Alex Palou celebrates after winning Sunday’s NTT IndyCar Series race at Road America. Photo: Penske Entertainment: Travis Hinkle
The juggernaut known as Alex Palou reached top gear Sunday, winning at Road America for his third victory in the last four NTT IndyCar Series races.
Palou drove his No. 10 Honda fielded by Chip Ganassi Racing to victory by 4.5610 seconds over Josef Newgarden. Pato O’Ward finished third, his fourth podium finish in eight races this season.
“It’s been an amazing weekend,” Palou said. “I’m super happy. They gave me the pit stop that gave us the win. It was an amazing day for the No. 10 American Legion Ganassi car, and we’re going to keep it going.”
The victory expanded Palou’s lead to 74 points – more than one race worth of points – over teammate Marcus Ericsson in the championship race as the Spaniard aims for another season title to add to his 2021 crown.
This was the seventh career victory for Palou, with wins on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course and also added to his tally in the last five weeks. Palou’s win also was the 250th victory for Chip Ganassi Racing across all racing disciplines.
CGR also flexed its muscle as the only team with two drivers in the top five at the finish. Scott Dixon drove from the 23rd starting position to place foruth, while pole sitter Colton Herta finished fifth.
Palou and CGR prevailed this weekend with equal amounts of speed and resiliency forged through winning races and championships. Palou crashed heavily in turn 14 during practice Saturday morning, giving the Ganassi crew just 90 minutes for repairs before qualifying. Palou didn’t skip a beat, qualifying third behind Herta and O’Ward.
“We started with a lot of speed,” Palou said. “Big mistake by my part in practice two. We went back on track, and it (car) was even better than in practice two. We’re going to try and keep it rolling. We have an amazing team behind us.”
Palou lurked near the front the entire race, twice leading for a lap or two as Herta was on a slightly different pit stop cycle. Herta made his final stop on lap 40 of 55, with Palou pitting for the last time one lap later, both drivers taking Firestone primary (black sidewall) tires.
That one lap between the contenders’ pit stops made a big difference in the outcome. Herta was forced to save fuel over the final 14 laps, with Palou on full power. Palou used that speed advantage to slice Herta’s lead to two-tenths of a second by lap 45.
Palou then pulled right on Herta’s gearbox, ready to pounce for the lead. The decisive moment came on lap 49, when Palou passed Herta on the outside in turn 1 and drove away. It was the last of nine lead changes and one of an event-record 32 passes among the top five in this race.
Newgarden, O’Ward and Dixon were able to catch Herta in the final six laps. But no one could mount any challenge to Palou, who is turning racetracks across North America into his personal asphalt playgrounds lately.
“It’s a frustrating one,” said Herta, who led a race-high 33 of 55 laps. “We had the best car. We were cruising the whole time. I had so much more in it, and we never really got to show it because we were always saving fuel, trying to go that lap later. That’s a killer.”
Palou encountered only one nervous moment after taking the lead for good, narrowly missing CGR teammate Marcus Armstrong as he lapped him in the fastest section of the 14-turn, 4.014-mile circuit on the final lap.
The next NTT Indycar Series race is on Sunday, July 2 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course near Columbus, Ohio.
NTT IndyCar Series
Road America – Elkhart Lake, WI
Sonsio Grand Prix – June 18, 2023
1. Alex Palou
2. Josef Newgarden
3. Pato O’Ward
4. Scott Dixon
5. Colton Herta
6. Marcus Ericsson
7. Christian Lundgaard
8. Scott McLaughlin
9. Kyle Kirkwood
10. Alexander Rossi
11. Graham Rahal
12. Rinus VeeKay
13. Will Power
14. Simon Pagenaud
15. Helio Castroneves
16. Santino Ferrucci
17. Ryan Hunter-Reay
18. Callum Ilott
19. Agustin Canapino
20. Felix Rosenqvist
21. Benjamin Pedersen
22. Sting Ray Rob
23. Devlin DeFrancesco
24. Marcus Armstrong
25. Romain Grosjean
26. Jack Harvey
27. David Malukas
Average Speed: 120.335 mph
Time of Race: 01:50:04.6640 Margin of Victory: 4.5610 seconds
Cautions: 4 for 10 laps
Lead Changes: 9 among 4 drivers
Lap Leaders: Herta 1-11; Palou 12; Herta 13-25; Armstrong 26-30; Power 31-32; Herta 33-39; Palou 40-41; Power 42-46; Herta 47-48; Palou 49-55.
Point Standings: Palou 324, Ericsson 250, Newgarden 243, O’Ward 226, Dixon 226, McLaughlin 199, Rossi 196, Power 190, Herta 183, Kirkwood 164, Lundgaard 162, Rosenqvist 158, Grosjean 150, Ilott 128, VeeKay 126, Ferrucci 119, Rahal 118, Armstrong 108, Malukas 96, Castroneves 95, Conor Daly 88, Canapino 88, DeFrancesco 88, Pagenaud 88, Harvey 83, Pedersen 70, Robb 63, Takuma Sato 37, Hunter-Reay 33, Ed Carpenter 27, Tony Kanaan 18, Marco Andretti 13, Katherine Legge 5, RC Enerson 5.
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