INDIANAPOLIS – The Verizon IndyCar Series heads to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, this weekend to race in its 13th event of the season. Race coverage begins at 3 p.m. Sunday and will air live on CNBC. Here are five things I think regarding the biggest storylines heading into Mid-Ohio:

I think Team Team Penske will look unbeatable again. Penske’s power four have absolutely dominated on road courses this season, so the smart money is on one of them to take the checkered flag Sunday evening at Mid-Ohio. While they have won two of the three road courses this season, their dominance has encompassed so much more than wins. They’ve run roughshod through the field in practice, often finishing 1-2-3-4 in those sessions before sweeping the poles (two for Will Power and one for Helio Castroneves). And of the nine podium positions available at those three races, Penske has occupied six of them.

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Josef Newgarden can make the case as the top contender, as he picked up the victory at Barber before narrowly missing out at Road America. Of course, a flat tire robbed Power of the Barber win, while Castroneves and Simon Pagenaud have finished in the top five at every road course, so all four are more than capable of tasting victory Sunday.

I think Ohio native Graham Rahal is going to make his home fans proud. Like James Hinchcliffe two weeks ago in Toronto, Rahal is heading home, and he, too, has a good shot at winding up atop the podium.

Rahal has been on fire since the end of May. Following the Indianapolis 500, the 28-year-old Columbus, Ohio, native has two wins (Detroit doubleheader) and two more top-five finishes (Texas and Iowa). In fact, his worst finish since the 500 was an unlucky ninth at Toronto, where he easily possessed a top-three car, but was caught out by a caution.

Rahal also is a former winner at Mid-Ohio and has produced three straight top-five finishes on its road course, making in a place he’s anxious to return to.

“It’s always great to go back to Mid-Ohio,” Rahal said recently. “I have a lot of fond memories, and have had a lot of great days there. Obviously winning there in 2015 really highlighted my career. I’m excited to get back and hopefully see a great crowd once again.”

At 64 points behind series leader Scott Dixon, Rahal is teetering on the edge of championship contention. A win would be big for his title hopes, but he’ll also need a few of the five drivers in front of him to endure some bad luck to keep his hopes alive.

I think Dixon gets his groove back. After a rough run at Iowa, Dixon looked poised to rebound in Toronto after qualifying fifth. But a first-lap collision with Power derailed any hopes of a bounce-back as he posted just his second finish outside the top nine (the other was the Indianapolis 500 where he was wiped out by Jay Howard). The recent slips have allowed Team Penske to close in on his championship lead, as Castroneves trails by just three points, while Pagenaud is 19 back and Newgarden 23.

But if there’s one place that should give Dixon hope of a rebound, it’s Mid-Ohio. Since IndyCar returned to the road course in 2007, Dixon has won half of the 10 races there, so he enters the weekend an even bigger favorite than usual. However, the Chip Ganassi Racing star hasn’t driven down Victory Lane at Mid-Ohio since 2014, so he’ll need to rediscover his winning ways if he hopes to open up a bigger gap on the other championship contenders.

I think the 2018 IndyCar season picture gets a little clearer. It seems like the only certainty heading into the 2018 IndyCar season is what the cars will look like. Beyond that, everything’s up in the air. Is Andretti Autosport heading to Chevrolet? If so, where does that leave the Honda-sponsored reigning Indianapolis 500 winner Takuma Sato? Are we watching the last IndyCar races in the illustrious careers of Tony Kanaan and Castroneves? Will Team Penske, CGR or Andretti trim their 2018 fleets from four cars to three? Will the biggest fish on the free agent market — 30-year old star Hinchcliffe — be lured away from Schmidt Peterson Motorsports? Is a three-car team in Dale Coyne’s future? Will A.J. Foyt Racing make wholesale changes again? What does Mikhail Aleshin’s future hold after sitting out the race in Toronto?

There are so many questions any very few answers, but I suspect that changes this weekend. While we certainly won’t learn everything, expect the 2018 IndyCar season picture to become a little clearer.

I think we'll see a familiar face in Victory Lane. While Dixon, Rahal and a few other Honda-powered drivers (think Hinchcliffe and Alexander Rossi) will make things interesting, this is Penske’s race to win. The Chevrolet-powered drivers uncharacteristically let a victory slip through their fingers at Road America, and I think they’ll be determined not to let that happen again.

No reigning race winner has successfully defended his turf this season, but I think Pagenaud puts an end to that streak this weekend. Pagenaud has recorded five top-seven finishes in a row. He, along with Rahal and Castroneves, had cars to win at Toronto, and he’ll have the same at Mid-Ohio. Barring more bad luck, look for Pagenaud to join Rahal, Power and Newgarden as the only two-time winners this season.

Follow IndyStar Motor Sports Insider Jim Ayello on Twitter and Instagram: @jimayello.