m happy it’s a doubleheader. Felt like we were very fast there last year. I think we do have a chance to win.”